Étienne LAFOND dit PEPIN
Biography

Pioneer Étienne Lafond died suddenly on September 15th, 1665, at Trois-Rivières, Québec. The parish registry does not mention a cause of death, but it's reported that "since he was a man of uncommon stature and quality, his mortal remains were interred in the church itself."

Early records indicate that Étienne was a servant of the Ursuline Nuns in New France and later a "builder of houses and boats." He became a "great land-owner."

In 1645 Étienne married Marie Boucher, sister of the illustrious Pierre Boucher of Boucherville. Marie outlived her husband by forty years and did not remarry. She's said to have been an "excellent businesswoman," possibly better than her famous brother at managing "family affairs with authority and competence."

The many notable descendants of Marie and Étienne include Queen Camilla of the UK, Angelina Jolie, and the Canadian political family Trudeau.
(Nos Ancêtres gives his surname as "Pépin de Lafond," but PRDH and other modern sources call him simply Lafond.)

[Sources: PRDH; "Étienne Pépin de Lafond", Our French-Canadian Ancestors (vol.6, pp.188-195), Jacques Saintonge (Thomas J. Laforest (tr.)), James Weathers illustrator, Palm Harbor, Florida, 1983]

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