Fidencio Amarante Jacques 52 Weeks/52 Ancestors

Fred Jacques was born on November 12, 1914.

He’s on the left in this picture. What a cute face!

Uncle Fred was bigger than life. I don’t always have a relationship with everyone that I write about, but I loved my Uncle Fred. He was always in a good mood, loved to sing a song, whistle a tune and was generally a good guy.

Fred lived at home with the family as they moved from New Mexico to Colorado. By 1941, he’d enlisted in the U.S. Army and was listed as a semi-skilled miner and mining-machine operator. He also worked the mines in Jackson, CA with Uncle Ernest and Uncle Joe. In this shot, Uncle Fred’s seated in the second row from the front, fourth from the right.

I haven’t found Uncle Fred on the 1940 census yet. I know his family had moved to Jackson, CA in 1935, but he might have been living with a sibling or working, because I can’t find him anywhere on the 1940 census (I’ll keep looking!)

By October 5, 1941, he had married Alice Carrillo. Now, it is times like this I would love to be able to ask Aunt Alice or Uncle Fred, how did you meet? Where and when? Things like that. It is so important to ask those questions when you can. If you haven’t asked your parents how your grandparents met, when they were married, where or under what circumstances, by all means, make sure you do so. Of course, my daughter said she didn’t know when either of her grandparents were married. Yeah, that’s why I write my blog. When they care to look, there will be a place to go.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, here they are on their wedding.

Uncle Fred is looking so dapper.  And he looks a great deal like his brothers. Aunt Alice must have been 20 years old, Uncle Fred 27. They look so young here, just adorable.

Aunt Alice’s parents were Roman and Isabel Carrillo. I only knew Mrs. Carrillo and we always called her big Grandma Carrillo. She was a very nice lady. Aunt Alice’s siblings were Emma, Velia, Dora, Gloria and Roman. They were always very nice to us. In fact, one time Aunt Alice had come to visit and brought along Aunt Dora (Back in those days,  it didn’t matter that they weren’t my aunts, I called them aunt anyway). Well, I was getting dressed for work and we were expected to take care of our own ironing, if something needed doing our mother thought we ought to do that ourselves. Anyway, Aunt Alice and Aunt Dora were visiting and Aunt Dora sees that I am going to start ironing my clothing for work and she jumps up and decides she should do it for me. Now, I know what my mother would say, so I give it a half-hearted, no, no, it’s okay. But Aunt Dora insists, so she takes over the ironing. Of course, mother walks in and I get the evil-eye from her. Hahaha, I do like to be pampered.

Back to Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred. Their first child was Douglas Ronald (Ronnie) Jacques, born on July 1, 1942. Shortly after, their daughter, Pearl Antoinette, was born on June 29, 1943, in Santa Clara, CA.

What a cute little family picture this is. Uncle Fred on the left, holding Ronnie, Bobby Serna, Pearl and Aunt Alice.

This is a cool picture that was taken at Roscoe Zuckerman Farm’s repair garage at Camp 21, Mandeville Island. This was taken on June 30, 1945 and Uncle Fred is in the top row, second from the left. Uncle Sam Saiz is right next to him.

Ronnie Jacques was born with Downs Syndrome and on January 10, 1958, 15 year old Ronnie passed away. They must have been devastated at his loss.

And here is a close up of that picture

Such a sweet picture.

By the 1960’s, Pearl met Terry Medeiros and on April 29, 1967, they were married in San Jose, CA.

I love that video. My dad shot it before and after the ceremony. Love the shot of Uncle Fred getting out of the car with Pearl, then the wedding party coming out of the church. So cool to have these movies.

This is a beautiful picture of Pearl and Aunt Alice. Just lovely.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Medeiros and Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred at the ceremony.

This is a picture that my cousin Joey had. From the left is Rosemary, Uncle Joe, Aunt Della, Aunt Alice, Uncle Fred, Grandma Jacques, Joey, Toni Jean and I suspect that the baby is Gary.

Terry Medeiros Jr. was born in 1967, Desiree Medeiros in 1969 and Patricia Medeiros in 1974.

Uncle Fred sure loved his grandkids. They became his whole world.

Uncle Fred holding Terry and Aunt Alice holding Desiree. Damn cute kids.

Uncle Fred and Tina,  1975

Little Terry, Big Terry and Uncle Fred. I love this picture because in my mind, this is what Uncle Fred looks like. Love seeing him wear a cowboy hat.

This is a great shot of Uncle Fred and Aunt Alice in 1964 at my Grandma Flora’s wedding.

Love this picture of my Uncle Fred.

They say a smell can trigger a memory. I put a pot of pinto beans to boil on the stove and when I walked back in my house, the smell was so good that I almost expected my Uncle Fred to walk out of the kitchen saying, “Lordy, lordy, lordy.”

Uncle Fred had many experiences that I’ll never be able to expound upon, including working in Saudi Arabia. He worked jobs with my father and my dad looked up to his big brother. Uncle Fred’s house also was a hubbub of activity for family parties, poker and camping. Here they are on an outing with my mom and dad, Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Sam in Lake Tahoe.

Such a great man. I loved Uncle Fred with all my heart. I miss him greatly.

In June of 1981, my older sisters were going to San Jose to go out with Pearl (there was a lot of going out in those days) and I was taken along as a babysitter for Terry, Desi and Tina. It was while I was babysitting that we had the awful news that Uncle Fred had a heart attack. He was living in Pioneer, California, where he’d retired to the dream house that he’d always wanted. It was devastating to be with those kids when that happened and is something I’ll never forget.

Fidencio Amarante Jacques passed away on June 6, 1981 at the age of 66. That is way too young for a man who cast such a large shadow on our family and whose memory we cherish. Alice Carrillo Jacques spent lots of time with her mother, her sisters, her daughter and her grandchildren, but I know she missed her husband dearly. She passed away on November 2, 2006. They left behind a beautiful family and a great legacy.