Attempt to return family bible

Here is a little story about a man who understands that a family's bible is a big part of its history. He is seeking to return one to the family of a man who died in 1964.

"My parents used to go to auctions in Hooksett at Phil's Auction House," Dan explained. "There was a whole wall of books there that the guy wanted to get rid of, so he sold the whole lot to my parents for $15. I was only 10 back then, and the one book that really attracted me was this one.

"I thought it was neat that it was so old," the 1988 West High grad added. "Even back then, I was kind of a history buff, and I could almost picture this guy carrying it through the trenches."

Over time, Dan lost track of the book in the Dupont household, but when he was cleaning out his mom's house a while back, he came across the Alonzo Gagnon Bible. He decided it would be better to get it back into the hands of a Gagnon -- preferably a son or daughter -- but after doing some poking around, I have to report that's not going to happen.

I found Alonzo Gagnon's obituary -- he died on May 4, 1964 -- and as for immediate family, he was survived only by his wife, Armine (Bursiel) Gagnon. There is still some hope for Dan, however, because Alonzo did have a brother, Omer Gagnon, and two sisters, Cora Doucette and Alphee Brown, and "several nieces, nephews and cousins."

While we should never consider our Bibles to be idols - we worship God, not His book - it is good to appreciate the respect due to it as the center of some family's lives.