By Fred Langan

Evelyn Blackwood turned 100, on January 30 and was feted at a gathering on January 31 at Elderberry Farm. Evelyn was a long-time resident of Knowlton, and moved here in 1973 when she married Homer Blackwood, who had been elected mayor just the year before.

Evelyn Cooney was born in Montreal to an Irish Catholic family. Her parents died when she was six years old and she was raised by two aunts on her father’s side. She lived in NDG in Montreal and went to the Villa Maria Convent. Evelyn has remained a devout Catholic all her life.

Career at Bell

During the war Evelyn started work at the Bell Telephone Company, as it was then known, in a summer job which turned into a full-time career.

“I was hired in the engineering department keeping records of all the facilities to provide telephone service to everybody,” said Evelyn. She was promoted several times.

Marriage and Community Involvement

She met Homer Blackwood, who also worked at Bell. His wife had died and he and Evelyn were married at St. Paul’s Anglican church in Knowlton as St. Edouard, the Catholic Church was being repaired. There was a Catholic priest at the ceremony.

“I had to get permission from the diocese in St. Hyacinthe to get married in a Protestant church,” said Evelyn, who was involved with St. Edouard over the years.

“We started an organization with the church to re-do the belfry which was worn out. There was a group of 18 or twenty ladies who did fundraising and I was involved in that.”

Life in the Townships and Artistic Passions

At the church, Evelyn was responsible for designing and executing the completion of the stained glass window panels, light fixtures along with the financing for each item being donated in memory of individual families.

“I came to love the Townships very much. Homer knew everybody of course which was an asset for me.”

Evelyn painted local scenes, including many churches, she would see on long drives through the backroads. Homer Blackwood died in 1999.

In 2011 Evelyn married Don French and the couple spent a happy decade together before Don’s death.

Evelyn now resides in Cowansville.