Gerald Joseph Valliere

Gerald Joseph Jean-Baptiste Valliere was born in 1926 in Montreal, Canada. He was the 13th child (of 16) of Ovila and Aurore Valliere. Shortly after our father was born, the family moved to a farm in Vermont where his strong work ethic was developed at a very young age. When he was around the age of 12 or 13, he had a newspaper route with the Claremont Tribune. Through determination and hard work, he saved his money and bought himself a new Schwinn bike. He was the first in the family to own a new one. Living out in the country where neighbors are miles apart, a paper route was a hard job. It was even harder to sell subscriptions but he managed to sell enough to win a trip to the 1940 World’s Fair in New York City. That was a very big deal back then.

In 1944, at the age of 18, Gerald enlisted in the Army to serve in WWII. Three of his other brothers were already serving and they each chose a different branch of service. He was sent to a boot camp in Fort McClellan, Alabama, and was shipped off to the southern part of Germany with the 66th Field Artillery Batallion. He was an enlisted man for only two years but Gerald witnessed a lot of strife during that time. He was very good about telling his grandchildren how proud he was to serve our country.

Not long after he returned from the war, a friend of his set up a blind date. Like him, she was from Canada. Yolande Gaillardet was a petite, pretty Catholic girl with a very nice French accent. They married five years later in Waterbury, CT in 1955.

He often said the best thing he ever did was to move to California. In 1962, he bought a brand new station wagon, and with $200 to his name, he drove west with his wife and two young children. Anne was 4 and Gary was 2 years old. Their 3rd child, Jeff, was born in 1966. Moving to California was one of the biggest risks he ever took because he didn’t have a job waiting for him. He signed up with the union and worked for the next 40 years as a carpet installer. Through hard work he was able to buy a home, send us to Catholic schools and Mom didn’t need to get a job. He had very few bills to worry about and we were at mass every Sunday without fail.

He and Mom had a good marriage and a good life. When our Mom died 14 years ago, her passing was a shock to all of us. She was only 66 years old and a light seemed to go out for Dad. For several years, he coped by going to Nativity Church to pray nearly every day. Family became even more important to him and he was so proud of the fact that he had grandchildren, Britnee, Cole & Hannah and Steven & Valerie.

At the beginning of this biography, it is mentioned that he was one of 16 children. At age 83, Gerald was the last remaining brother and his sister Gisele, who is a year older, is the last remaining sibling. Dad passed away on April 2, 2010, in the early morning hours of Good Friday, of complications from pneumonia. In addition to his sister, he is survived by his three children and their families, Anne (Robert, Steven & Valerie), Gary (Lynn), and Jeff (Kim, Britnee, Cole & Hannah). His quiet demeanor and gentle sense of humor will be greatly missed.