PEPÎN, GEDEON - (440 - ENGLISH)
GEDEON PEPIN
Son of Pierre Pépin and Marie Fortin, Gédéon Pépin was born on December 9, 1878 at Saint-Martin-de-Beauce in Quebec. From his early age, he showed musical talents. His parents, farmers, did not have the means to pay for musical studies, but he found benefactors all along the way who enabled him to develop his talents.
After only about a dozen years of playing, he played the harmonium during a mass. At the age of 13, he studied at the well-known Seminary of Quebec (Le Séminaire de Quebec) and began to compose musical pieces between his classes. He spent most of his recreation periods at the piano. Five years later, he decided to leave the Seminary in order to study the craft of cheese-making at St. Hyacinth. It is there that he met Mérida St. Pierre whom he married three months later. He was only 19; she was 17. The couple settled in St. Lambert, in the county of Lévis where Gédéon worked in a butter-maker’s shop and he also played the organ for the church.
In 1901, when a man from the region came back from the Klondike with $50,000 in his pockets, Gédéon Pépin and some of his companions decided to try their luck in the gold mines of the Yukon. The decision was not easy because he left his wife and his daughters, Imelda and Blanche, both younger than two years, in Quebec.
After travelling for fifteen days the searchers reached Dawson City. Since Gédéon Pépin was one of the rare members of the group who spoke English, he took on the responsibility of looking for work for his friends. Then he accepted a mining job on a rich mining concession on the Dominion Creek which belonged to a couple of Swedes. After about thirty days of back-breaking work, a friend told him about a position as organist for the catholic church of St. Mary’s where a new organ had just been installed. Without hesitating, he went to Dawson City, applied for the job and got it. Over and above playing the organ, he had to cut wood for heating and dig the cemetery holes for the tombs to bury the dead. With the arrival of Father Bunoz, the conditions of work for Gédéon improved. He was able to continue as an organist, but he wasn’t expected to do all the rest. Therefore he got a job for the Territorial Government which enabled him to save money. In 1903 he bought a cabin and went back to Quebec to get his family.
As a musician, Pépin took part in every important event. He directed his own orchestra, played the piano and even found time to organize concerts that would bring in money for the church or even for individuals in need. He often accompanied Robert Service, well-known poet, when Service would recite his poems for the public. Gédéon even composed some musical pieces in varied styles: “The Dream of a Sourdough”, “Fair Yukon” and “The Dance of the Northern Lights”. These were never published but he played them during public dances (soirées dansantes).
On March 2, 1909, his wife, Mérida Saint-Pierre died at the age of 28. Since Gédéon was well known and respected by the population of Dawson City, not only as a musician but also as an officer of the Registry of Mines in the Office of the Commissionaire for Gold, a large important crowd assisted at the funeral. After this tragic event, he found himself alone with four girls to raise (Annette and Cécile were born in Dawson City.). On the 19th of April 1910, he married Barbara Pearl Albert. Together they raised 15 children, all musically talented. In 1912, the Pépin family moved to Edmonton, Alberta where Gédéon continued to be very well known and respected as an organist and choir master. He organized a family orchestra with two of his daughters and during a few years, they played at many dances and family gatherings (soirées dansantes.) He also founded the “Pépin and Sons” an enterprise which specialized in the installation and repair of pianos and organs. His sons worked for the business as salesmen and technicians.
Because of health reasons, he retired in 1956; Gédéon Pépin died at the age of 74.
Ref. Empreinte. Published by the Franco-phones of the Yukon, 1997, vol. 11, p.69-72
NOTE Many people in Edmonton, especially in the St. Joachim parish knew the Pépin family in Edmonton. Maybe some day someone will be kind enough to add more details to this story for me. mcb
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