Lalois, Louis

Louis Lalois was born on 20 September 1896 in Keewatin, Ontario, a small town just west of Kenora. His father Louis Lalois Sr was from Montmagny, Quebec, earlier spelling of the surname as Lislois. Louis Sr had been farming in the Keewatin area by the 1881 census but a short time later found work in his profession, a mariner/sailor/pilot. His father had been a navigateur on the Saint Lawrence River back in Montmagny. Louis’ mother Frances (Fannie) Muggaberg was born in the RM of St Andrews in Manitoba, the daughter of a Norwegian father and Métis mother. Louis and Fannie married on 8 December 1886 in Rapid River, Rainy River although Fannie had been living with her family in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora). Children born in Keewatin were Fanny (1888), John Henry (Jack) (1889), Elizabeth (1891), Frederick (1893), Louis, and Alex William (1898). Although a death record was not found for daughter Fanny, by the 1891 census and subsequents ones she was not listed with the family. By the time of the 1901 census the family had relocated to Beaver Mills, the original name of what is now the town of Rainy River. Two more children were born to the family, Raymond (1902) and Mary Ethel (1904). Sadly father Louis died on 21 April 1907, with Fannie later entering a relationship with William Albert Trenchard. Two children were born to the couple, Bert (abt 1911) and Laurence (1914). The family farmed in the Worthington area near Rainy River although Fred was living with his uncle Julius Muggaberg and family in Crozier near Fort Frances at the time of the 1911 census.

With the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, Louis and his brother Fred signed their recruitment papers with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment on 10 January 1918 in Port Arthur. Both boys had had their medical examinations the previous November in Rainy River, gave their occupations as farmers, and their mother Fannie at the Sleeman Post Office as next of kin.

Louis arrived in England aboard the Cretic on 4 March 1918, taken on strength with the 11th Reserve Battalion. In August Louis was transferred to the 27th Battalion, joining the unit in the field in mid September. Days later Louis was transferred to the 78th Battalion where he was to serve for the duration of the war. The 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers) was authorized on 10 July 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 20 May 1916. It disembarked in France on 13 August 1916, where it fought as part of the 12th Brigade, 4th Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the armistice. Louis returned to England in early May of 1919 and embarked for Canada aboard the Adriatic on the 31st and was discharged from service on 12 June in Port Arthur.

Louis returned to the family farm, found living with his mother and siblings John, Fred, William, Raymond, Mary, Bert and Laurence at the time of the 1921 census. It appears that Louis did not marry, with later Voters lists have him living in nearby Sleeman and working as a labourer or farmer. Louis died on 10 September 1961. He was predeceased by his mother Fanny (1934), siblings Laurence (1928), William (1937), Mary Larson (1942), John (1960), and Elizabeth Kearny (1960). Along with Louis, all are interred in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Rainy River.

By Judy Stockham

Gravemarker photo: Gravemarker Gallery

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