Would someone be willing to translate a brief obituary?

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Permalink Reply by James H Smith on July 22, 2010 at 12:34pm

Hi Jan

Puis-j'aider ?
Firstly, I must stress that I am not a native-speaker, neither am I very fluent; I am, merely, a keen student.

The obituary, as I see it, is:-

Décédé hier matin, à ... (1) heures, à l'âge de 78 ans. PHILIPPE LANAUX, ...(2) de notre ville et vétéran de Jackson, en 1811-15. Ses funérailles ont eu lieu ...(3) l'après-midi.

The unclear words;
1) looks like 4; the use of "heures" suggests more than one hour.
2) cannot decipher; looks like "balif" , but there is no dictionary entry.
3) looks like "dans" = in/within.

I am bemused by the apparent use of a plural "funérailles" (although the dictionary gives it as singular = funeral),
but the use of "ses ....... ont eu" suggests that it is plural.

Assuming that the journalist's grammar is good, and my observations are "fair", I can come up with this:-

"Died yesterday morning, at 4 am, at the age of 78 years. PHILIPPE LANAUX, ...... of our town and a veteran of Jackson (1811-15). His funeral took place in the afternoon."

nb. It would appear that Philippe (1789-1867) was a member of the American forces under General Andrew Jackson (later 7th. President of the United States 1829-1837), at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), where the British were heavily defeated.

I hope this helps.
À bientôt.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Dye on July 22, 2010 at 2:23pm

Thanks James,
I think I figured out the word you had trouble with. "Natif", Native of this city.
Jan

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Permalink Reply by James H Smith on July 22, 2010 at 7:01pm

Hi again

You are perfectly correct, Jan. Now you have come up with "natif", and I look at it again, it fits and makes sense. I also see that it is "cette" and not "notre", making it as you said; "native of this city/town".

À bientôt.

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