Amanda Gauthier was born in Canada. She met and married Louis Brauzeau, who was also born in Canada. They traveled to Strasbourg, France where three children were born, Antoinette, Romeo and Emile Brazeau.

After the sudden illness and death of their father, Amanda returned to Canada with her three children and an escort. There, Amanda met and married Mr. Joseph Brin. They lived in Woonsocket, Rhode Island where he owned a store. They had five children, Maurice (whom they all called "Woody"), Rosamonde, Ulrich, Conrad and Marie Rose.

After the death of Joseph Brin, Amanda met and married Mr. Fortin, a wealthy Scotsman and they lived in Quebec. The family flourished under Mr. Fortin and the children attended good schools. The children were schooled in Quebec and Emile attended McGill University in Quebec and majored in Astronomy. He was awarded a PhD in Astronomy. Every year, during the summer recess, Emile would sneak away and run with the circus. His mother would have to go get him and return him to classes for the next semester. During his stay at the Academy, he was a foreign exchange student to Paris, France where he attended a Culinary Arts Institute. The final semester, his mother, Amanda, donated a good sum of money to that school and there is supposed to be a plaque with her name on it somewhere on that campus.

After the death of Mr. Fortin, Amanda met and married Mr. Brousard and they had no children. Although she was buried a Brousard, she rests atop Mr. Fortin, her truest love.

Emile’s sister Rosamonde married and had a son, Gerald.

His sister Antoinette married Mr. Plouffe and had several children, Maurice, Toni, Cecile and Theresa. Maurice died when he was struck by a train.

Marie Rose married Mr. Osborne and they had no children. Marie Rose ended up raising several of the family’s children and then traveling

Emile’s brother Romeo was driving the armored car taking the payroll for Chevrolet in Chicago and was killed by gangsters.

His brother Conrad married and had several children, Conrad Jr, (Connie), Loretta, Jeanette and Roland.

Ulrich married and had a son, Raymond whom they called Rayo.

Emile was closest to his sister Marie Rose, but he was adventurous and went into the US Army during World War I. When his mess Sargent went over the hill (AWOL), he became the mess Sargent. After the war was over, he left the service. He was next said to have been in a bar in New England and was shanghaied to New Zealand where he caught a ride back to the US on a cattle boat (very smelly). He decided to start his show business career as a magician. As a young boy, he saw a magician perform and had been fascinated with it ever since.

Emile worked for a time in the coal mines under the Bay of Nova Scotia. On one occasion, he got stuck in some black damp (gas) and fell into a coal car, which brought him back up to safety. He showed me the black pits in his hands from working in the mines! He then decided to go back to his love - show business - as a magician.

Emile was in show business when he met and married his first wife, Abigail Ellen Fitzgerald whom he called "Helen". They had two children, John Henry (Harry) and Lillian. He continued to follow his love of magic and kept traveling around, performing. He met and lived with a woman, Elvira D’Antonino and they had a son, Steve. When her family found out they were not married, they took her back home, leaving Steve with Emile. He took Steve back to Helen to raise, and off he went again.

He performed his act and changed his name for the stage to Ray Bol. He realized that people would not return to see the same performer, so after he made the circuit, he changed his name again to Ray Danton. He finished a tour as Danton and changed his name again to Don Cardoza. He was performing as Cardoza, when he met and married Jennifer Lee O’Shannon in 1945. He was doing a show in Hartford, Connecticut when Lee went to see him perform. They met because someone spilled boiling hot coffee on him and Lee, who was a private duty nurse at the time, nursed him back to health and they were married.

Emile and Lee changed their names (not legally) to Don and Delores Cardoza and performed for several years that way. They traveled around the country performing (including to Texas where he joined the TAOM - Texas Association of Magicians).

Don and Delores had a son - Don Juan Cardoza II, born in 1947 - in Charlotte, North Carolina. After which, they traveled to Baltimore, Maryland and were performing there. When they went to perform in Canada, they left their son in Baltimore with his babysitter, who was a ticket taker’s mother. This woman would sit with Donnie while Don and Delores worked some of the shows at a park there in Baltimore.

While in Canada, they performed with an act called "Le Claire and Lee". Their manager said, "Cardoza is not a French name!"; So, They became Le Blanc and Lee as dad took the name Pierre Le Blanc. He did not legally change his name until sometime after 1956 in Miami, Florida and he used an attorney named Whiteaker to do so.

When they returned to Baltimore, they were unable to find their son.

While he was with Lee, Emile left her 3 different times and went off on his own somewhere. Eventually, he would put an ad in the Billboard magazine with a contact phone number - she would call him and they would reunite. They had wonderful times putting on shows from 1948 to 1952 (timeline offered as a link at the bottom). They booked a tour on the USO during the Korean War and were taken abroad to perform for the troops.

One time they were on a gun boat carrying heavy weapons and Pierre started doing his fire-eating act. The Captain had him brought downstairs for questioning to see if he were a spy! Another time, they were moved out of the area fast due to the war raging around them. During the hasty departure, they were separated from their luggage and they lost their clothes. Their magic was there, but their clothes never came.

Mother said that if an act went abroad to perform, then they were guaranteed a gravy time when they returned stateside. They were sent to England, Italy, France and then to Shanghai, where they did not perform but were sent back home to San Francisco, stateside. When they arrived home, they were considered heroes by their colleagues for entertaining the troupes in their hour of despair. They then returned to the Northern show business circuit.

Their daughter Amanda Lynn was born on April 16, 1954 in Bay City Michigan. Between 1954 and 1955 they traveled Michigan, Canada, Minnesota, SD, ND putting on shows. In 1955 when the holidays were coming, his mother was gravely ill and Lee was pregnant, they returned to Rhode Island, to Warwick, to the beach house of his sister, Marie Rose in Oakland Beach.

Their daughter Pamela Lanelle Rose was born on January 15, 1956 in Warwick, Rhode Island. They left after his mother passed away in October of 1956 to head south. They were on the road again and had a booking in Houston, Texas. They arrived in Atlanta, Georgia and saw a mile sign to Miami, Florida and they decided to go there.

Emile finally decided to semi-retire from the business and settle down. He took a job with Hialeah Racetrack as a cook. The children were sent to Immaculate Conception Catholic school and lived on 16^th avenue in Hialeah. He eventually got on with a small hotel called The Wafford, and then later on to The Fountain Blue, then The Castaways and finally became an Executive Chef at Desert Inn.

Emile and Lee continued to perform in area schools and the clubs until she left him in 1968. He shattered his hip in an accidental fall the following year and the children were taken to live with their mother, Jennifer Lee in Texas. He continued his magic through others by teaching it to children.

He traveled back to his home in Rhode Island to live with his sister Marie Rose and his brother Ulrich, whom everyone called "Whitey" for his fair complexion. In 1972 his daughter, Lanelle, came up to Woonsocket, Rhode Island and brought him back down to Florida with her. He wished to remain by her side even as the wondering spirit was taking control of her. When he passed away, she had him cremated and carries him with her in her travels. Although she did leave him behind in Texas for three years, he is with her to this day.