Payette, Joseph

Joseph Payette was born on 6 February 1892 in Norman, Ontario, a few kilometres west of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Both of his parents, Joseph Payette and Mary Lauriault, were from Quebec, marrying on 9 April 1888 in Winnipeg. Mary had previously given birth to son Arthur in 1883 in St Boniface, Manitoba. At the time of the 1891 census the family was living in Norman where Joseph was working as a labourer in a saw mill. Daughter Antoinette had been born in 1888, baptized as was Joseph in nearby Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora). By 1901 they had moved to the Sultana Mine census area on Lake of the Woods where Joseph worked as a lumberman. According to the 1901 census, daughter Emma was born in 1891. Further trace of Arthur, Antoinette, nor Emma was found. By the 1911 census Joseph Sr, Mary, and Joseph Jr were living in the Township of Patullo near Fort Francis, Ontario where they farmed.

Enlisting with the 141st Battalion, Joseph signed his attestation papers on 1 May 1916 in Pinewood in the Township of Patullo. His occupation was given as carpenter and his mother in Pinewood as next of kin. Based in Fort Frances, Ontario, the 141st Battalion began recruiting in late 1915 in Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario. As a Private with the battalion, Joseph embarked from Halifax aboard the Olympic on 29 April 1917.

Once in England the battalion was absorbed by the 18th Reserve Battalion. That September Joseph was drafted to the 52nd Battalion, arriving at the unit for duty on 4 November. Just ten days later, on 14 November in the trenches at Passchendaele, Joseph was reported as missing, presumed dead, later updated to killed in action. As his body was not recovered, he is commemorated on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial in Belgium. The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Joseph’s medals and decoration as well as the Memorial Cross were sent to his mother back in Pinewood while the plaque and scroll were sent to his father.

After Joseph’s mother Mary died in 1924, his father married Mary Monfet the next year. Listed as a widow on the marriage record, she was born in 1864 in Quebec and was the daughter of Moise Monfet and Euphresine Charet. She died in 1935 followed by Joseph in 1937. All are interred in the Pinewood Cemetery.

Joseph is commemorated for his service on on page 306 of the First World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa.

By Judy Stockham

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