Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

This road bears the name of Willie Bombardier, Jr., born on July 9, 1920.  Willie Bombardier, Jr. was the son of Wiliam and Zéphérina Bombardier, and was given the name of Willie Jr. to differentiate from his father, William Bombardier, also born in Potton.  When Willie Bombardier married Lucille Fontaine, born in Potton, September 20, 1934, the two bought the former Racine farm and settled there to bring up their four daughters: Marie-Ange, Hélène, Laurette, Manon and their only son, Gaston. 

In 1978, Mr. Bombardier subdivided his property, sold lots, and thereby began the rural housing development that now exists on the road bearing the family name.  Willie Bombardier, Jr. died on July 10, 1989 followed by his wife, Lucille, on January 26, 2006.  Both are interred in the Saint-Cajetan Catholic Cemetery in Mansonville, as are other members of the Bombardier family.^[1] 

The intersection of Chemin Bombardier and Chemin de Vale Perkins, was once called Gordon's Corner, likely for the Gordon family who may have lived nearby.  We do know that Gordon's School # 13 was located here.  Curiously, GPS devices show this long forgotten name, a source of some confusion now! 

Of the Gordon family, little is known: Charles A. Gordon was the original owner-builder of Jewett's Store in Vale Perkins.  Andrew Gordon and his wife, Flora, are buried in the Jones Cemetery near Vale Perkins. 

Plate # 111 in Potton d'antan, Yesterdays of Potton depicts the students of Gordon's school # 13 in 1907.  In the foreground are twin girls, Maud and Margaret Brown, wearing matching hats, born on August 11, 1899.  The little boy at the far right, looking much like Tom Sawyer, is their brother, Harley Brown.  A picture of the same girls, then 10 years older, is shown on Plate # 55.

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