Jacques “Jack” A. Charbonneau
ST. ALBANS: Jacques “Jack” A. Charbonneau, 85, passed away at home on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. He was born in St. Sebastian, Quebec Canada on April 6, 1936, to the late Donat and Crescence (Legault) Charbonneau.
Jack enjoyed his teenage years, with the exception of working on his family farm in West Berkshire, Vermont. His unhappiness with working on the farm brought him to Connecticut where his brother, Andy, got him a job installing blinds for VeniKleen. He then began his career in trucking with Eastern Trucking Company in East Hartford, joining the Teamsters Union the same year. After working for numerous trucking companies in the Hartford area, he decided to go independent in 1969 and bought his own truck, driving for Dallas & Mavis Forwarding Company as an owner-operator hauling heavy equipment over the road. He ended his driving career with North Penn Transfer in South Windsor.
Jack met Martha Thomas in 1955 through her sister, Shirley. Coincidentally, he and Martha grew up eight miles apart in Vermont, but didn’t meet each other until both moved to Connecticut in their late teens. They married in 1956 and purchased their first home in East Hartford, CT in 1958, where they raised their four children.
Jack retired in 1988 and they moved into the retirement home they built in St. Albans, VT. This is when his entrepreneurship continued. He took over operations of The Crossing Restaurant and purchased various rental properties in Richford, VT. He also formed a partnership in a strip mall with his brother, Louis, in St. Albans.
When he decided to leave the restaurant business, he kept busy by plowing, sanding, lawn care, picking up and delivering vehicles and/or farm equipment for Champlain Valley Equipment and his very good friend, Tom Michel at Progressive Auto.
Jack enjoyed playing games with his family, Sunday afternoon drives with Martha, going out to dinner, Sunday morning breakfasts at the Dairy Center in Enosburgh or Maplefields in St. Albans, Martha’s chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, spending time in his garage taking naps, going to Las Vegas with his brothers and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino with Bob Santini, his annual Truck Show weekends in Pennsylvania with his trucking buddies, playing tickets at the Elks, playing Gin Rummy all night, and meeting and talking to people to name a few.
Jack is survived by his wife, Martha, of the home; his children Donna and husband, Stephen Portzer of Eskridge, KS, Monica and husband, Tim Hill of Sallisaw, OK, Mark and wife, Joy Charbonneau of St. Albans, VT, and Anne Charbonneau of Treasure Island, FL; 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, Andre and wife Ernestine Charbonneau of South Windsor, CT, Louis and wife Jeanne of Morrisville, VT; sisters, Pearl Hanson of Hollywood, FL, France and husband Michael Curtis of N. Fort Myers, FL; and sister-in-law, Marie Charbonneau of Naples, FL.
Jack is predeceased by his brothers, Claude Charbonneau on 5-8-2020, Ivan Charbonneau on 8-11-2013; sisters, Marie Courtemanche on 11-17-1989, Lynn Tabor 3-24-2013 and husband Bud, 9-4-2007, and infant sister, Paulette Charbonneau in 1955; and nephews, Danny McElroy 12-4-2015 and Ryan Charbonneau 7-17-2019.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at 11:00 AM at Holy Angels Catholic Church, 245 Lake Street, St. Albans. Prayers of committal and interment will follow at the St. Albans Bay Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jack’s memory may be made to a charity of one’s choice.
Honored to be serving the Charbonneau family is the Heald Funeral Home, where messages of condolence are welcome at www.healdfuneralhome.com.
