Felix Xavier Suzor (1876 - 1966)

My grandfather said that when he was young, as one of thirteen children, it was hard to go to school because there weren't enough shoes for everyone. So, they took turns wearing the shoes, and that meant that they also took turns going to school.

Felix was born on 19 Sep 1876 in St. Jacques le Majeur, Clarenceville, Province of Quebec, Canada. He was baptized 29 Oct 1876 in St. George de Noyon, Henryville, Province of Quebec. His father, Hypolite Suzor, signed the baptismal certificate himself, spelling his name EPOLITE SUSAR. In the Canadian census of 1881, he was 5 years old, living with 5 siblings, his parents Denise and Hypolite, and his grandparents Louisa and Felix. Their surname was spelled SUSOR. His father, age 37, and grandfather, age 94, were listed as farmers. In the 1991 census, at the age of 14, he lived with 7 siblings and his parents. After his 15th birthday in September he and his parents and siblings immigrated to Ludlow, Massachusetts where he worked as a weaver in the Ludlow Mills. He married Marie Florence Angelina Daigle on 9 Apr 1901 in the St. Louis de Gonzague Church in Indian Orchard, MA. Sadly, this church is scheduled for demolition in 2015 because there are too many repairs needed. A chapel will be erected in its place. The 1910 census from Springfield, MA showed Felix and Angelina living at 259 1/2 Main St., I.O. with their children Florence, age 3 and Rose age 2. A son Armand, born the year before Florence, was stillborn. A girl, Mary, was stillborn just before the census was taken. Felix ran Suzor's Confectionary Store on Main St, I,O. In 1920 they were living on Stebbins St., Ludlow. Besides Florence and Rose there were Delima, 7, and Antoinette, 1 1/2. In 1928 they lived on Crystal Ave., Spfld. Felix ran a store there. The 1930 census mispelled their name as Suyur. They lived at 55 Pembroke St., Springfield with Rose and Antoinette. Florence had married Jul 19, 1926 and Delima had died Sep 3, 1926. Living with them was Jeanette Charland, their niece. Rose married in 1935 and Antoinette in 1936, when Felix and Angelina moved to 32 Clarkson Ave, Brooklyn, NY where Felix took on a janitor's job because work was scarce in the Springfield area. In November 1943 Angelina would fall in a darkened basement, injure her leg, and die on the 19th from a blood clot. Felix packed up his belongings to return to Springfield to live with his daughter, Florence. About 1963 he moved with Florence and Jim to Florida to live with Jim's parents. Felix died in St. Petersburg on 15 April 1966 at the age of 89.