William Jerome

Today we commemorate the life of William “Bill” Jerome, who passed away one year ago, on March 17, 2021.

It is believed that as a Mi’gmaq, Bill has now completed his walk to the Spirit World; a journey according to our beliefs, that takes place over a one-year period. In our hearts, our Bill will be with us forever and we wish to honour him here by sharing with you a small glimpse of what he meant to his family.

William Jerome was born in November 1939 in the community of Listuguj. He lived his whole life in his community. William was full of life and worked extremely hard to ensure his family was well cared for and believed that hard work was necessary to ensure his children and grandchildren would not have to endure the hardships he endured, growing up on an Indian reservation in the mid-1900s.

He was a proud Indigenous person, an entrepreneur, an artist, a family man, a go-getter, a plumber, electrician, salmon fisher, locksmith, carpenter, farmer, logger, taxi driver, garbage man, economic development officer, drug abuse counsellor, motel operator, barber, medical carrier driver, mussel farm manager, school board member, and an elected band councilor. He spoke Mi'gmaq, English, and French very fluently. He attained his GED when he was 48 years old. William had so many talents and in many aspects, he was a man ahead of his times.

He was also a pragmatist, he believed in common sense and street sense and would give credence to those who made good sense.

He loved his wife Margaret "Cheta" Barnaby immensely. They were married on October 13, 1962. Together they raised 3 children and they together instilled in them the entrepreneurial spirit and thought them to be self-sufficient, outspoken and to care for their families.

They wanted their children to see the world around them. Each weekend they would pile their 3 children into the wagon to take off to see the sites. They also took many opportunities each summer to go down the Gaspe Coast and throughout the Maritimes to take in the splendour of the beautiful Mi'gmaq territory. This was a great time for family to reconnect and a time to recharge the batteries for the week ahead.

As an Indigenous entrepreneur, he was one of the first Listugujewaj to own and operate a business outside of the Listuguj reserve. He ran his business throughout the 1970s, a men’s barbershop, from the bottom floor of the infamous Chateau Hotel of Campbellton. He employed two other barbers to cut alongside him.

We can certainly remember the three barber chairs, the slapping of the straight blade against the leather grain, to precisely sharpen the cutting edge. There was the smell of Barbosal and the whiff of Clubman hair spray, alongside the cigarette smoke that was ever-present in all barbershops in that day. Bill was a chain smoker at the time - but when his kids began to grow up, he took great steps to quit so that they would not acquire his nasty habit. The hours were long and the income was modest at best.

Bill would spend all his days in the barbershop and at lunchtime, he would run down to Art’s dog cart for two dogs and a Pepsi. The fries were also spectacular but he only ordered the dogs with the buns toasted and slathered with butter. He would then run back to his customers. He knew everyone and remembered just the way they liked their cut. Many years later, still, so many people recall him cutting their hair and will tell his family members, "your dad used to cut my hair". He loved to talk and his many years barbering sure did bring him much pleasure, meeting so many people

The Clipper Motel was one of the many businesses he owned and operated in partnership with his wife. Many of the business ideas and plans were laid out and discussed at the corner table at the restaurant of the motel. The family met, lived, ate, and studied at the Clipper; which pretty much was the family's second home.

The many skills he was able to master was evident as he and Cheta were able to own and operate Jerome's Grocery, the Clipper Motel, the Restaurant, Clipper Bar, a short-lived Chinese Restaurant, at the same time raising three children with no nanny help of any sort. He was evidently a team player.

On the side, by himself, he also sold citizen band (CB) radios, which were almost hot as smartphones today. He was an avid ham radio operator learning morse code and getting his amateur ham radio license in 1979. In the local ham club, he knew everyone, and everyone definitely knew him.

In his young days, he was well built as he had a hobby, weightlifting. He was also a gadget master and he outfitted his bicycle with lights, batteries, and signals, a first for Listuguj and pretty much anywhere around here. He brandished a slick James Dean hair wave and wore a thick black leather jacket, listening to pre-Elvis music like Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, La Bamba, Marty Robbins, and Lucille by Little Richards.

William liked to do things with his hands, he liked to plant flowers and trees and build things from whatever material that was at hand. If one drove by his house in the summer, you would have also seen that he loved doing landscaping with his little farm tractor. His yard is filled with trees, shrubs, bushes, and a large totem pole. He also built a number of buildings and performed his own electrical and plumbing work.

When he was 70 years old, Bill had a heart attack that left his heart severely damaged and underwent bypass surgery. This was a rough surgery and his recovery was tough. And because of his community spirit, for years, right up to his last days, he would call other Mi'gmaq people in the community who he learned had a heart attack or who underwent heart surgery. He called or visited with them to cheer them up and give them advice. He wanted to help them and wanted to empathize with them.

In his last years, even though he was in his late 70's and already suffering from his lung disease, he offered himself for Council in 2016, 2018, and 2020. He offered his campaign as a sound-minded, business-oriented, and street-smart elder. He did not receive the necessary votes.

Bill’s last days on turtle island were long for him, his disease left him struggling for his breath and was not able to do as much gardening as he wished. He had a strong determination to live and was asking doctors for any other possible means to extend his days with his wife and family. We share with you that he did struggle in the very last days, sensing that he would be passing ahead of his time and that his disease would overtake his life. Thankfully for modern medicine, he did pass away relatively peacefully.

In the end, his wife, knowing that he would fight and keep fighting, told him that his mom is coming to take him with her and that he should go; that he should allow himself to wait for her to take him to the spirit world.

William Jerome leaves behind his wife, Margaret Barnaby Jerome, his children Sophia, Troy, and Fletcher, 7 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren.