Once in a lifetime a great hero comes along who is “bigger than life.” For the people of New Brunswick, Yvon Durelle was such a hero. As time went by, he was to become greater in the people’s minds than he was in real life.
Yvon Durelle was born on October 14, 1929. He was the seventh child in a family of ten. These were the Depression years. It was very hard to raise a large family then. It was not easy for all the families living in Baie Ste. Anne. Most of the people fished only part of the year. There was no unemployment insurance for the non-fishing season like there is today.
The Durelle children grew up tough and hard. They slept on board beds with only one or two blankets. Often three or four of them would sleep in one bed. It was very cold in winter. As Yvon says:
“We’d cover ourselves with old coats. But we didn’t mind.
We didn’t know any different. There were families worse off than
us in Baie Ste. Anne. And we always had enough to eat. We had
a garden and farm animals—we never went hungry.”
Another reason the Durelle family was better off then most, was that Yvon’s father, Ernest, was a blacksmith. When there was no fishing in the winter, he could make money at his shop. Ernest was a small, gentle man. He was very kind to his neighbours when they were in need. People travelling through Baie Ste. Anne would often stay at the Durelle home overnight.