14. Théodore (Ted) Arsenault 
     
    
   
   
    
     Théodore seemed to know everybody and people enjoyed his sense of humour, his 
     
     generosity and his tall stories in which the hero was inevitably himself. An imitator "par 
     
     excellence", he was also a fine singer and many people still recall his very personal rendering 
     
     of “A la Coutchiyam’’, a short Micmac song: 
     
    
   
   
    
     A la coutchiyam chisla Elisabeth 
     
     In tchami magoua. 
     
    

    
     A la coutchiyam chisla-a-a 
     
    

    
     In tchamagoui, in tchamagoua, 
     
     In tchamagoui, in tchamagoua. 
     
     A la coutchiyam chisla Elisabeth 
     
     In tchmi magoua 
     
    

    
     A la coutchiyam chisla. 
     
    
   
   
    
     A self-taught musician, he was an accomplished fiddler and he also mastered the mouth- 
     
     organ. With all these talents under his hat, he was the life and soul of parties. And, as his son 
     
     Benoit adds: "It goes without saying, he also liked to take a drink!" 
     
    
   
   
    
     On 23 July 1930, Théodore married school teacher Iréne Arsenault, daughter of Benoit 
     
     Arsenault and Céline Poirier of Urbainville who was teaching at the Maximeville school. It 
     
     should be noted that Iréne's sister, Léah, was already married to Théodore's Uncle Camille (a 
     
     Damien) Arsenault. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Théodore and Iréne settled in Maximeville where all of their children were born, the 
     
     exception being the youngest who was born in Wellington where the family moved in 1945. 
     
     In the late 1970s, with all of their children gone, they rented an apartment in Summerside 
     
     where Théodore died on 24 November 1982. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Probably because he had little education, Théodore was very proud of his family’s 
     
     accomplishments. Following in the footsteps of their mother, a school teacher interested in 
     
     history, geography and current events, his nine children pursued their studies in a variety of 
     
     domains and have settled across the country like dandelion seeds blown away by a sea wind. 
     
    
   
   
    
     It is interesting to note that a picture of Theodore is to be found in the Buckingham Palace 
     
     collection! Taken on the Malpeque wharf by Island photographer Wayne Barrett, it was given 
     
     as a gift to Queen Elizabeth II during her 1973 visit to the Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Théodore now rests in the Wellington Catholic cemetery from where he undoubtedly still 
     
     keeps watch on the sea, his lifelong friend and accomplice. 
     
    
   
   
    
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