Eva sitting beside her uncle, Joseph Alfred Gagnon, in a delivery wagon from Lussier Brothers, meats and groceries, 1395 and 1572 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1920. Joseph was employed as a clerk at that establishment.
“I am sitting next to my uncle.”
Eva as a child.
“When I was a young kid … I went to Notre Dame Parochial School.”
Eva with her parents and siblings, 1924. Standing left to right: Mrs. Joseph Arthur Gagnon, née Eva Marie Turgeon, holding newborn baby, Marie Helene Yvette Gagnon; Joseph Arthur Gagnon; Marie Rita Gagnon; Eva (with large bow); Joseph Arthur Armand Gagnon.
“I had another sister. I had a brother … then I had another sister. So we were four.”
Interior view of the Charlton Mills, 109 Howe Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1930s. Eva can be seen in the front row, fifth from the left, sitting beside her uncle Jean Baptiste Couture, who secured her employment.
“And he was working there, my uncle. He says, ‘You want a job?’ I says, ‘Yeah.’”
A worker in the Lincoln Manufacturing Company, Stevens Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1925. Eva’s future husband, Rene Joseph Arsene Rochefort, performed the same task in the Charlton Mills, 109 Howe Street, Fall River.
“He was … putting the thread on a big roll … and that went on another machine.”
The Gagnons posing en famille. Standing, left to right: Eva’s sisters, Marie Rita Gagnon, Marie Helene Yvette Gagnon. Seated, left to right: Eva; her father, Joseph Arthur Gagnon; her mother, née Marie Eva Turgeon; and her brother, Joseph Arthur Armand Gagnon.
“In our days, it was just the family.”
Eva as a young woman.
Gorin’s Department Store, Inc., 201 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1940s.
“I worked downtown at Gorin’s.”
Mr. & Mrs. Rene Joseph Arsene Rochefort on their wedding day, February 22, 1936. Eva’s father, Joseph Arthur Gagnon is on the right, and Rene’s father, Arthur Rochefort, is on the left.
“After we were married we went on a big trip; we went to Boston.”
Eagle Restaurant, 33 North Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1933; Eva’s wedding reception was held here on February 22, 1936.
“[My] wedding reception was at the Eagle.”
Interior view of Eagle Restaurant, 33 North Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1934; the interior of the restaurant was designed to mimic the grand saloon of a Fall River Line Steamship. The restaurant advertised: “A special banquet hall, apart from the main dining room … reserved for Parties, Bridge, Teas or Socials.”
“It was nice.”
Mr. and Mrs. Rene Joseph Arsene Rochfort with their daughter, Doris Eva, in the yard of their residence at 431 Kilburn Street, circa 1942. In the background is the Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, Inc.
“And when I was living across the street … you head those machines make a lot of noise.”
The Made Rite Potato Chip Company, Inc. plant at 638 Quequechan Street, Fall River, Massachusetts; Eva was employed at the 1853 South Main Street location of that establishment.
“I was working with the chip man … I was filling those [containers] up.”
Workers at the Bonnie Products Corporation, 126 Shove Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, enjoying a factory party. Eva is seated, third from the right. The company produced 350,000 powder puffs weekly, earning them the distinction as the world’s largest producer of powder puffs.
“Oh, then I worked with the powder puffs.”
Rochefort Brothers, Carpenters and Contractors. Standing left to right, Eva’s husband and her father-in-law, Arthur Rochefort. In the foreground, left to right, are Eva’s three brothers-in-law: Joseph Roland Victor Rochfort, Joseph Albert Arthur LeBoeuf, and Raymond Payer.
“So, they get that job. And they get that job. Word of mouth. Yeah. He done alright.”
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Eva and Rene with their daughter, Doris Eva Rochefort, circa 1955.
Eva, seated at right, posing with family members, 1958; in the background is her first car. Standing: Eva’s mother, Mrs. Joseph Arthur Gagnon, née Marie Eva Turgeon; seated: Eva’s daughter, Doris; and Eva’s grandson, Robert Paul Bernier.
‘He [Eva’s husband] got me a car. It was green and beige.”
Workers in Shelburne Shirt Company, 69 Alden Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, late 1960s.
“I was doing, folding …it was the shirts I was folding.”
Eva, as Saint Lydia of Philippisia, and her daughter, Doris, as the Blessed Mother in Women in the Bible, a program presented at the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women’s annual convention, held in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1980; Eva was an active member of Notre Dame de Lourdes Church, in Fall River, Massachusetts.
‘Can I smile?’
‘Yeah, otherwise we wouldn’t give you the job.’
Eva in her later years.
“I … would laugh too much. I am cuckoo.”
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