My maternal grandfather, Peter Smitton, arrived in Namaka from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1906 and bought land in the Conrich area. After three years of fighting hail and frost, he left the farm and moved to Namaka to work for his old friend, Willy Marshall, who had come to Canada in the early 1900’s. In 1909, Peter sent for the family. My mother said that they were let off the train in the middle of the wide open prairie. It was such a change from the big city of Glasgow.
They later bought land half mile from where they were staying. My mother and her brother attended school in Namaka, two and a half miles away. Later, they helped out on the farm. In 1918, the brother died in the ‘flu epidemic. It was around that time Mother met my father, who had come to Canada in 1913 from Carlisle, England. They were married in 1919 and Dad took over the farm. They soon bought more land as the family grew and we moved to a big house in the village of Namaka.
The “Great Depression” arrived in the ’30s and money was very scarce. I remember when I was seventeen, working with a threshing crew for two weeks. I received the big sum of $60 which was my spending money for the whole winter.
I served in the R.C.A.F. from 1941 to 1945. When I was stationed at #3 S.F.T.S. in Calgary, I married Ferne Whitman. That same month, I was posted to Jericho Beach in Vancouver. After moves to Port Hardy, B.C., Patricia Bay, B.C., we ended up at Sea Island. I was discharged in 1945 at Jericho Beach.
Under D.V.A., I attended the University of British Columbia and served my apprenticeship in Pharmacy in Vancouver. By 1948, we had two children, Brenda and Spencer, and our marriage had ended in divorce.
At about that time, my father’s health, after a couple of operations, wasn’t in good shape. My mother had written and said that help on the ranch was hard to get, so the two children and I went back to Namaka where my mother took very good care of them. The children attended school at Namaka and Strathmore.
Brenda, age fifty-five, is married to Bill Becker and they have three grown children, Curtis, Shawna and Chris. Spencer has a son, Clay, age thirty-two. Spencer divorced several years ago and has never remarried and is currently a captain in the Calgary Fire Department.
In 1957, I married Vera McKay from Fresno, California. I first met Vera in Vancouver in 1949 at the Young People’s Association at the Canadian Memorial United Church, next door to where I was living. We kept in touch all those years. It was quite a change from working in an office to farm life, and two children, aged eight and eleven, to look after, but Vera did remarkably well.
In 1959, our daughter Debra was born. The workload became even greater when our son Murray came along in 1960, but time goes by swiftly when one is busy. Debra is married to Colin Tyndal; they have four children and live in Calgary. Murray is unmarried, living in Calgary.
Vera had never curled before. As curling is the main winter sport on the prairies, she was therefore forced to learn the game. She was a skiier, but she was unable to travel to the mountains. The very first year that she was on a curling team, they won the league trophy. From then on, she was hooked on the game.
We spent many busy years on the farm but in the seventies, I developed a neck condition so we decided to move. After looking at houses in Strathmore and Calgary, we settled here in Canmore where I managed (and was part owner of) a game farm just east of Exshaw for five years.
I soon got to know most of the people in town and I transferred my Legion membership from Strathmore to Canmore. I also joined the curling and golf clubs. I was President of the Drop-In Centre for two years and was on the Board of the first Canmore Housing Authority for six years.
Two years ago, I received my life membership from Canmore Legion #3, Three Sisters Branch. I am quite involved in the Alberta Senior Citizens Sports and Recreation Association, having served for a number of years as activity director for Zone 2. I also belonged to the Nordic Cross Country Ski Club. When I was at the game farm (Wildlife Unlimited), we had animals trained for use in making films and commercials. Disneyland people used them many times.
Once, about 1976, two fellows from Korea came to buy animals for a zoo that they were starting to build. Among the animals bought were cougars, elk and bears. They all had to be crated and loaded on a plane and flown to Toronto, then shipped to Korea with an assortment of other animals that had been purchased across the country. We had mainly crated the animals in steel cages but one cage was built of wood. The bear in this cage clawed and chewed until his head was out. The poor flight crew were never so glad to land at Toronto and get the bear in a better cage!
The Canmore Seniors have organized many tours over the years. Some of the tour managers were Thelma Crowe and Norman Witham. Now Anne Wilson has ably taken over in this capacity. On one trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota, we had stopped at a rest stop. As usual, I was shooting with my video camera when it was announced that the bus was leaving shortly. I dashed for the bathroom with the video dangling from my neck. I had forgotten to switch off the camera. That is one film that I don’t show to anyone!!!
1982 – back row Debra (Fawkes) Tynedal, Murray Fawkes, Brenda (Fawkes) Backer, Spencer Fawkes, front row Jack Fawkes, Vera Fawkes
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 74-75.
