Emery A. Pitre

1896 Natural Dam, New York – 1939 Gouverneur, New York

 

 

Continuation of tree (6th child of Moise Pitre/Eveline 'Olivine' Labelle); all known surname descendants:

                  9           Emery A. Pitre  b: 6 June 1896  Natural Dam, St. Lawrence, NY; d: 8 August 1939  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY

                                      +Eva M. McCarthy  b: 17 November 1899  Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence, NY; m: 14 July 1917  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY [David/Minnie Clark]; d: 10 November 1986  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY

                              10        Douglas E. Pete  b: 29 March 1918  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY; d: 3 November 1976  Potsdam, St. Lawrence, NY

                                            +Elsie Snyder  b: 7 November 1914  Watertown, Jefferson, NY; m: 28 March 1939  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY [Alva/Martha Sanders]; d: 3 September 1980  Potsdam, St. Lawrence, NY

                              10        Donald R. Pete  b: 17 July 1921  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY; d: 23 January 1997  Star Lake, St. Lawrence, NY

                                            +Gwendolyn Gaddis    m: 17 July 1942  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY

                                          *2nd Wife of Donald R. Pete:

                                            +Elva R. Walts  b: 14 December 1918  LeRay, NY; m: 28 September 1948  First Presbyterian Church, Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY [Carl/Sarah Brient]; d: 12 February 1988  Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY

 

 

Notes for Emery A. Pitre:

Census

- 1920 Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, New York:  Emory Pete 23 (electric light co./electrician), wife Eva 20, Douglas 20 months; sister Rose 21 (lace mfg. Co./-arder).

 

- 1925 Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY:  Emery A. Pete 28 chef in restaurant, wife Eva M. 26, Duglas E. 7, Donald R. 3.

 

- 1930 Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY:  Emery A. Pete 32, wife Eva M. 30, Douglas E. 12, Donald R. 8.

 

- 1940 Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY:  Widow Eva M. Pete 40 [$3500 house value] owner/restaurant, Donald R. 18 cook/restaurant; roomers Elizabeth K. Coffey waitress/restaurant 18 & Juanita M. Lalone 31 waitress/restaurant.

 

- 1950 Gouverneur, St. Lawrence, NY:  Widow Eva M. Pete 49 waitress/restaurant.

 

MISC:  Gouverneur Free Press (NY), 20 June 1923:  Emery Pete of Johnstown street is recovering from an attack of blood poisoning in one of his hands.  Mr. Pete some time ago was visiting his father who resides on a large farm stay near Sterlingville and during his stay there chanced to pitch a load of hay which raised several blisters on his hand.  Several days later blood poisoning developed and he went to Ogdensburg for treatment.  He will be able to return to his position at the Club restaurant in a few days.

- Gouverneur Free Press (NY), 28 December 1928:  Emery Pete cook extraordinary at the Club restaurant has been rewarded for bravery.  About his neck he now wears a medal presented him in recognition of "service rendered."  The presentation is said to have been made by John McFalls and bears merely the inscription: "For Valor."  The story behind the presentation harks back to the Bowling Alley fire last when when Mr. Pete detected the odor of smoke rising through the restaurant building over the alleys.  The odor was faint and no one else recognized it.  Mr. Pete's keen sense however told him there was a fire.  He clung to his belief and an investigation proved there had been no mistake.  The medal is made of leather and attached to it is a long white string which permits the owner to wear it about his neck where it may be displayed at all times.  He is the only member of the present department possessing such a medal.

 

Obituary:  Tribune Press (Gouverneur, NY), Wednesday, 9 August 1939:  Funeral services are to be held Friday morning for Emery A. Pete, Gouverneur restaurant proprietor who died suddenly yesterday morning of a heart attack.  A solemn high mass is to be celebrated at 10 o'clock in St. James Church by Rev. William E. Capron, assistant pastor.  Mr. Pete, 43, was stricken yesterday morning at 8:30 o’clock shortly after he entered his restaurant.  He failed to regain consciousness after the attack and died within half an hour.  Last rites of the Catholic church were administered by Father Capron.  During the past three years he had suffered a number of minor heart attacks.  Last week he suffered an attack in his restaurant, and at 7 a.m. yesterday morning he had an attack at his home on Clinton street.  Mr. Pete was known in the Gouverneur area for his activity as a chef at various community affairs and as a member of the Gouverneur Fire Department.  He was a former foreman of Hook and Ladder company No. 2, and often had charge of the fire department’s midnight supper at annual firemen’s balls.  He also was a member of the Gouverneur Rod & Gun Club.  Mr. Pete was born June 6, 1896 in Natural Dam, the son of Moses and Olivine Labelle Pete.  He started work as chef in the former Kentfield restaurant here as a young man.  Later he worked in the Goodison and Todd restaurant.  After this firm sold out to Frank Moore, Mr. Pete was employed as chef in the Moore restaurant on East Mani street for twelve years.  He then went into business for himself and had operated Emery’s Lunch for the past three years.  On July 14, 1917, he married Miss Eva McCarthy of Gouverneur, who survives.  Also surviving are two sons, Douglas and Donald Pete of Gouverneur; four brothers, Mose Pete of Alexandria Bay, Tenos Pete of Redwood, Jeddie Pete of Watertown, and Leo Pete of Carthage; and four sisters, Mrs. Carl Hart, Mrs. Garfield Beckstead, and Mrs. Arthur Perie of Gouverneur, and Mrs. Arthur Allen of Rossie.

 

Notes for Eva M. McCarthy:

Obituary:  Gouverneur Tribune Press (NY), Wednesday, 12 November 1986:  Eva M. Brown, 86, formerly of 71 Clinton St., died Monday morning, Nov. 10, at Edward John Noble Hospital, following a lengthy illness.  The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Green Funeral Home with Rev. Gerald Service, pastor of St. James Church, officiating.  Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery.  Surviving are a son, Donald R. Pete, Gouverneur; three grandchildren and several great-grandchildren; a brother, Patrick McCartha, Dover Plains; four sisters, Doris Brown, Gladys Kennedy and Jean Martin, all of Gouverneur, and Grace Worden, Deferiet.  A son, Douglas E. Pete, two brothers, David and James McCartha, and a sister, Marion Beach, died previously.  Born in Ogdensburg on Nov. 17, 1899, a daughter of David "Tan" and Minnie Clark McCartha, she married Emery A. Pete, proprietor of Emery's Lunch, on July 14, 1917.  The couple also operated the Log Cabin Restaurant for a time prior to Mr. Pete's death in August 1939.  She was later employed by the Lido Restaurant of Gouverneur, and married Guy M. Brown on June 14, 1950 in Baltimore.  Mr. Brown, a retired farmer and bartender in the Gouverneur area, died in September 1974.  For more than 20 years, Mrs. Brown worked as a caterer at the Gouverneur Elks Club, retiring in 1982.  She then sold her home and went to live with her son, Donald, for a year before moving to the United Helpers Nursing Home, Canton.  She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary for 43 years, the VFW Auxiliary and the Gouverneur Senior Citizens.

 

Obituaries for the children:

Douglas E. Pete:  Gouverneur Tribune Press (NY), Wednesday, 10 November 1976:  The funeral for Douglas E. Pete, 58, of 43 Main St., retired A&P store manager, who died Wednesday at his home were held Saturday, 9:30 a.m. at the Newman Center with Rev. Bernard Kellogg, pastor, and Msgr. Floyd Brown, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Massena, officiating.  Burial was in St. Mary's Cemetery.  Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Elsie Pete; a son, Emery, Atlanta, Ga.; a daughter, Mrs. Martha Teasley of Mobile, Ala.; his mother, Mrs. Eva Brown, and a brother, Donald, both of Gouverneur, a grandson and several nieces and nephews.  Mr. Pete, a long-time employee of the A&P Food Store chain, who retired in 1971 as manager from the Potsdam store, was born March 29, 1918, at Gouverneur, son of Emery and Eva McCarthy Pete.  He graduated from Gouverneur High School and Diebert's Business School at Philadelphia.  He worked for A & P about 30 years including 26 years at Potsdam.  He married Elsie Snyder at Gouverneur on March 28, 1939.  Mr. Pete was a long-time Potsdam volunteer fireman, president of the Standing Wave Radio Club, secretary of REACT, a county emergency radio service, and founder and 20-year member of the local commercial bowling league.

 

Donald R. Pete:  Gouverneur, Tribune Press (NY), Wednesday, 29 January 1997:  Gouverneur:  The funeral for Donald R. Pete, 75, formerly of Jefferson Street, was held Saturday at Green Funeral Home, Gouverneur, with Monsignor Gerald Service, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Canton, officiating.  Burial will be in East Riverside Cemetery.  Mr. Pete died early Thursday, January 23, 1997 at Kinney Nursing Home.  Mr. Pete was a bartender at the former Lido Restaurant and later at Roma Restaurant.  He was then employed at Grovetor Paper Co., Natural Dam, and later worked for the village of Gouverneur in its Department of Public Works, retiring in 1985.  Born July 17, 1921 in Gouverneur, son of Emery and Eva McCartha Pete, he attended Gouverneur schools and served in the Navy during World War II.  He married Elva R. Walts, August 28, 1948 at Gouverneur First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Joseph A. Schofield Jr., pastor, officiating.  They were longtime residents of Jefferson Street.  Mrs. Pete died February 12, 1988.  Mr. Pete had resided at St. Joseph's Nursing Home, Ogdensburg, before moving to Kinney Nursing Home in February 1995.  He was a former member of Gouverneur Fire Department, the Gouverneur Exempt Firemen, Gouverneur Veterans of Foreign Wars, Gouverneur American Legion and Elks Lodge 2035.  Surviving are a stepdaughter, Mrs. Thomas Shirley Allen, Star Lake; three step-grandchildren; six step-great-grandchildren; aunts, an uncle and cousins.  A brother, Douglas E. died before him.  Donations may be made to Gouverneur Fire Department.

 

 

Back one generation to parents of Emery A. Pitre

Back to Table of Contents

Home

 

Items in RED have been verified against parish register entries.

 

Last updated:  26 September 2022.