16. Ferdinand (Fred) Arsenault

Shortly after their marriage, Fred and Eugenie moved to Summerside where Fred continued the practice of buying and selling fish and expanded it by opening a lobster cannery. It was still a time of plenty for the fishery during the 1950's. Huge amounts of fish and lobsters were landed at Queen’s wharf, Summerside, mostly at “Fred L Arsenault &Desjardins” fish plant. (Desjardins was his partner for several years and owned a restaurant in Montreal). Vigorous political debates could often be heard with Fred vigorously defending the Conservative side. Later, in the 1960's Fred’s sons helped him out at the wharf during the summer. It was always an interesting and valuable lesson in business and people.

An avid golfer Fred could often be seen on the local links with his business cronies trying to outdo each other. During the winter months he spent much of his time at the curling club where he was known to be a respectable curler and depended on by his team.

Fred was elected for two terms as a town councillor in Summerside in the 1950's. At that time, Councillors not only made decisions for the town but were often called upon to help someone in need. Unemployment Insurance was almost unheard of, and there were few agencies to help out with those who were in need of it. These were some of Fred’s most prosperous days and he was known to be generous, giving money or feeds of lobster to those who were down on their luck.

Dedicated to his business, Fred spent little time at home and was mostly “at the wharf”. He was known and well liked by almost everyone in town and was particularly well-known for his cooked lobster which was second to none.

Fred was known as “Freddie Leo D”, although someone once heard him referred to as “Freddie D.O.G.”. But Fred had a sense of humour and was always able to see the joke in stories such as these. One of his favorite jokes involved a local business man. The joke was ‘What is the difference between John Doe and a barrel of manure? The answer: The barrel!! He was often heard to laugh uproariously at jokes such as these.

Fred was independent of spirit and eventually the partnership with Desjardins was dissolved . Later, when he was in partnership with three other local businessmen, they built and operated a fish processing plant at Queen’s Wharf for several years. (the present-day Summerside Seafood Supreme building). With the changing fortunes of time, Fred ended up with a smaller building (at the beginning of Queen’s wharf extension) to buy and sell lobsters during the 1960's and 1970's. It must have been a disappointment to him as he had built up his business for thirty years. This building was torn down by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in 1996. Fred died suddenly on 3 April, 1982 in his seventieth year.

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