Dupuy, Moise

Moise Dupuy was born on August 16, 1915 (in St. Albert area) to parents George and Emma (Thomas) Dupuy. He was the second youngest of 6 children. In 1920 Moise moved with his family to the Bezanson area where they homesteaded. Five years later they moved to the Guy district. There Moise, age 10, attended the Ballater School, but he quit his education at age 15 in order to work on stooking and threshing crews. As soon as he was old enough, he filed on his own homestead: NW ¼ – 6-76-21-W5 which was very close to his brother Bob’s land. Work was scarce in the 1930’s so the two brothers would clear and break land, with an axe. In 1934 they built a square log house on Bob’s farm and lived there together. During the winters they earned extra money by selling animal pelts and firewood. Moise joined the army in 1942, first taking basic training in Grande Prairie. Soon Moise was transferred to the reserve army in Calgary, and on December 14, 1942 he married Elsa Mathilda Debaere of Falher. Finally he was stationed in Halifax, and was discharged in 1945. During his time with the army, he was given “harvest leaves” because he was a farmer. (Bob attended to the farming in Moise’s absence.) After the war, Moise acquired a half section of land from the V.L.A. (Veteran’s Land Act), and he hired a “cat” and brush cutter to clear it. As grain prices picked up, he bought bigger and better farm machinery. Moise and Bob moved the log house from Bob’s land onto Moise’s with 6 tractors across the fields! Later, Moise purchased land from his other brother, George, and he built a frame house there. Moise and Bob continued farming together until 1966, when Bob sold his 3 quarters to him (and moved to BC.) Elsa and Moise had 5 children: Dianne, Denis, Leona, Joyce, and Norman. They farmed until 1972, when they sold their land to Allarco Farms. In 1974 they moved to Falher, and Moise worked part-time for the Municipal District of Smoky River, until his death in 1978. Elsa died in 2013

Sources: Guy pp. 311-312 (photo p. 313)
Smoky River to Grande Prairie pp. 328-329
AGS Obituary Index (Elsa)

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