A French-Canadian Austrian in Lowertown! – The Finks

By Marc Aubin, with input from a book by Maurice Fink
Special thanks to Jeannine Fink, Lynda Fink, and Nicole Davis-Lafrenière

This story and this photo of 162 Bolton Street, which has now been donated to the City of Ottawa Archives, were prompted by the death of Jeannine Fink Kennedy in 2025. Jeannine was a great-granddaughter of the first Fink to arrive in Ottawa, Jean Jacob Fink. Both she and her brother George had a keen interest in researching and preserving their family history.

I met Jeannine in the late 2000s when I moved into 100 Boteler Street. Jeannine and I volunteered together to organize one of the building’s first Christmas parties, which continued for many years after we first launched it. We also exchanged much about her family history. When she passed, I took it upon myself to further research the Fink family over the next year, into 2026. The Fink family was very generous with their time and shared genealogy, histories, memories, and photos with me.

The Fink family has been in the Lowertown area since the 1850s and was described as a pioneer French-Canadian family of the city. Jean Jacob Fink (1820-1882) was originally from Lingenau, Austria. He immigrated to Joliette, Quebec, and was married first to Éléonore Lahaise, and later to Esther Campeau (1825-1909). The second marriage took place at Ottawa’s Notre Dame Cathedral, placing their arrival in Ottawa around the 1850s. They had nine children: George Léon, Charles Jacob, Joseph Arthur, Parmélia, Emélina, Eugene, Pierre Napoléon, Zélina, and Aliscia. Jean Jacob was a master plasterer and was referred to as an important contractor who had worked on a major upgrade to Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1878.

One of their children, George Léon Fink (1864-1928), lived for many years at 162 Bolton Street with his wife, Lucie Forcier (1863-1939). They were both born in Ottawa and married in 1885. The Fink and their descendants lived on Bolton Street as early as 1901 until the 1960s.

George Léon was briefly co-owner of Fink and Malette on Dalhousie Street, and later worked as a manager at the J.A. Faulkner department store, also on Dalhousie. After that, he worked at the National Printing Bureau on St. Patrick Street near Sussex Drive. Lucie was a member of the Ladies of St. Anne Parish, the St. Élizabeth Society of the Precious Blood Convent, and a patron of the St. Joseph Orphanage. They had 16 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood: Albert (1891-1915), Henri (1893-1966), René (1902-1976), Léon (1886-1963), Colombe (1901-1944), Oneïda (1848-1981), Alice (1895-1980), Eva (1908-1972), and Arthur (1904-1958).

Around 2003, George, a grandson of the earlier George Léon Fink (1864-1928), wrote an unpublished memoir in which he included the following in the introduction: Why write my autobiography? To leave a heritage to my children, grandchildren, and other generations. Share with them my life experience and explain to them the world in which I lived. What it was like to be alive in a world before jet planes, free trade, globalization, and the Internet.

George described the temperaments of his parents, René Fink (1902-1976) and Cécile Lapointe (1903-1975), and where they were born. She was a great amateur musician and loved to read the daily newspapers from Ottawa and Montreal. His father was very sociable and generous with his time, volunteering in the administration of the Amicale Guigues and the Senior Lacrosse League of Ottawa. Like his father Léon once did, René worked for a department store, A.J. Freiman’s on Rideau Street, and later for the federal government. George was an avid amateur lacrosse and softball player and often helped organize parties at Bingham Park.

He also wrote about his siblings. His sister Denise (1931-2002) remained single all her life, worked 43 years for the federal government, and was a fan of skiing and traveling. His sister Jeannine, the youngest in the family, married John Allan Kennedy in 1973, only for him to die a year later in 1974. She was also a fan of skiing, swimming, and traveling, and had worked at the National Research Council, Radio-Canada, and the House of Commons. Neither had children, but they spoiled their nieces and nephews, Lynda, André, Diane, and James, as well as their grand-nieces and nephews, Mélanie, Jason, Simon, Marianne, and Caroline. His younger brother Maurice worked in optometry, aviation, and the federal government. He was a great lacrosse and hockey player. He was married to Anne Gravelle and had two children, Lynda and André.

Growing up, George noted that they lived at 84 St. Andrew Street in the early 1930s and at 34 Bolton Street in the later 1930s, then at 32 St. Andrew, and then back at the family home at 162 Bolton, where his aunts Oneïda and Éva lived in the back. He wrote about how Lowertown and Notre-Dame Parish were like a French-Canadian village within Ottawa. He said the neighbourhood was considered poor by material standards, but that its true pride lay in how its residents enriched the area.

George wrote about how they played at Bingham Park up the street, skating, playing in the sand, and on the swings. He also recalled a popular Lowertown game called “Tin Can.” The can would be placed in the middle of the street and everyone would hide. One person was “it” and, upon finding someone hiding, had to get back to the tin can in time to kick it. If the person hiding kicked the can first, they avoided being “it.”

George’s book is a great source for the common experiences of the people who lived in Lowertown. It included memories and mentions of schools, institutions, getting his first bike, raising children, sports, being a grandfather, work (Radio-Canada), and volunteering. In 1999, he was honoured with the Antoinette-Robidoux Award, given by the Centraide of Greater Montreal to recognize his exemplary and exceptional volunteer work. It recognized 40 years of volunteering, leadership, and selfless devotion to a social cause. He had led a project – Le Comptoir du P’tit pro – that gave sports equipment to underprivileged children in Laval.

Jeannine’s presence is greatly missed at 100 Boteler Street, so I hope this little story honours her and her family’s history here in Lowertown.