How many generations has your family been living in Canada?
In mid-August, five generations of the Steffano family and four generations of the Bouchard family met in an unusual gathering of Canadian heritage at a 97 Mile home.
Elaine Bouchard says they were all visiting her home to have multigenerational family pictures taken together with her mother, Vera (Steffano) McLachlan, now 93.
It was the first time all five living generations of Steffanos were photographed together, right down to Vera's infant great-great-grandson, Spencer Lane.
"We just got together and had a dinner with all the family that was there. We had never seen Spencer, so it was our first meeting with him."
Another photograph taken the same day features four generations of Bouchards headed up by Elaine's husband, Donat (Don), who is 76.
She notes Don's family has ancestral ties that trace back a long way on Canadian soil.
The genealogy efforts she and others have made confirmed the Bouchard family line spanning 13 generations, Elaine explains.
Most notably, the Bouchards is believed to be the 11th generation in this country – with four generations of these Canadians alive today.
She notes Don was born in Manitoba, as were his parents, Alphonse and Florida (Assially) Bouchard, who had 13 children – 11 of whom are living.
Don's mother also tended a huge garden on the farm, arose at 4 a.m. daily to make at least 60 loaves of bread, and taught all her "baker's dozen" of children to sew, Elaine adds.
She says Don disliked his chore of churning butter, so once he got the idea to attach an electric drill.
"Of course, he got it spinning and they had butter all over the place."
Don's paternal grandparents, Ephrem and Hortense (Gamache) Bouchard, were both born in Quebec, Elaine notes.
"The [genealogy] book that I have says ... that both Hortense and Ephram were [already] sixth-generation Canadians."
She notes Florida's goal in life was to make quilts for each of her 44 grandchildren.
"She managed to get 22 of those finished before she passed away, and one of her daughters is going to fulfill her dream."
On Elaine's side of the family, the family matriarch – her mother Vera – lives in her own home on their property at 97 Mile.
Elaine is 71, and says her only sibling, Faye, has passed away.
Vera was born in Wapella, Saskatchewan to Joseph and Gertrude (Jones) Steffano. Gertrude was born in Saskatchewan also, although Joseph was from Wales, Elaine explains.
"Mom was telling me that when she was growing up, hobos and Indians used to come past their house on the Red River Cart Trail and [Gertrude] would give them food. Then, they'd make a marking at the end of the driveway to show the other hobos that this is where to go where they feed you."
Don and Elaine's daughter Cheryl Bouchard from 100 Mile House attended, as did their other daughter's family, Janet and George Edwards and their children, Victor and Nicole, from Quesnel.
Family from the Lower Mainland included another daughter, Patricia, her husband, Doug Lane, and their son's family, David, Lindsay and Spencer Lane.
Elaine notes only her and Don's other daughter, Dawn Maholvich, and her family were unable to make it out for this historic gathering of familial generations.
