The McNeill Family: Edmonton
Photo (From Web): The stately H.A. Gray Elementary School in Edmonton where Mom registered Louise and I in late August, 1949. It was a far cry from our one room school in Harlan, SK (see Chapter 2). Also, reference footer photo for comparison to a similar building in Victoria.
Chapter 1: The Gypsy Years
When Dad and Mom (Dave and Laura McNeill) took Louise and me 1 to live with Aunt Liz and Uncle Warren, in Harlan, Saskatchewan early in the spring of 1949, it was the first time we were separated from our parents. While we had made many moves in our short lives, this was just the beginning of being away from them for various periods of time ranging from a few months, to nearly a year. Our lives became a whirlwind of short-term home stays, new schools and new friends, many of whom remained steadfast for the rest of our lives.
Even our old pal Shep, the amazing Collie Cross, was left far behind in the care of our good friend Mr. Goodrich, our trapper neighbour at Marie Lake (A Final Farewell). Although the loneliness of being separated from Mom, Dad, Shep and our wilderness way of life, left a gapping hole in our lives, we had every reason to believe the hole would be filled once we settled in Edmonton.
Well, things did not turn out as planned and, in fact, Edmonton would bring the near death of our Mom and her younger sister, Aunt Marcia and the death of our one our best friends.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Pibroch
Link to Last Post: Dad is Missing (Last of Part IV)
Link to Family Stories Index
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Tags: Trails North and West, Allan Hartley, Avenue Theatre, Betty Dewan, Clifford Wheeler, David McNeill, H.A. Gray Elementary, Harlan Saskatchewan, Harold McNeill, Jean Wheeler, Laura McNeill, Liz Harwood, Louise McNeill, Marcia Hartley, Shep, Stanley Dewan, Warren Harwood
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Comments (9)
Harold this is really interesting to read. My grandmother was Evelyn Roske Wheeler.
Glad you enjoyed Marilyn. Just finishing up the last 10 years which will take the stories through High School and into the work world.
Harold,
The past several weeks, I have read many of your stories.
I was very impressed with your Mother’s biography. Life wasn’t easy forladies in that era.
Dear Bernadette. So glad you found the blog and a few stories that were of interest. Do you remember your University of Alberta paper “The Enterprise System in Alberta” (he, he). Maybe you should pull it out and publish on the blog. Ah, running this blog has given me the immense pleasure by being able to post some of the history of our family, relatives and friends going back to Dad’s birth in 1908. Have met up with a lot of High School friends on Facebook of the past few years.
I really have enjoyed your stories about Marie Lake, photos & Cold Lake. My dad is a Martin & my Mom a Savard from back then. Maybe you can guess who? I really like the history that you have portrayed, thanks so much.
Harold
We would have been neighbours and I am a bit embarrassed at having no recollection of your family. My family lived at 12209-95 st (1944 to 1960) and 12205-95 st (1960 to 2005).
I also attended H A Gray school for most of my grades 1 to 9 (1947 to 1956) with grades 5 and 6 at Delton.
You mention Mable Pester. She was my aunt. There was a cluster of Hardy family members in the area — Mable, my mother (Geneva) and the David Hardy and Forrest Hardy families across the street from you. And across the alley on 95A st was their sister Maranda and on 96 st. Janie.
I live near Vancouver now but the area holds a lot of memories. More than I can share in this brief note. Maybe another time.
Were you related to Guy McNeill who owned the Bruin Inn in St. Albert in the late 40’s or early 50’s? Guy was a close friend of my father-in-law who was the first President of the Royal Glenora Club. My phone number is 780 940 1175. Thank you.
Hi Dave. Not that I am aware and I have a fairly comprehensive family tree for the McNeill side of the family. I will pull it up and scan. Cheers, Harold. Great chatting with you and I will give Ben a nudge.