Edited interview with Gloria Bourgault (GB), daughter of Mildred Greenwood (Boisvert). Interview conducted by Joe Manning (JM) on November 12, 2008.

JM: What was your reaction when you saw the 1911 picture of your mother that I put in the Winchendon Courier?

GB: I was surprised. I'd never seen a picture of my mother that young. In the paper, they said her name was Greenwood. She never went by Greenwood. It was always Boisvert.

JM: When I did some research at the town hall, I found her marriage record. It said Greenwood, but at the bottom it included Boisvert as an alias. The town clerk told me that Boisvert means Greenwood.

GB: That's right.

JM: Did you know she worked in the mill?

GB: Yes, but I don't know how long. I think it was just until she got married.

JM: How far did she go in school?

GB: I don't know.

JM: Could she read and write?

GB: Oh, yes.

JM: When were you born?

GB: 1929. I was born and brought up at 138 Spruce Street.

JM: Was it a one-family house?

GB: Yes.

JM: Where did your father work?

GB: At Alaska Freezer. They made ice cream freezers. It was on Lincoln Avenue in Winchendon.

JM: What did your husband do for a living?

GB: Richard worked for the town water department. He also worked at General Electric, in Fitchburg. He worked at the Springs Mill when he was young. That's where I met him. He died in 1991.

JM: Did you graduate from high school?

GB: I quit school in my junior year. I started working at the mill in Spring Village when I was 17. The bus used to pick us up downstreet.

JM: What did you do at the mill?

GB: I ran a winding machine. I worked there five years, and then they closed. Then I worked at New Hampshire Ball Bearings, in Peterborough, for 30 years.

JM: Your father died in 1941. How did he die?

GB: He was crossing the railroad tracks and fell. He had some injuries and had a lot of problems with it, and then he died.

JM: You were only 12 years old then. It must have been tough.

GB: Yes. My mother took in a lot of ironing and did a lot of babysitting and housework for different people.

JM: What was your mother like?

GB: She was quiet. She was a homebody. She liked to play cards. She was a good cook. She used to go to New Jersey a lot to visit people on her mother's side of the family.

JM: Did she drive down or take the train?

GB: She didn't drive. She didn't have a license. She used to go down with her brothers and sisters.

JM: How did your mother die?

GB: She had an aneurism.

JM: Was it sudden?

GB: Yes. She was in the hospital for some other reason when it happened. When they called from the hospital, we couldn't believe it.