Léon A. Guimond collection of memorial cards

Collection

Identifier: MCC-00590-UP-590

Scope and Contents

This collection contains 591 memorial cards, often featuring the person’s name, date of birth, date of death, and photograph alongside a prayer, with religious imagery decorating the back, in French and English spanning the years 1918 to 2012. Cards are largely from the St. John Valley, though relatives of the local families who died farther away across the country are included.

Dates

Creation: 1918 - 2012

Biographical / Historical

Memorial cards, similar to obituary or prayer cards, are often created by Catholic communities to honor a recently deceased individual. In the Saint John Valley, cards may be printed farther south in Maine and New Hampshire, or north in Quebec. They are distributed to attendees at funerals, wakes, and other gatherings.

Biographical / Historical

Leon Alfred Guimond was born on June 14, 1932 in Frenchville, Maine, the son of Albert Guimond and Leona Marquis. He was baptized at St. Luce Catholic church in Frenchville on June 19, 1932. He married Patricia Gagnon on December 31, 1956. After serving in the US Army during the Korean War, he worked as a cement finisher until his retirement. In the following decades, he became known for his work in genealogy, amassing an extensive personal collection–one of the largest along the East Coast–of references on Franco-Americans. He died on February 13, 2012.

“Leon Guimond Obituary.” Bangor Daily News | Obituaries, Bangor Publishing Company, 14 Feb. 2012.