BARRY’S BAY – Artist, politician, miner, lumberjack, master craftsman, father, husband.
It’s hard to pick just one word to describe Alphonse “Alfie” Burant, who sadly passed away at the age of 81 on May 11 at Madawaska Valley Hospice.
Alfie was born in Wilno on November 22, 1934 and grew up on Church Street. He was the only son to Jean and Paul Burant. When he was in Grade 6, he left school to work full-time. He had many jobs over the years, ranging from being a foreman, a road worker, a contractor and many more in between. Although he never went to college or university, the skilled man received his mining certificate at the Faraday Mines in Bancroft where he worked as a miner.
When he moved out of the family homestead, Alfie took a job in Algonquin Park working at Odenbach logging camp. It was where he completed one of his first paintings.
“He was self-taught,” Tom Burant, Alfie’s son, said.
Get your May 18, 2016 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.