William J. Perks
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Birth: | May 1872 | GlenRoy, Ontario |
| Marriage: | 26 Nov 1906 | St. Raphael's, ON | |
| Death: | 6 Oct 1943 | Longueuil, Qc | |
| Burial: | Saint-Antoine-de-Pades | Longueuil, Qc | |
| Father: | |||
| Mother: |
The Perks family moved to Longueuil in the spring of 1918. Longueuil then had approximately 8000 inhabitants. Their first home in Longueuil, was a semi-detached, brick, three bedrooms house on Lemoyne Street. They rented it for eighteen dollars per month, which was rather expensive. The pride of all Longueuil was St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church. Seven members of the Perks' family have celebrated their wedding in this historic church. Bill's preferred hobby was gardening and houseplants. In Longueuil, he and Mary, won numerous awards for their flowers , indoor or others, and even their vegetables when they were members of the Horticultural Society of Saint- Lambert.
In September and early October, on Sunday, after Mass, Daddy (WJ Perks) took us up to a mile or more from where to pick berries, to pick mushrooms, acorns , hazelnuts and beechnuts. There were few occasions when we did not come back with at least two full baskets. It was for a long time one of our favorite activities
In 1940, the family moved again. It was on Longueuil Street, this time, and the family decreased again with the marriages of Mary, Allan and John. And then there was the death of Dad, W. Perks. John was then working for Co-operative Funeral Parlors, a funeral cooperative, so that the house became a funeral home around 1946, with John as director. After the wedding of John and Estelle, they moved upstairs with mom.
In 1921, while we were staying on Saint-Alexandre Street, Dad (W. J. Perks) heard a fellow-worker talking about radio broadcasts. The latter, a telegraphist in New York, was in regular contact with Dad, and sent him a packet containing electric wire, a crystal and a pair of earphones. Dad then built his first galena-style, galley-detecting galena, so we could pick up the KDKA station in Pittsburgh, the first American radio station that was broadcasting to the general public. At first, most radio shows were musical, but we had our favorite shows, like Fibber McGee and Amos and Andy. Papa later built several galena posts for his friends, often ordinary but sometimes very ingenious. In 1922, the company Marconi began to broadcast phonographic recordings from Montreal and radio appeared in our region.
