Description

St Joachim Church, located in the village of St. Joachim within Lakeshore, Ontario, was constructed in 1881 to serve the local French-Canadian Catholic community.  The church predates the official establishment of the village in 1883 and is a significant cultural and historical landmark in the region.  In 2002, the Diocese of London declared the church redundant amid parish consolidations and sought its demolition, leading to its closure in 2002.  This decision faced opposition from the local community and Lakeshore refused to grant it heritage designation, but the the church was saved from demolition.  A group of volunteers is working to revitalize the building which has remained empty for almost 25 years. 

The volunteers of the Franco-Ontarian Research Centre compiled the information from the church registers.  The Marriages and Burial file has 87 pages.  The marriages are sorted alphabetically by the GROOM’s surname but includes an alphabetical list of the BRIDES by surname which identifies the name of her spouse so that the researcher can view the full record under the GROOM’s surname.  The burials are sorted alphabetically by the surname of the deceased. 

Members of the Essex County Branch of Ontario Ancestors can view this file for free in the Members Library section of the website under the Franco-Ontarian Research Centre tab here.