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 family grew even bigger with the arrival of great-grandchildren. In time, it made sense to adapt the title as her name.
Caron is ‘mémère’ to many others, not just to her growing family. She lives above the Webster Street Deli in Lewiston with her youngest son, who also runs the dining spot. “She goes downstairs every day for lunch,” Dan said.
“Every day, she has construction workers come sit with her and eat lunch.” Mémère is a comforting presence to many patrons at the restaurant. “The entire restaurant calls her that,” he said.
Raising a big family wasn’t easy, but the Carons made it work. Did she help with the family’s catering business? “I ran it. I ran it for 40 years,” Caron said.
“And after that, I started to work for my son. I worked until I was 70.” “It’s funny, when we were brought up, we were so poor, but I didn’t even know it until I hit 17, 18 years of age,” Dan said.
“I started looking at my friends’ houses and stuff. I never felt ‘poor.’ She worked hard for her family and never complained.
That’s the kind of person she is,” he said. “It takes a lot of hard work to raise a big family.” “When mémère sees one of her grandkids, you would think, ‘oh, is that your only grandchild?'” Dan said.
“She has 94 other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That’s how she treats them.” At some point in the recent years, Caron decided to stop buying Christmas gifts for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It was becoming hard to manage, she said. However, she still celebrates their birthdays. With a family as big as hers, Caron gets to attend a birthday every other week.
“Sometimes, I don’t buy gifts for the big kids. But I get something for the little ones always,” Caron said. These days, Caron loves to teach the many young members of her family how to make chicken pot-en-pot, a traditional French dish made with chicken, potatoes, and onions.
If she has time, she said she makes molasses cookies for the big family gatherings. “I’m happy around my children, around all of them,” Caron said. Caron will celebrate her 92nd birthday in October.
Later in the year, her 96th great-grandchild will join the family. We invite you to add your comments, and we encourage a thoughtful, open and lively exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use .
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