The J. Lacourciere Paint Co.

The topic for week 20 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is – Taking Care of Business. I thought there was no better person to talk about than my dad, John Jakiela.

My dad graduated from high school in 1942. He was already working part time at the steel mill during high school and continued to do so until he headed to England during WWII.

When he came back to Wallingford, he returned to the steel mill for a brief time but said he was concerned about what he was breathing in so it was time to move on. He began working on a painting crew and that led him to working for The J. Lacourciere Paint Co. in Meriden and Wallingford Connecticut.

He worked on one of their painting crews and they painted and wallpapered hundreds of homes in Meriden and the surrounding area.

By the early 1950s, he was working in the Meriden store as a clerk.

There were 2 stores, one in Wallingford on Center Street at the current location of Cafe Luca and the Meriden store. The building the Meriden store was housed in was at 55 Grove Street in Meriden. It was an old brick building with very high decorative ceilings, a loft where the accounting was done, and an attic. Customers came in off the street through the front door and the back door – this old wood door with a bunch of locks – brought us in from the small parking lot in back. On the right side was the back of Firestone Tire which faced West Main Street and on the left side was the Capitol Theater. The theater was torn down for a parking garage in 1985 approximately.

While we were growing up, my dad worked Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. He had a half day on Wednesdays and worked Saturday mornings. He also worked until 8pm on Fridays. Every Friday he went to Verdolini’s for a pizza pie. He’d eat it on his dinner break and bring home the rest where my sister’s and I would fight over who got the left overs. I think there were usually 3 pieces left?

I remember visiting the store and we would love to flip through the wallpaper sample books and all the tubes of paint in the art supplies. We’d pore over the paint sample stand and pick out our favorite colors. The year he made us a doll house we used the sample pages to wall paper the walls. We also used the pages to wrap bricks (yes, bricks) for door stops and book ends in the bookcases he built us.

In 1971, Clarence Lacourciere passed away at 69 years old. Then in 1973, Royal, the remaining brother managing the Meriden store passed away at age 75. I’m sure at this moment my parents had concerns about the future of my dad’s job. I don’t know how it came about, but my parent’s bought the store (the contents, and name) from the family and my dad ran the store as he had since 1951.

In the Lacourciere family there was also a sister, Viola. I was doing my newspaper search for this story where I finally made the connection to “Viola L. Flynn”, a woman who sent us postcards from her trips, gave us Christmas gifts of pins (I still have a few!) and bracelets, and books. It was their sister! It was such a sweet surprise when I realized who she was.

As I mentioned, there was a Wallingford Lacourciere store and that was run by Oryle, a younger brother, born in 1911. Judging by the advertisement that Oryle and his wife printed in the newspaper, it looks like, to me, that they wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Meriden store was no longer owned by the Lacourciere family! Oryle closed his Wallingford store in 1980.

My parents ran the store from 1975 until they made the decision to close the store in 1981. By the early 80s (or earlier), box stores made their way into the retail landscape and it was more convenient to buy paint there along with whatever other home improvement items you needed.

Since they didn’t own the building, just the contents, they sold off everything. He was friends with a local Wallingford Antique dealer, Red O’Connell, who came in and took anything he could sell at his barn.

Right around the time he decided to close the store, my dad saw and answered an ad for a painter/wall paperer at Gaylord Hospital and Rehabilitation in Wallingford. With his talent and years of experience, of course he got the job! He loved it. No more worries about bills, or getting broken into, which was a common occurrence. He was closer to home and with a golf course next door, he’d go out there on his lunch hour and pick up lost golf balls or maybe hit a few. An added bonus a few years later, was my sister Gail getting a job there. He could visit her every day in the Occupational Therapy department! But the day he turned 65 – he was done, retired! It was off to the golf course nearly every day and usually more than one round! Weekends he’d put his bicycle in the back of his truck and ride the roads and bike trails in Old Saybrook by the water.

But he didn’t put his talents to rest. Even while he was working at Gaylord, he took the framing machine from the paint store, set it up in the basement and started his picture framing business. He was so creative when it came to mats and colors and frames! I would always say “just do what you think is best!” A couple of years ago, we were at a house nearby looking at a kitchen remodel and the woman offered up furniture and pictures in her basement. We liked one picture and when my husband took it off the wall and I saw the back, I got so excited because – my father had framed it! His stamp was on the back!

My dad was an incredibly talented man. He was creative with colors and style. He remodeled our entire house (we helped with the demo!), and built our kitchen cabinets. His father was talented with wood and I think he was the only son who took after him. I’m glad he was able to continue the business, and was able to get such a good job to use his talents when he decided to close up. He was able to enjoy his retirement before his heart made other plans for him and he went to assisted living where he had another 9 or so years making friends, and probably running into former customers of the store.

He took care of business and had a great career in the painting, wallpaper, and framing business.