OUR ASSOCIATION

Tracing 40 years of a family association is not easy, but here is a brief summary.

The responsibility for the Tremblay's first rally rests with Mgr. Victor Tremblay, founder of the Société historique du Saguenay. In 1957, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the marriage of our ancestors Pierre Tremblay and Ozanne Achon, the Tremblay's collective (Ralliement des Tremblay) organizes various activities in Saguenay, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and Montreal. However, this first organization does not attract significant follow-up and we have to wait until 1975 to see the real beginning of our association.

On June 21, 1975, the Charlevoix School Board proceeded with great pomp to the inauguration of the Saint-Aubin High School of Baie-Saint-Paul, today called Saint-Aubin Educational Center.

On this occasion, as it turns out, three Tremblay have shared specific tasks without suspecting they would give birth to the Association des Tremblay d’Amérique (ATA). They are:

• Robert, resident of Clermont and president of the Regional School Board
• Jean-Marie, resident of La Malbaie native of Les Éboulements and general manager of the School Board
• Father Jean-Paul from Quebec, native of Baie-Saint-Paul and guest speaker as a regional historian, who entertains the assistance about the name that was given to the school, Saint-Aubin, located precisely on the land that was taken back by our ancestor Pierre Tremblay at the request of Bishop Laval.

Behind the scenes of the official ceremonies, the three Tremblay make small talk. However, it happens that Father Jean-Paul Tremblay has just published at the Éditions Garneau under the pen-name Paul Médéric the first volume of "La Tremblaye Millénaire", a true "bible" for the Tremblay individuals. A colossal work, with the 2nd volume of which is published in 1978, this is probably one of the most advanced studies for a Quebec family, going back more than a thousand years in history, to an alleged ancestor, Gauthier d'Aspres (at the time designated by the name of his fiefdom). It was enough to evoke the constitution of a family association.

In the months that follow, Paul-Émile Tremblay, notary at La Malbaie, joins the original trio and during the three years that follow, the quartet meets on a more or less regular basis to exchange ideas and give some direction to the organization, offering answers to the following questions.

• What is the mandate of such an association?
• What are its goals?
• How does it work?

To gather the descendants of Pierre Tremblay and Ozanne Achon, a family association must:

• talk about genealogy;
• publish a newsletter;
• identify the built heritage, including the birthplace of our ancestor in Randonnai, France;
• convene annual gatherings;
• organize trips / pilgrimages.

A provincial charter is obtained on May 3, 1978. The recruitment of members begins by sending nearly 1,000 letters to Tremblay from all over Quebec. During this process, Rosaire Tremblay, a fifth person recruited by Father Jean-Paul Tremblay joins. At the press conference on June 18, 1978, these five people announce the creation of the Association des Tremblay d’Amérique (ATA).

The destinies of the ATA are then entrusted to:

• Father Jean-Paul, member no. 2 President ex officio (deceased April 25, 1999)
• Jean-Marie, member no. 3, 1st Vice-President (died November 1, 2007)
• Robert, member no. 1, 2nd Vice-President (died March 4, 2001)
• Paul-Émile, member no. 4, Secretary General (died April 24, 2005)
• Rosaire member no. 5, Assistant Secretary, and editor of the first issues of the "La Tremblaie" newsletter, this title alludes to a forest of aspen, a tree whose leaf flutters with the slightest breeze.

The head office was first installed in the offices of Secretary-General Paul-Émile from 1978 to 1982, then in Montreal from 1982 to 1984 and since 1985 in Quebec City, a hub for all regions.

Since the founding of the Association of Tremblay of America, eight people have chaired it, these are:

• Father Jean-Paul, member no. 2, from 1978 to 1982
• Jeannine, member no. 12, from 1982 to 1984
• Noël, member no. 17 from 1984 to 1992
• Jean-Marie, member no. 3, from 1992 to 1995
• Louise, lifetime member no. 3157, from 1995 to 2000
• Gualbert, lifetime member no. 3351, from 2000 to 2002
• Maurice, lifetime member no. 3373, from 2002 to 2007
• Pierre, lifetime member no. 3456 since 2007

On September 8, 1986, the ATA acquires a house erected on the land of our ancestor, at 6731 Avenue Royale in L'Ange-Gardien (near Québec), with the intention of establishing its Secretariat and to transform it in a permanent site for the gathering of the Tremblays of America. A few years before, the monument recalling the concession of a land to Pierre Tremblay found along the Boulevard Sainte-Anne (national route leading to Charlevoix) is moved on the site of the house. This monument had been installed in 1957 by the Ralliement des Tremblay, during the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the marriage of Pierre Tremblay and Ozanne Achon. In 2000, the house is sold but the monument remains on site and is easily accessible. About a hundred meters from this house, is still there today the "presumed" first house built by our ancestor Pierre.  

In the fall of 1988, following an organized trip back to the sources of the family, attended by more than 400 Tremblays of Quebec, the Association des Tremblay de France (ATF), which became a section of the ATA and adopted its coat of arms, was born at Le Mans. In recent years, the ATF became independent of the ATA. Nevertheless, relations are warm and friendly, as underlined by several exchanges and travels.   

On June 20, 1998, at its 20th anniversary in Baie-Saint-Paul, the ATA unveiled a memorial to the founders, providing heraldic explanations of the Tremblay’s coat of arms.

In the summer of 2001, our association deposited its archives at the Charlevoix Regional Archives Center in Baie-Saint-Paul for better conservation and interpretation. This filing was made official on March 28, 2002.

On June 21st, 2003, for the 25th anniversary of the ATA in Montreal, in the presence of Mayor Gérald Tremblay, two launches took place:

• A second bronze plaque, showing the arrival of our ancestors, to be added to the monument installed in 1998 in Baie-Saint-Paul.
•  
• The Tremblay Marriage Directory in a three volumes casket by Sylvie, lifetime member no. 3211 and Certified Genealogist, resulting from the research carried out by André, Meüde member no. 8 and Raymond-Marie lifetime member no. 2241.

In September 2007, the Tremblay’s Coat of arms was registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority.  

In June 2008, during the 30th anniversary in Baie-Saint-Paul, honouring Ozanne, a stone sculpture depicting Ozanne Achon, proudly looking forward to the future, was added to the Memorial of the Tremblay of America. As the bronze plaques recall the history of our association and the descendants of our ancestors, the artist-sculptor Martin Brisson, in his free representation, symbolizes Ozanne embracing the entire monument to evoke that she carries in her arm all of her descendants.  

In October 2008, in France, in the presence of a delegation of Tremblay from Quebec led by Pierre, lifetime member no. 3456 and president of the ATA, the Association des Tremblay de France celebrates its 20th anniversary with the installation of a commemorative stone and the designation of an Ozanne Achon Place in Randonnai, Perche, Normandy.  

In 2018, the 40th anniversary of the Association des Tremblay d’Amérique was nicely celebrated in Baie-Saint-Paul. On this occasion, two important launches took place:

• The Répertoire des Tremblay d’Amérique – Naissances/Mariages/Décès on CD-Rom and USB Flash Drive, by Sylvie, lifetime member no. 3211 and Certified Master Genealogist; a masterful work containing information on 90,685 individuals bearing the name Tremblay and its variants.;

• And a book Pierre Tremblay Ozanne Achon – De la France au Quebec, written by Denise Tremblay Perron with the collaboration of Mr Jany Grassiot (for research in France), that offers a large amount of information from the origins up to this day on the Tremblay family in Normandy and Achon’s family in Charente-Maritime, along with the life of Pierre Tremblay and Ozanne Achon in New France and their descendants up to the 4th generation in Quebec.

From 1978 to 2018, our association has organized every year and in different towns, an annual gathering on one or two days, including those described above. To find out more about our gatherings, refer to the 'America’s Tremblay Gatherings' tab in the left column, and select the year(s) to view.

 We are about 500 men and women, members of the ATA, and more than one hundred french cousins ​​members of the ATF. Whether one is called Tremblay, Tremblé, Tremblaie, Tremblaye, Trembly, Trombley, Twombly, or if despite a different surname one has a Tremblay ancestor. In America we know as a fact, that we all are proud descendants of Pierre Tremblay and Ozanne Achon.

Here are in a few anecdotes, forty years of history of our dear association. 

Rosaire Tremblay, lifetime member no. 5

Historian and Vice President of A.T.A

May 2019 / dtp - pt – st - nt