Bohnsack Family

We arrived in Canmore on October 18, 1961, although my father had been in Canmore since early April of the same year. My father, Frank, or actually Franz Bohnsack, was born in Burg on the island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea, Germany. My mother, Christel, was born in East Prussia in a town called Elbing, Germany. Myself, Reinhardt, my sisters (twins), Elke and Ursula, my brothers, Bernie and Peter, were all born in Germany except my youngest sisters who are also twins, Christel and Frances, were born in Canmore. 

In Germany, my father was a farmer and then became a coal miner and had dreams of coming to Canada to have a better life for him and his family. None of the family could speak a word of English and all we had were a few boxes of clothing and our hearts filled with vigor ready for the new adventure. When we arrived at the Edmonton airport, we saw an R.C.M.P. officer decked out in his red tunic uniform and my younger brother, Bernhardt, was so captivated that he just stood there and stared at the officer in total awe. He always wanted to be a police officer since that day, and now he is an officer with the Edmonton City Police Department.

A family that lived in the same coal mining town named Recklinghausen came to Canada and helped my father by sponsoring him so that he was able to immigrate to the country of his dreams with his family following six months later. My dad worked in the Canmore Mines Limited most of the time until its closure in 1979. He then moved to Sparwood to work for the Kaiser Mines Ltd. because he loved mining and also to support his family. In 1985, my dad took an early retirement and moved to Edmonton. He worked as a watchman and then finally retired. Frank and Christel live in Sherwood Park presently.

All of Frank and Christel’s children attended the Canmore school. Reinhardt with his family and Elke Niemi (Mel) with her family are the only ones that still reside in Canmore. When we first came to Canmore we lived on what is now 10th street in a cabin that we rented from Mr. Krasnodemski. A memory comes to mind that during the winter of 1961, my mom asked my dad to get a roast out of the “deep freezer”. Well, I knew we didn’t have a deep freezer, so what happened was my dad went outside and got a roast out of the brand new garbage can which he had dug into the ground during the autumn for that purpose. This “freezer” was a perfect appliance to be used until we moved in the spring. We lived in the cabin until my dad got a job with the Canmore Mines Ltd. and then moved to the Prospect area into a mine house. Our neighbors were Salekins on one side and Leipnitz on the other. Some of our other neighbors were Lekky, Matt, Helmuth, Kuzminski and Krizan families.

My dad built a Panabode loghouse on River Road. Behind us lived Frank and Barbara Dyrgas and Barb would bring us some coffee and a sandwich when we were building our brand new Panabode log house during the cold winter months. Our neighbors there were George Kakuk, Hutchisons, Ashtons, Borisenko and Dan McDonald’s family amongst others. This house burned down to the ground in 1972 and a new house was built in which Bill Pasemko and his family now reside. After the fire, the townspeople were very generous and helped my mom and dad as they lost everything. 

We shopped at the Mine store and Floyd Bray’s Mountain View Grocery store. Our clothing was purchased at Mike Mindler’s place, which is now a parking lot east of the Catholic Church. Later, we shopped at Mr. Horbay’s clothing store. On Main Street were a lot of residential homes that are no longer there. Across from the hotel was the Cumming’s residence, which is now Altitude Sports. Others were Buzzy Sherwood, now the Sherwood House, Heath residence, now Rock of Ages, Applebey’s, now The Clock Tower. Also there were Halls, Podetz, Stan Cherak, Sampsons, to name a few and this area is now all businesses like Rusticana, Subway, Bow Valley Office Supplies, etc. On the corner across from the hotel used to be our post office where you met all of your friends and caught up on the local news. Our local doctor was Dr. Alfred Miltins and we got our prescriptions at McLaughlin’s down on Main Street. There was also a shoe repair store (George Kakuk), there was a service station owned by Frank Whitney and his son, Bobby, which is now the Fireside Inn. Further down the block there was Marra’s Grocery store run by Cardo and Ron Marra. There was a laundry and drycleaning in approximately the same area as the present dry cleaner. Of course, the infamous Canmore Hotel is still where it is today. There was a barber shop with a pool hall on the corner of 7th Avenue and 7th Street. The Union Hall, now the Hub, held union meeting for the miners, dances and other functions. The IOOF Hall, which, of course, is no longer there, was on the corner of 8th and 8th,. The hospital was on the hill and the Canmore Opera House was still in its original site but has since been moved to Heritage Park in Calgary. The “Y” was also still there with the statue of the soldier, which is now at the cemetery. 

We used to swim at the “Pier” when we were kids and we played hockey on the river ice and skated in the old rink just west of the Canmore River Bridge.

Frank and Christel liked to play darts and also went to an occasional dance at the Canmore Legion and Union Hall. Frank loved to walk with his two youngest daughters throughout Canmore. They had many a happy and lovely evening at home with their friends, especially Francis and Rose Cooke.

In conclusion, my parents looked with fond memories of their life in Canmore and sometimes wish that they still lived here. This is just a picture of life experienced by the Bohnsacks in our town, forty years ago, in the 60’s.

In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 21-22.