in 1906, thomas settled in cognac for good when he married miss odette villard. with their marriage and the new business, any plans to return permanently to norway were abandoned. the couple had three sons, rené, who took over the running of the company, eric, who became a lawyer, and guy, who became a doctor. thomas remained a norwegian citizen and was often called home to undertake refresher military service. he also maintained contact with his norwegian family. in 1930, rené, the eldest son of thomas bache-gabrielsen and his wife odette joined the company. he became the head of bache-gabrielsen cognac in 1942. in 1968, christian bache-gabrielsen, grandson of thomas entered the business and became general manager in 1985.