Alexandre Alfred Jacques Dalmais was born in Voiron in December 2, 1918, the second of three sons from Angèle Blanche Marie Baudoin, grocer, and Alexandre Joseph Dalmais, typographer.

He grew up in Die where his dad and uncle started a local newspaper and printing company, but soon left to the city of Lyon and come back to Die for vacation.

Alexandre classroom in Die, 1925 (second from the left, first row)

Despite hopes of avoiding military service, he was called for duty in preparation for World War II and joined the French Air Force where he got trained for pilot but never got a chance to fly.

Alexandre, 1939

He met Suzanne […] Dubouchet at a dancing class whom he married in 1946. She gave birth to their two identical twin daughters Anne-Marie and Jacqueline on May 26, 1948.

Alexandre & Suzanne, Lyon, 1945

His dad passed away fairly young, forcing his mother to run a small grocery shop to support the family. This provided meager resources and he could not afford a higher education. He started working at 16 carrying boxes for a small equipment manufacturer in Lyon, but showed great intellectual and hard working skills and quickly became service manager and eventually president of the company until he retired in 1979.

Alexandre, 1958

Willing to get back to his roots, he purchased a lot in Die in 1979 where he got a house built to enjoy the country life and family reunions.

Family reunion in Die, 1970

As young man he showed real talent for the violin, which he taught himself, and developed great friendships with professionals of the Lyon orchestra. He also played “boules lyonnaises” in local competitions. He was attached to nature, which he knew quite well. He loved nothing more than fishing, walking in the woods in search for mushrooms or taking care of his garden. He taught himself cooking and got it to a professional level, for the joy of his friends, family and his wife who would never have to cook (he would wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast and bring it to bed – a large ball of coffee with milk, 2 pieces of bread with butter ready to dip in)

In December 1989 he was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away the night of Christmas surrounded by his wife, daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren.