Heather Lynn Gomez Aubuchon
Born 1971
Heather Aubuchon was born in 1971 at St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, MA. Her parents are Donald Gomez and Judith Waite Gomez. Heather has one older sister. Her name is Holly Emond. From her mom’s side, her grandfather, Lewis Waite was raised in Tiverton. He was also a commercial fisherman. He fished for swordfish and lobster off Sakonnet Point on a boat called the Harry Glen. Her great-grandfather was a commercial fisherman and he owned his own boat too. Sadly, her great-grandmother, Abigail, died from the Flu Epidemic of the early 1900s. Her maternal grandmother, Emma Perry Waite was born to parents who came to America from the Azores. She was raised in Fall River, MA and Tiverton. She had a job sewing the lace onto the bottom of slips in a mill in Fall River, MA. She was paid per item sewed. She was also a pastry cook for the Sakonnet Golf Club in Little Compton. Heather’s great-grandfather was killed in a mill fire in Fall River.
On Heather’s dad’s side, her grandfather, John Gomez, was the 1st generation born to parents who emigrated from the Azores. Her grandfather was born and raised in Little Compton on his family’s farm on South of the Commons. He was a farmer, a chauffeur, gardener, and a handyman for a summer family named Merrman who lived at Sakonnet Point and “also had a home in” Providence. Her grandmother, Helen (Brown) Gomez, was born and raised in Little Compton on her family’s farm on West Main Road. Her family was of English descent and has lived in Little Compton since the 1700s.
Heather’s childhood was spent in Little Compton. Her dad traveled a lot for his job with the Navy and she was fortunate that he was able to bring her and her family with him sometimes. This enabled her to see many places that she may not have been able to see otherwise. Most of Heather’s time was spent playing outside with her sister, Holly, with her cousin, Polly, who lived with their great aunt & great uncle next door to her and with her cousin, Sid, who lived on the other side of her house. They would ride bikes in the cemetery next to their houses so their parents wouldn’t worry about them riding in the road. They spent all day every day in the summer playing at Briggs Beach. Most of their time was spent outside and with each other . They would make up games and play in the dirt pile, or the treehouse that her great uncle built for them. They would skate on the pond out in the backyard when it got cold enough . Her Uncle David would make a fire alongside the pond so that when it got cold, she could warm up and get right back to skating . Her uncles on her mom’s side were all part of a tractor pull group, so on Sunday afternoons she would go watch them compete. She would go camping for 2 weeks every summer too. Sleeping in tents was fun until it rained. She camped in Maine mostly but also went to Lake George in New York and even to Nova Scotia.
She grew up in Little Compton in the house that her grandfather John built on part of his family’s farm on South of the Commons. It was the same house that her dad was raised in. Her family stayed in that one house. She lived there until she built her own house. Mostly, what Heather remembers the most is just always being around her extended family and doing all kinds of random things with them. She liked camping trips. She liked watching her uncles at the tractor pulls. She liked it when she was out in the garden with her dad, or in her grandpa Louie’s garden. She liked learning how to fish from her dad. or going for bike rides around town with her mom and her sister. Her mom also taught her how to play tennis on the courts up at the Commons. One time, her grandpa Louie brought the whole family out to the West Island off Sakonnet Point for a picnic. West Island used to have a hotel out on it but it was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938. You could still see some of the stone framework of the building. She found a doorknob out there and brought it home because she was convinced that it belonged to one of the doors to the old hotel, and thought that was really cool. Mostly she remembered how bad the island smelled because of all of the decaying seagulls and stuff. She doesn’t know if seagulls would go there to die, or if they were unlucky that there were a bunch of them that did not make it. Heather also remembers waiting for the boat her grandfather Louie worked on, the Harry Glen, to come back from a trip and just as the boat was coming around the breakwater, a seagull pooped on her grandma Emma’s hair. They all thought it was funny but her grandma was really mad because no one messed with grandma’s hair. Her dad took a picture of the seagull who had done it as he was sitting on the dock post. He still has the picture and it still makes her laugh when she sees it. She also got to play on the boat when it would come back. She used to be allowed to go down into the hold where the swordfish were stored packed of ice. They would be hauled up by a crane, one at a time, and weighed on the scale on the dock. She still has one of the swords from them. It has her birth year with a picture of a black lab’s head on it . Her grandfather got one for each of the grandchildren. The decorative swordfish hung over their fireplaces.
Heather is now married and has four kids: Kyle, Kaylyn, Chris and Colby. Her husband’s name is Scott. They all live on Long Highway in Little Compton. She continues to enjoy camping, going to the beach, and gardening. She shares all the things she used to do as a kid with her own children. Recently, Heather’s parents built a house next door to her and Holly. Heather was raised on how important family is and she loves being around them all now.
Based on an interview with Heather Aubuchon, April 2020.
Written by: Christopher Aubuchon,Grade 5 -Wilbur & McMahon School
You must log in to post a comment.