My parents, Sam and Margaret Cook, emigrated from Missouri in 1910, with their two sons. They settled on a homestead near Torrington, Alberta, where I was born in 1913 and a younger brother in 1920. I attended the local school until grade seven. Most of my classmates were German and they taught me how to knit and crochet.
My first job was cooking for a threshing crew which travelled from farm to farm at harvest time. Then I moved to Trochu to work as a housekeeper for a family. In 1934, at the age of twenty-one, I married Elias (Eli) Heikkila, a Finn. Part of the year we lived in Trochu, but during the winters, my husband worked in a coal mine at East Coulee. We had our first child, a son named Norman, and three daughters, Lois, Ethel and Jean. In 1943, in the middle of World War II, my husband was moved to a full-time job in the Canmore Mine, where he worked as a brattice man and looked after the horses.
We rented our first home for $25 per month but soon moved to a house on Main Street, across from the United Church. There was no indoor plumbing, but the rent was only $12. We stayed there for ten years, and had two more daughters, Elsie and Ilene. In 1951, our daughter, Jean, was stricken with polio, spending nine months in the Calgary Crippled Children’s Hospital. I was kept very busy with my six children who stayed pretty close to my side whenever we went anywhere.
In 1953, we moved to our house in Prospect which we rented from Canmore Mines for $1.50 per room per month, bringing our total monthly rent to $16.00. That was the same year that everyone in town headed to the railway station to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth on her royal tour. What an exciting event! Every Christmas, there was a party at the Union Hall. There was a Christmas turkey for every family and gifts and treats for all the children.
We had wonderful neighbours, including Norman Witham, Arnold Kubista, Pete Eliuk and the Jones. We were active in the Finn community, enjoying the Finn sauna baths. I also helped make Finn rugs out of scraps of clothing. The neighbour ladies used to bring me their odds and ends which I turned in to Fairfields for the manufacture of blankets. My efforts won me a muskrat coat in 1957, but I never wore it much. I didn’t like people asking me, “How can you afford to buy a fur coat?”
I had many women friends over the years, such as Mabel Jemieff, Jenny Latvala, Siiri Latvala, Ida Niemi and Lucy Sorsa. We had lots of good times although not much money.
From 1959 to 1965, I was “chief cook and bottle washer” at the YMCA. The mine office employees often went there for coffee or meals, and my homemade bread was in demand. In 1965, after a year’s illness, my husband, Eli, passed away. Later that year, I married Ernest Greig, an Irishman from Ontario. He was a lampman and boilerhouse man at the mine. We had good years together, with travels to Toronto to visit his relatives. After his death in 1981, I stayed on in the Prospect house until it was torn down in 1983. I then became one of the first residents in “C” building at the Bow River Lodge where I have lived ever since. I do my own housekeeping and cooking and enjoy my independence. My hobbies keep me busy. One year, from March until December, I crocheted twenty afghans and eleven Christmas tree skirts! I enjoy knitting sweaters and shawls, constructing 3-D puzzles and looking after my many house plants.
My family is large, loving and supportive. My son, Norman, and his family, are in Canmore; one daughter is in Cochrane; and three others are in Calgary. One daughter, Lois, died of cancer in 1990. There are nineteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren to keep track of, and I enjoy my monthly visits to Calgary. My health is generally good, although I’m not as active as I once was. Life in Canmore has been good, especially those days when we knew practically everyone we met on the street. It’s different now, but still is home.
Norman, Jean, Lois, Ethel, Ilene, Kate, Elsie, 1983
back Lois, Ethel, Kate, front Jean, Elsie, Ilene
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 107-109.
