born In Ontario. They were married
In 1901 and later moved to Manitoba. They lived
at Rapid City where my sister, Hazel, was born
in 1906, then they moved to Rivers, where I,
Elmer , was born ln 1908.
In 1911 my parents came West to the Loma
district, north of Vulcan. My brother, Bert, was
born here in 1912. My father worked on the !arm
for John Kerr and also for Alec Mi tchell . In 1914
we moved to th e Clarence Davis farm, eight
miles west and one mile south of Champion,
where dad worked until 1917, when he re nted a
far m across the road and farmed there unt il
1926, when he sold out and moved into Champion.
My brother Arnold was born on the farm ln 1919.
All the lamlly received their schooling a t
Harper, Hiawatha, Flreguard and Champion
High School.
My parents were having a struggle to get
along so I lelt school and went to work !or
farmers ln the area. It did not cost much to live
in those days, but money was scarce, as wages
were poor and it was almost Impossible to find
work !or the winter. Af ter harvest was com-
pleted around Champion in 1932, dad and I went
north to Olds and got a Job threshing for ten days.
From here we went on to Eckvllle to visit my
sister Hazel, who was married to Robert Jarvis,
and operating an elevator at Eckvllle. Whil e
here I found a job on a farm for the winter, and
I never went back to Champion for 23 years. My
fo lks moved to Eckville in Decem ber 1932.
Houses were not plentiful, but our nelghbor,
John Cordon, let u.s live In a vacant house on hls
tarm at Hespero. I worked t he following summer
for Dewey Nielson, at Benalto. The wages were
twenty-five dollars per month.
In January 1934 I purchased a quarter section
of land from the CPR. This was on a sort ol
homestead deal, but not quite so good. I was to
improve the bush quarter, but after lour years I
also had to pay !or It on a long-term agreement.
Here we lived for the next 37 years. My wife, Ina
(nee Currie), and I were married ln those
depression years and raised a family of five
healthy children. They are : Yvonne, now Mrs
Ken Dent t, ol Medicine .Hat. They have four
children - Fred, Do ug, Janet and Rhonda . Ber-
nice, now Mrs. Glen Stamp, has three children,
Richard, Violet and Colleen. Violet, our third
oldest ch ild, was killed accidentally in 1945, at
the age of nine years. Moira, now Mrs. E ric
.Mannerfeldt of Sylvan Lake, has five children:
David, Joyce, Ina, Jimmie and Wade. Our only
son, Ian, married to Phyllis Beach, has two boys,
Timothy and Benjamin. He lives on the original
quarter that I purchased lrom the CPR.
In 1952 I commenced buying grain for the
Searle Grain Co. at ~11ntlaw, Alberta and later
was transferred to Alhambra, where I operated
the elevator for 16 years until it was closed on
September 1, 1970. Three years later I was eligi-
ble to receive my pension.
When I look back upon those depression
years, it makes me wonder how we ever made It .
We never had much money, but never once
thought of going on wellare. We made the best of
what we had, and never went hungry. We en-
joyed many good times at dances, ban games
and celebrations of various kinds. We also
attended church regularly at Hespero. I guess
our success, if one can call It that, Is due to hard
work, perseverance, and keeping out of debt.
M.v lather passed away ln November, 1942,
and my mother in 1955 . Both my paren ts are
buried in Hespero cemetery. Brother Bert also
passed away at Vegreville In 1967 .