Remembrance Day is an opportunity for Canadians to consider and pay tribute to all those women and men who fought for our country in wars past and present. And for some, it is an especially emotional day spent reminiscing about family and friends who gave up so much for Canada.
For longtime Bonnyville resident Lil Bodnar, Remembrance Day is always an emotional time, as it is a day set aside to not only appreciate what those before us fought for, but also to consider the hardships they went through to provide us with a better life.
Bodnar spoke about her father and community pioneer Henri Edmond Bourgoin, who fought in and survived the First World War. Following the war, he returned to Canada and eventually Bonnyville to teach at both Duclos and Glendon schools before retiring and being honoured with a local school named in his honour — H. E. Bourgoin School.
“I get very sentimental on Remembrance Day,” Bodnar explained. “I get very emotional thinking about the war days and the hardships (my father) faced and the sacrifices he made for us to have a better life.
“Taking part in war was the greatest sacrifice because of the danger. So many gave their lives. He could have been killed in action,” Bodnar recalled. “When they heard the cannon fire pass them, they knew they were safe for that moment, but they never knew about the next.”
“It seems as though a lot of people don't consider the hardships they went through for us. I often think of things like that, and even more so on Remembrance Day, because it is a special day set aside to remember those that sacrificed so much,” she said.
What Bodnar remembers most about her father is his devotion and commitment to everything he did.
She said he was a great father and teacher and his commitments to his country and his community was extraordinary.
“He was very devoted to everything he did,” she explained. “He loved his country and fought hard to protect it. He was very patriotic. But it was his devotion to his profession, teaching, that I think will live on as his legacy.
“He taught French and music, and my brother became a French teacher and I became a music teacher. We were both so inspired through him.”
But Bodnar said her father would not have been the man he was without his wife Lucienne by his side.
“My mom was with him the entire way, helping him, backing him up in everything they did. It was a partnership. My dad wouldn't have made it through everything without the support of my mom.
“They were married 70 years and I have very fond memories of both my mom and dad.”
Though Bourgoin was willing to fight for his country, he was a man in favour of peace, Bodnar recalled.
“He was not in favour of war. He did not like it. He knew what he had to do at that time, but he was a man for peace,” Bodnar explained.
“Every year he would give a talk at H. E. Bourgoin to the students about peace.”
She added, “He was against war and tried to spread a message of peace whenever he could.”
