Lee Bartlett relinquishes his jacket to Willie Boulanger who takes over as director of Greendale Men's Chorus for a song or two at the Northbridge Senior Center.

Photo Credit:

Willie Boulanger leads a group at the Northbridge Senior Center in a song after the director of the Greendale Men's Chorus put him in charge.

Photo Credit: Deborah Gauthier

Willie Boulanger leads a group at the Northbridge Senior Center in a song after the director of the Greendale Men's Chorus put him in charge.

Photo Credit: Deborah Gauthier

(The first in an occasional series profiling the life and time of a friend or neighbor.)

NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – If it’s Tuesday, you’ll find Wilfred “Willie” Boulanger at the Senior Center on Highland Street. He’s easily identified – the little guy with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Tuesday is the usual day for guest musical performances at the center, and if there are songs to be sung, Boulanger belts them out with the best of them. And at 1 o’clock sharp, he heads for the second floor, looking forward to the weekly French club.

He belongs to the choir at St. Peter’s Church.  “I love to sing,’’ Boulanger said. “Someone heard me sing in the pew and said, ‘hey, we need another voice upstairs.’’ He started the French Club choir at the Senior Center, and sings inspirational songs during weekly Bible Study.

Boulanger, who turns 80 on March 29, was born and raised in the Linwood section of Northbridge. His parents, Doria and Mignon (Bernier) Boulanger, were immigrants from Sherbrook, Canada. They didn’t speak English well, Boulanger said, so French was the language spoken in the home and one of the reasons he so enjoys the French club.

He jokes about his lack of height. His nickname, before time took the red out of his hair, was peu rouge (Little Red).

It’s that small stature that probably earned him the position of B29 gunner in the Air Force during the Korean War, though he’d signed on to be an aircraft mechanic. Even training in the gunner position was dangerous. “I lost a lot of buddies just in training,’’ he said.

He was almost lost too, though not to the war. He contracted rheumatic fever while stationed in Denver, Colorado and spent almost two years in the hospital. “That took me off flying status,’’ he said, but he served his four years before returning to the home of his parents in Linwood.

He, like so many other young men at the time, took a job at Whitin Machine Works where he met his wife Blanche (Boucher) – a Rockdale girl. They dated for two years and married when he was 28.

They moved to Rockdale, and Willie lives there still, though with his son and daughter-in-law. His wife died several years ago. He also has a grandson and a great grandson.

Boulanger is a man of strong faith. Around his neck hangs a silver cross and two medals, one of St. Wilfred. “That’s me,’’ he jokes. He attends Mass daily, and he credits his faith with helping his son and only child recover almost completely from a stroke. “I put holy oil on his head and feet every day while he was in a coma in the hospital,’’ he said.

He brings food donations from the church to the food pantry on Tuesdays, and is also chaplain of the American Legion Post.

He said he’ll always remember when he was 10 or 11, walking home on School Street during a hurricane. “The wind was blowing so hard on my back it was pushing me. So I jumped. I never jumped so far,’’ he said.

But thinking back on his life, Boulanger can’t think of one favorite memory. “They’re all good. All good memories.’’ He is committed to laughter. “What’s that saying? Laughter is the best medicine? It’s really true,’’ he said.