ESTELLE and ALBAN (Peters)
Married October 1, 1941 at St. Ann's Church PEI
Estelle and Alban met at church and spent a lot of time together getting to church (that was a big undertaking in those days). After months of courting, Estelle and Alban were married - Estelle was 23 and Alban 25. They were wed on a Wednesday and a honeymoon was planned starting Thursday. Seems the grain crop took priority and was heating up in the bins at the farm where Alban worked so he had to urgently rush off to help empty these grain bins and was gone until the following Saturday night. They must have found some "honeymoon" time at some point as ten (10) children followed over the next 18 years.
"LE CLAN DE" Alban ET Estelle
Known to us all as "Estelle", her birthname is Marie Lucie Estelle. She was born on Oct 12, 1918. Her husband was Alban Andrew Peters, born on Mar 16, 1916. After marrying in 1941, they started their family in Mermaid, PEI. At this time, Estelle was working as a housekeeper for a doctor in Charlottetown. Alban worked as a farm-hand for a local farmer. Shortly after the first two children were born, (Leo & Bernice) they moved to Mayfield, PEI, where they resided for the rest of their married life. Estelle was a stay-at-home mother, thankfully, as many more children came along. Alban operated a small farm and trucked cattle to earn extra dollars. Big gardens were planted to feed the growing clan. The odd cow or pig was slaughtered as a means to feed the family. Estelle loved to see people eat. She thoroughly enjoyed cooking and baking. Estelle's passion led to baking bread and pastries to sell to the tourists in the summer months. In addition, she baked pies with the help of her daughters, for the Anne of Green Gables Tea Room in Cavendish. Wedding and anniversary cakes were Estelle's specialty - she made and decorated many. This helped to bring in a few extra dollars for the family. They loved having big gatherings of family and friends. Always up for many card games, summer Sunday afternoons were often spent at the "shore" digging clams. Their Catholic faith was important to both of them. This was passed on to their children which lead to much involvement of the whole family in church related activities. They were also very involved in the operation of the local one room school, St Ignatius, in Mayfield, where most of their children attended. Also in later years this school was used for weekend dances where they helped in organizing & ensuring that lunch was provided for the event. Sadly, Alban passed away suddenly on August 19, 1971 from a massive heart attack at the young age of 55. Estelle remarried 4 years later to Urbain Doiron. Their union brought the extended family to a total of 17 children. As this was later in their years, only seven of the children were still at home to raise when her domestic role as a "Mom and care-giver" was put into play once again. Urbain operated a large dairy farm at the time, in Rusticoville. In his later years, Urbain created a hobby business of refinishing antique furniture. They both enjoyed working together on this hobby while also enjoying gardening and visiting friends and family.
Urbain passed away on Dec 16, 1997. We said goodbye to Estelle on Sept 4, 2009.