Let me introduce myself, my name is Pierrette Villeneuve. I was born in Hull, Quebec. My father, Emile Villeneuve (1919-1991), was a very strong man; in 1939, he won the Canadian Weightlifting Championship in Toronto, for being the strongest man in Canada. My mother Irene Fortier (1921-2006) was a registered Huron Wendat Indian from Wendake, in Quebec City. I have one sister, Diane, who was married to Pierre Michaud (1952-2002), and they have two beautiful daughters, Janie and Marie-Eve. I have one son, Patrick, a computer technician/LAN Manager, who is married to Elizabeth Odjick, who is an Algonquin Indian from Maniwaki, Quebec.

After working for the Canadian Government at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for 34 years, I have finally retired. Beginning as a secretary, then as a computer technician, and for the last nine years, as a Webmaster, HTML programmer/Web designer, I loved my job but it was time for me to move on. I have also been a fine arts painter since 1960; I have had 75 exhibitions of my paintings in the Outaouais region, Clearwater Florida, Billings Montana and was represented by two art galleries in Ottawa for a period of 12 years. As there are only 24 hours in a day, I had to give up painting, in June 2000, when I started building this Website. Recently, some of you have been asking me if I took up painting again since I retired...no I haven't but intend on doing so this year.

As you know, Mathurin was the first Villeneuve to come to Canada; he started his family in Charlesbourg, Quebec. Mathurin's descendants settled in Ontario, Quebec, the USA, Europe, Australia, Spain, etc... The biggest majority of them stayed in the province of Quebec and I am privileged in that most of them settled in this part of the Outaouais and in Ontario. This makes it easy for me to visit the cemeteries where they are buried. I can also go to churches and view their records, which often bear pleasant surprises because they are usually more readable than microfilms.

In the process of tracing my own Villeneuve family tree, I have helped hundreds of Villeneuve cousins find their Villeneuve ancestors. I am addicted to research, it is so challenging and I feel great satisfaction when people tell me that they were able to find their lineage in my website. I have also made great friends with Villeneuve cousins. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those who have helped me with my research and those who have corrected me when I goofed with dates or names...yes, working too late into the night can sometimes cause a person to make mistakes.

I hope that you will enjoy your visit in my Villeneuve website and find the answers you are looking for.