Reg.#13654  ·  Constable Jean Joseph Maurice Arbour Matr.#13654  ·  Gendarme Jean Joseph Maurice Arbour

Introduction: Down through the years, very dear little was actually known about the life of Constable Jean Joseph Maurice Arbour except that he joined the RCMP in 1940, and that he left the Force unexpectedly in 1944. However, Ms. Shannon O’Hara-Haworth has recently written to me, and she has provided some valuable documents which shed more light on the life of Jean Arbour.

It is only speculation, but perhaps the tragic drownings described here in the following story may help to partly explain the reason for Jean Maurice Arbour to leave the Force so unexpectedly in 1944. The following story was taken from the newspaper La Presse (Montreal, QC) dated May 2, 1944.

Heroism of the Constable of the Gendarmerie J-J-M Arbour, of Amos, QC.

“The Superintendent of the Royal Gendarmerie in our city, Mr. Josaphat Brunet, received in the wee hours this morning a phone call from Val d’Or warning him of a tragedy that had just occurred, at midnight, on the highway of Val d’Or-Amos, QC.

A car carrying Special Agent Anase Seguin, aged 45, and an alleged delinquent of the Mobilization Law, named Jean-Albert Chartre, 24, of Malartic, and led by Constable Agent J-J-M Arbour, head of the Amos RCMP Detachment, skidded at the entrance to a bridge 18 miles from Val d’Or and fell into the “La Corne” torrent. Only the driver of the vehicle managed to escape and return to the shore while attempting to rescue one of his fellow passengers.

When the car was pulled out of the water early this morning it contained no occupants. It is presumed that Agent Seguin and detainee Chartre were carried away by the very violent current there.

Defective Headlights. According to Agent Arbour’s report to his Chiefs, he and Agent Seguin had last night obtained the arrest of the young man suspected of failing to comply with article 48 of the Mobilization Law, which forces the young men of military age to answer their call to military duty.

Then the two policemen had taken the inmate into their car and they had all taken the road that goes from Val d’Or to Amos. Rendering about 18 miles from Val d’Or, in a curve that ends at a bridge, the headlights failed. Almost immediately, the wheels skidded on the gravel shoulder and a second later the vehicle plunged into the waters of the torrential La Corne swollen by the melting snow.

It appears that at that time the three travelers were able to clear themselves of the car and return to the surface of the water.

Still Alive? Agent Arbour, an excellent swimmer, grabbed one of his companions in the darkness from which he could not guess his identity, but finally to avoid drowning with him, he had to abandon him and return alone on the shore.

It is assumed that the other two drowned; at least none of them had yet given a sign of life late this morning. In the case of Agent Seguin, this silence would be inexplicable; in that of the detainee, the police contemplate the possibility that he may have gone back to the edge of the creek and fled into the woods. But this hypothesis does not seem justified.

Constable A. Seguin was only part of the provincial gendarmerie since February 21st. He had been with the West Malartic, the Canadian Malartic Gold Mine, the Golden Mine, and a hunter in a Val d’Or hotel for several years.”

In her closing remarks, Ms. Shannon O’Hara-Haworth also said that in the year preceding the car accident, Jean-Maurice married Marie-Jeanne Mallette. Perhaps as a result of his near-death experience in 1944, Jean-Maurice left the RCMP. By 1946, he was a Stockbroker with WC Pitfield & Company Ltd.

Obituary of Constable of the Gendarmerie J-J-M Arbour, of Amos, QC.

Passed away at Charles Lemoyne Hospital in Greenfield Park on 13 March at the age of 88 years.

He will be greatly missed by his wife Jeanne Mallette; his children: Jacques (Huguette), Claudette (Michel), Diane, and Jean-Maurice (Johanne); as well as by his grandchildren: Jean-Francois, Eric, Veronique, Julie, Dominique, Stephanie, and Isabelle; his great-grandchildren: Katherine, Elisabeth, and Alexane; his numerous nieces and nephews and many friends.

He was a stockbroker with Pitfield, Mackay, Ross as Vice President and Director, with Tasse & Associates as Director of business development and with the Bank of Canada as Director of the payroll savings division for the province of Quebec.

The funeral service will take place at St-Lambert Catholic Church, 41 Lorne St, in St-Lambert on 26 March at 11:30 am.

Family will receive condolences in the church basement 10:30 am.

Donations may be made in his memory to: La Fondation du CHUM or la Fondation des maladies du Coeur.

I wish to thank Ms. Shannon O’Hara-Haworth and her cousin Mr. Denis Arbour of Laval, QC most sincerely for their notes, and for the newspaper articles and the obituary of Jean Maurice Arbour. Without their help and their research of the Arbour family, RCMP Vets of today would not know about the tragic events of 1944, or about the successful business life which Jean Arbour lead after leaving the RCMP.

Thank you again, Ms. Shannon O’Hara-Haworth and Mr. Denis Arbour.

Ms. Shannon O’Hara-Haworth believes that Jean Maurice Arbour was buried in his hometown in St-Michel Cemetery in Pércé, QC. R. I. P.

Reporting from Fort Healy,

J. J. Healy
May 23, 2018