Coralie Guertin Lajoie Collection
When Capt. Henry Guertin, a native of Leominster, Mass., was ordered to active duty with the 24th Infantry Division during the Korean War, his wife Rita relocated to Japan to raise their growing family in Kokura (Kyushu), Japan. Just 13 at the time and already used to the regular relocation of a military life, the eldest daughter, Coralie Ann (“Coco”) spent the next two years attending the Kokura Dependent School. As an adult, Coco married golf pro Ray Lajoie and settled in central Massachusetts.
The collection contains ephemera and photographs from young Coco Lajoie’s two-year sojourn on Kyushu. These include a copy of her school yearbook for 1951, a bill for a folk dance performance, and a series of letters from Japanese schoolchildren she met on a visit.
Background on Coralie Guertin Lajoie
When Capt. Henry Guertin, a native of Leominster, Mass., was ordered to active duty with the 24th Infantry Division during the Korean War, his wife Rita relocated to Japan to raise their growing family in Kokura (Kyushu), Japan. Just 13 at the time and already used to the regular relocation of a military life, the eldest daughter, Coralie Ann (“Coco”) spent the next two years attending the Kokura Dependent School.
Coco went on to marry Ray Lajoie, the head pro at the Worcester Country Club for almost thirty years and a member of the New England Professional Golfers’ Hall of Fame, while Coco worked with him in the pro shop. The couple are noted for their philanthropy, raising nearly three million dollars for charities benefitting persons with disabilities.
The collection contains ephemera and photographs from young Coco Lajoie’s two-year sojourn on Kyushu. These include a copy of her school yearbook for 1951, a bill for a folk dance performance, and a series of letters from Japanese schoolchildren she met on a visit.
Acquired from Coco Lajoie.
Processed by H. de B. Smith, 2015.
)Cite as: Coralie Guertin Lajoie Collection (MS 637). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.