Antonio Cameron (1910-1975)
A pioneer exterminator, in the good sense of the word
In the spring of 2020, the City of Sherbrooke opened a new street in its regional industrial park where several streets have been named after industrialists. This time, it was named for Antonio Cameron, a leading member of a very wellknown family of exterminators in the Eastern Townships and in the greater part of Quebec.
Antonio Cameron was born in 1910 in North Winslow, Qc. He was the youngest child of Clara Bureau (1885-1936) and of Louis Cameron (1875-1957). They had been married in Lambton in 1905. Antonio was of Scottish descent. Indeed, his ancestor Thomas had come to Bellechasse County in 1772. His descendants then settled in Dorchester County and subsequently in North Winslow. In 1913, Louis came to Sherbrooke, where she worked at the Paton Mills and later at Ingersoll Rand Canada. In 1940, Cameron started working on King Street East as an exterminator, which he continued until his death. As a tradesman, he had always kept up a good reputation by offering guaranteed work.
As for his private life, in 1931 Antonio married Berthe Desrochers (1910-2006). They had five children: Gérard, Lorraine, Denise, Roberte and Roger (nicknamed Tom). Antonio started working as a knitter for Canadian Silk Products and then as a clerk in the Sherbrooke post office. In 1962, he took correspondence courses on pest extermination given by Perdue University in Illinois, obtaining exceptionally good results. He then took over his father’s company, which was at the back of his home on Sainte-thérèse Street. His wife looked after the secretarial work and accounting. In 1966, their son Gérard joined the company and changed its name to Cameron Pest Control. Antonio died in 1975, after which Gérard ran the firm. It became Cameron Extermination in 1978, when it moved to Mcmanamy Street. Gérard continued to run the company until 1985. From then on, the running of the company was shared by Gérard’s three sons: Pierre, president; Guy, vice-president and Jean, secretary-treasurer. In 1997, the company was moved again to Industriel Boulevard and then, in 2005, to Lesage Street. In 1988, the company became Groupe Cameron and they began to offer pest management services in Sherbrooke and elsewhere in Québec. By 2010, it had 58 employees and 63 vehicles, with outlets in Granby, Montreal, Québec, as well as in Chibougamau and Val d’or. Pierre was also president of the Association québécoise de la gestion parasitaire from 1988 to 1992, of the Canada Pest Management Association, and was a board member of the National Pest Management Association (USA). In 2014, Groupe Cameron, then having 88 employees, was sold to Terminix, an American company in Memphis, Tennessee, following the path taken by other, similar Canadian companies in Ontario and British Columbia. At the end of January 2016, the three Cameron brothers retired from the operation of the family business, however, Pierre stayed on as an employee.