By Deborah Achey

FASWSTInterview
FAS 329

 After interviewing Nancy Hebert Lamontagne on Thursday, November 18, 1999, it was easy to see that much of Nancy's determination and perseverance could be attributed to her Franco-American background.  She was especially proud of her French heritage and wasted no time in sharing some wonderful stories with me, about what it meant to be a Franco-American girl growing up in Waterville, Maine.

 Nancy was one of three children born to Joseph Gerard and Alice Lacroix Hebert.  She was the middle child with one older brother and a younger sister.  They resided on King Street and later moved upstreet to Summer Street, living in Frenchville, in the plains of Waterville.  It was an all French neighborhood where people gathered religiously every Sunday after Mass to play fiddles and sing French songs.  Nancy remarked, "It was quite the neighborhood.  The Catholic church was a very big influence on my life as a child. Movies were never rated like they are today, G, PG, or R, so the church used to rate them
for us instead.  The church used to post a list of approved movies and if we wanted to see a particular movie and it was not approved, we could not go.  There was no question about that.  That's an example of how strong an influence the church was in our lives."
 Both of Nancy's grandparents came from Canada and migrated to the Eagle Lake and Fort Kent area.  She speaks lovingly of her grandparents, but holds a special place in her heart for her Memere Hebert and says that her grandmother tried to preserve the French culture at home by insisting that the grandchildren learn French.  "Memere Hebert refused to speake English to us because she wanted us kids to learn French.  So we learned how 
to say things in French when we were with her.  She would do the dishes with us and teach us the words for plate, cup, spoon, and expected us to memorize the French words.  It was her way of keeping the French culture alive," remembered Nancy.  Later Nancy discovered that her Memere Hebert did indeed speak English, but had refrained from doing so around the children.
 Nancy's parents were both very young when they died.  Her father, Joseph Hebert, was electrocuted at the tender age of 31. Nancy was only seven years old at the time of his death.  Nine years later, Nancy's mother died due to complications from surgery.  So at the age of 16, Nancy and her sister went to live with each of their godparents, in different homes while Nancy's brother joined the Marines.  Once again the Catholic Church had
influenced Nancy's life.  "That's when you could see the impact and influence the church had in our family because there was no question about where we would live after my mother died," added Nancy.
 Shortly after her mother's death, Nancy married.  She had dropped out of high school at eighteen and was employed at an egg farm where she picked eggs.  From there she went to work for the Maine Poultry Service where she worked with other women who were also mostly Franco-American.  They debeaked and vaccinated chickens.  "With no high school diploma, it was a job.  Now that I look back at it, I know that I married at such a young age so that I could have my own home and reestablish the family unit.  My sister moved in with us after I got married," Nancy reiterated.  Nancy gave birth to a son, but filed for divorce due to incompatibility shortly after, and received an annulment from the Catholic Church four years after being married.  Nancy's Memere greatly supported her divorce because she realized that Nancy had only married so that she and her sister could once again remain in a home together. 

 Nancy proudly recalled her Aunt Annette Hebert Poulin being named "Franco-Woman of the Year," at the Franco-American Festival sponsored by the Calumet Club in Augusta, Maine a few years ago.  Yet Nancy modestly shared some pretty amazing facts about herself. 

 After her divorce Nancy was employed as a dietary aide at what used to be the Waterville Osteopathic Hospital, now Inland Hospital, in Waterville, Maine.  She worked various jobs in the dietary department and was interested in completing her high school education so that she could go on to college.  She needed a degree to become a dietary supervisor, but it was then that she met her second husband, a Canadian who was working as a carpenter in Waterville.  Clermond Lamontagne was the oldest of fifteen children and believed that a woman's place was in the home, yet after three years of marriage and two miscarriages, Nancy was allowed to continue her education, return to high school, and received her high school diploma in 1976.  She modestly admitted that she was named valedictorian of her class.  With that kind of success, Nancy was spurred on to continue.
 She graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta with an Associate's Degree in Social Services in 1988.  Nancy didn't stop there because she later received her Bachelor's Degree in Education at the University of Maine at Farmington in 1990.  Nancy's spirit was unshakeable even when her husband and best friend had an affair before she finished her education.  Clermond Lamontagne simply agreed to a divorce and left Nancy and her son with the home that she had maintained all those years, even before she had married him. By this time Nancy had also taken a foster son into her home. 
  Throughout all of her trials and tribulations, Nancy insists that her faith was what brought her through everything. She actually came full circle in her life because if her mother had not died, Nancy would have become a teacher earlier on.  "I had an aunt who was a nun and a teacher and that's what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I guess you could say I accomplished my goals because I am now an Associate Sister
of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Winslow, Maine and I am also a teacher," Nancy added.
 When asked about specific memories concerning her Franco-American heritage, Nancy talked about huge family gatherings on Christmas Eve after midnight mass and says, "When Memere was alive, all 55 grandchildren and great-grandchildren used to get together on Christmas Eve and celebrate the holiday as a family.  Today our numbers have dwindled, but we still maintain that family unit, even though it's much smaller."
  Nancy is presently employed at Forest Hills School in Jackman, Maine, approaching her tenure.  She is involved with Junior High and High School Youth Ministry functions, and also lectors at church.  She proudly derives her strength from the religious aspect of growing up as a Franco-American and attributes her strong sense of family and values to that upbringing so deeply imbedded.  "My faith got me through emotionally," remarked Nancy. 
  At 51 years of age, Nancy has lived a lifetime of experiences that has produced an individual who can weather all the hardships life has to offer and yet she continues to have an incredible sense of humor.  I am fortunate enough to know Nancy on a personal basis as well.  She is the first one to tell a joke and is not bothered by jokes about her particular nationality, yet sometimes is offended when these jokes portray Franco-Americans as being stupid.  Nancy blushed when I reported that my assignment was to find the unsung heroine in her and I commented that I couldn't have had a better subject.   Achieving her educational goals served as a great inspiration to me, as I am on that same journey myself.  Without Franco-American women like Nancy Lamontagne, the French culture might not have persevered.  It was with great respect and privilege that I interviewed such a woman to honor her accomplishments and her womanhood by putting this down on paper.