By Muriel Dredge Harrison
Elsie Heath and Whitfield Dredge were married on October 15, 1930, at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Canmore by Reverend E.A. Davis. Witnesses were Charles H. Dredge and Catherine Ramsey.
Whitfield and Elsie made their home in Canmore where Whitfield was employed at the Rundle Mountain Trading Company Store. At that time, Canmore was divided into what residents referred to as “Mine-side” (because of the coal mines being over there) and “Town-side” – the dividing point being the bridge over the Bow River. Their first home was a small house on the banks of a creek close to the Post Office on the Mineside. Later they moved to a house on the Main Street, Town-side.
Elsie and Whitfield had two children. Their first child, born April 19, 1931, was named Edith Elizabeth, after the two grandmothers, but she was always called Beth. Their second child, named Muriel Doreen, was born on March 6, 1933. Both of these births were attended by a Dr. Worthington.
After Whitfield died on December 4, 1944, Elsie found it necessary to seek employment. First, she worked for a short time for the Rodda family who owned the Canmore Hotel. She then took a job at the Canmore Hospital, assisting Mrs. Mason with the cooking and housekeeping chores. In 1947, Elsie and Beatrice decided to try a new venture – running a small restaurant in Canmore. It was a busy enterprise, demanding long, hard hours of work so they gave it up. After this, Elsie went to work for a time as a member of the housekeeping staff at the Cascade Hotel in Banff.
On February 4, 1952, Elsie married Clarence (Abe) Sandberg. They lived first in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and then, in 1954, moved to Wabamun. This was Elsie’s home until her death in 1963. Abe was an employee of Calgary Power Limited. He has remarried, still lives in Wabamun, and is retired.
Beth’s Memories
Our Town-side house had two bedrooms – from Muriel’s and my bedroom we could see the mountains, “The Three Sisters.” What a beautiful sight, especially when it was a moonlit night and there was snow on the mountains. Our house also had a living room, kitchen, and a small room at the back of the house where a toilet was later installed. We did have an outside toilet for some time at the back of the yard and it seemed that whenever it was time to do the dishes, Muriel would have to make a little trip to the outhouse where she would sit for a lengthy time.
We had a wood and coal stove and we burned Canmore briquettes. We also had a pump in the kitchen which we had to prime to get the water started. I lived in this house until I got married and moved away. When Mom married Abe Sandberg, they moved to Wabamun. Muriel went with them and lived with them until she married.
One year, Daddy bought Mom a pair of skates and we tried to teach her to skate on the pond but that wasn’t very successful. She also tried to curl – Daddy curled every winter – but she wasn’t any luckier at that. As soon as she saw the curling rock heading her way, she just froze! The rock hit her and she fell flat on her face. As a result, she had a scar on her nose.
One day, I was teasing Muriel and Marvyn, and finally Mom gave me a spanking with a stick and put me down the cellar. Apparently the stick had a nail in it because I soon found that my rear end was bleeding – that really made me howl so Mom opened the cellar door and let me up. After she saw what had happened, I don’t recall ever getting a spanking from Mom again.
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 125-126.
