CANADA: Longevity lands New Brunswick family in Guinness Book

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (The Chronicle Herald), March 9, 2008: WHEN IT comes to bigger, the Michaud-Theriault family of Grand Falls, N.B., has set a new world record. It has the most siblings over 65 receiving government pensions, according to Guinness World Records. When Yvon Cyr, a well-known Acadian genealogist and husband of Judy, the youngest Theriault sibling, submitted the application last summer, all seven sons and 12 daughters of Eugene Theriault and Alice Michaud-Theriault were receiving government pensions. The title had been held by another New Brunswick family, the 13 children of Edgar and Anna LeBlanc of Moncton. Mr. Cyr told Madeleine Leclerc of the Victoria Star in Grand Falls that the application process to claim the title was "quite extensive and somewhat tedious, but quite exciting!" There was a lot of waiting, and in the process, the family lost one of its members. "We are dedicating this project to the eldest sibling, Yvonne (Bourgoin), who died in August 2007, as the application was being processed by Guinness World Records," Mr. Cyr said. "Yvonne was considered by many as the ‘grand lady’ of the family and she would have been so proud of this recognition." That recognition finally came last month. The Michaud-Theriault family now holds the current record for "Most siblings to reach pension age" with their ages ranging from 66 to 87. By Kim Kierans Director - School of Journalism, University of King’s College. © 2008 The Halifax Herald Limited