Joan Caron, 91, of Lewiston, center, sits Aug. 12 with some of her 95 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and other family members at her son’s home on Blackmer Street in Auburn. From left, front row, are Emery Caron, Waelin Gould, Noah Blakey and Ben Gould; second row, Ezra Blakey, Fletcher Caron, Joan Caron, Danny Caron Jr.
, Jenna Blakey, and Morgan Caron and Mickie Caron; back row, is Dan Caron. Joan’s dog Roux photobombs the picture. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal LEWISTON — When Joan Caron came to Lewiston in 1932, she did not know that one day, she would become the matriarch of a big family.
Caron, 91, is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to 95: 73 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. Caron goes by the name ‘mémère,’ which is French for grandmother. “I was 19 when I came to Lewiston.
Very young,” Caron said. When she left her hometown of Grand Isle in northern Maine, she did not speak English. Soon after her arrival in Lewiston, she found a good reason to stay.
“In two weeks, I met my husband. I still have my little ring. He paid $69 for it, a week’s pay.
It’s very beautiful,” Caron said with a smile. The diamond ring glinted in the sun. Caron and her husband, Louis, built a life in Lewiston, raising their seven children.
“Mom has seven siblings, so she had seven kids,” her oldest son, Dan, said. “My oldest son, he has seven kids of his own. They all have many kids.
” Caron’s first grandchild is a grandmother at 48. The fami.