The Story of Rose LaCroix (1909-2002)

"Family is more than blood" as the saying goes. Families can include those who you welcome in and who share the highs and lows of life with you, and those who you love with all your heart. 

I have always been curious about a woman named Rose LaCroix (1909-2002) who is buried in the Moynahan family plot. She is not related to the Moynahan family (genealogically) and family lore recalls her as a very special friend of my great uncle Gerald Moynahan (1908-1961). Gerald served as a medic in the Second World War after which the story about Rose and Gerald becomes less clear.

Gerald Moynahan (1908-1961) and Rose LaCroix (1909-2002)
(Photo credit: Jerome Boyle)

Whenever we visited Windsor Ontario's Heavenly Rest Cemetery to visit our ancestors, we would also pay our respects to the grave of Rose LaCroix (1909-2002). My father E. Moynahan took the photo below when he visited Heavenly Rest in 2007.

Paying Respect to Rose LaCroix at Heavenly Rest Cemetery

When Rose LaCroix died peacefully in her sleep at ninety-two years of age (2002), she was the last living in her family (parents, siblings: 5 brothers, 1 sister) and had never married. She had retired from Hotel Dieu Hospital in the Bookkeeping Department after 25 years of service.

With little information about her, and wanting to honour the special place she held in our family, what follows is my attempt to locate and tell her story.

The Moynahans and LaCroix Families 

Neighbours on Campbell Ave.

On the 1935 Voters List for Campbell Ave., the LaCroix and Moynahan families were neighbours

Source: Ontario, Canada Voter Lists, 1867-1900 : 1935; Ontario/Essex West

At the Boyle and Moynahan wedding June 12, 1937, Rose Lacroix and Gerald Moynahan are pictured with the bride, my great aunt, Mary Aileen Moynahan (1899-1994) and groom Francis Edward Boyle (1889-1973)

Left to Right: Rose Lacroix, Francis Edward Boyle, Mary Aileen Moynahan and Gerald Moynahan

 Rose LaCroix 

What I learned about Rose and the LaCroix family was that her proper name was Marie Rose Josephine Lacroix and she was the daughter of  Alphonse LaCroix (1866-1952 - we have his funeral card in our collection) and Armilda Lavoie (1866-1960).

Alphonse Lacroix was born in Luceville, Quebec and moved to Windsor, Ontario in 1899. When he died in 1952, Alphonse was a retired employee of the McKee Lumber Company. Armilda (Lavoie) LaCroix died in 1960, married Alphonse in Ste-Luce Québec

CLIPPED FROM The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada
26 May 1952, Mon • Page 8
and The Windsor Star 02 Apr 1960, Sat • Page 8

Five sons and two daughters were born from this marriage and Rose, who was the youngest of the children, died in 2002.

World War II

In 1941, Ottawa announced the formation of a Canadian Women's Army Corps so that women would have an opportunity to "get into the war alongside husbands, brothers and sons". They would work as "drivers for light army vehicles, cooks, waitresses in hospitals and messes, as canteen helpers, store women, telephone operators and office clerks." and (of course)  "pay will be slightly lower than regular army pay"

Clipped from The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 28 Jun 1941, Sat •

The Windsor Star interviewed several women to get their reactions to the announcement and Rose offered her views:

Clipped from The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 28 Jun 1941, Sat •

I could not locate any records indicating that Rose applied or served with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps but I do have the military files for my great uncle Gerald Moynahan

Gerald John Moynahan (1908-1961)

My great uncle Gerald John Moynahan (1907-1961) started active service in the R.C.A.M.C. ( Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps) on the 20th of August 1942 in Windsor Ontario. He served 43 months of which 31 months were served overseas in the U.K. and N.W.Europe. He worked as a medic on Canadian field ambulances.

He was the ideal candidate for the medical corps. Based on his occupational history found in his enlistment papers, he had been working 10 years as a first aid medical clerk at the Ford Motor Co. of Canada (for wages of $45 per week).

Clipped from The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) 17 Dec 1942, Thu • Page 5

Gerald J. Moynahan (far right) with fellow soldiers in Trafalgar Square, London, England

The Windsor Star

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Fri, May 11, 1945 · Page 5

Gerald's brother Thomas Bernard Moynahan (1909-1974) also served overseas. Bernard started active service in the RCOC (Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps) and later the RCEME (Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) on the 12th of July 1940 in Windsor, Ontario. He served 57 months overseas in the U.K., the Mediterranean and NW Europe. His trade on enlistment was a motorcyclist and a clerk.

Thomas Bernard Moynahan (1909-1974)

The Moynahan Brothers Return From The War 1946

Clipped from The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 02 Feb 1946, Sat • Page 5

Rose LaCroix is pictured below with the two Boyle brothers (and another unidentified boy) waiting for the train that was bringing the Boyle's two uncles, Bernard Moynahan and Gerald Moynahan, home to Windsor from World War 2. To the Boyle brothers, their two uncles were heroes..

Rose LaCroix and the Boyle brothers (unidentified boy) at the train station welcoming troops home
(Photo credit: Jerome Boyle)

Gerald Marries Bernice Phillips

The part of Rose's story between Gerald Moynahan arriving home from the war in 1946 and his marriage to nurse Bernice ("Birdie") Phillips (1899-1980) in 1949 is unknown to me.

Clipped from The Windsor Star, 17 Feb 1949, Thu, Page 31

1949 Windsor City Directory  https://archive.org/stream/WindsorCityDirectory1949

Bernice (Phillips) Moynahan (1899-1980) with her nephew Jerry Boyle and another nephew (unknown)
(Photo credit: Jerome Boyle)

Gerald Moynahan died in 1961 and his obituary incorrectly stated that he had three sons. The three Moynahan "sons" mentioned were actually his brothers Bernard (1909-1974), Ernie (1900-1974) and Ray (1904-1980). He had a sister Mary Aileen (Moynahan) Boyle (1899-1994) surviving as well. His mother Mary (Broderick) Moynahan (1869-1960) had passed the year before in 1960.

Assupmtion Cemetery, Windsor, Ontario

Clipped from theWindsor Star 18 July 1961, page 10

Bernice (Phillips) Moynahan died in 1980 at Villa Maria, Windsor, Ontario. (located near the Ambassador Bridge)  

Bernice and Gerald are buried at Heavenly Rest Cemetery in the St Ann Section, Row 28, site 6, .... there is no memorial listed for Bernice. (Note that the Mero Family is beside them sites 1-4; Moynahan has sites 5-8 and the  Lefaive family 9, 10)

 Marie Rose Josephine Lacroix 

1909-2002

Rose LaCroix died in 2002, peacefully in her sleep at Central Park Lodge in Windsor, Ontario. She never married but was a beloved aunt and remembered forever by the Moynahan and Boyle families.

Rose LaCroix in 1937

CLIPPED FROM The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 04 Jan 2002, Fri • Page 3

R.I.P Rose LaCroix (circa 1946)