My father arrived in the United States in 1917 from Radowitz, Poland. He left behind his father and sister. His mother had died at a young age. Dad must have worked in the United States before coming to Canada.
He found employment with the mine, working underground as a miner and then on the tipple. He met and married Elizabeth Zboya in 1925. They had four children: John, Mary (Rikstad), Julie (Polutnik), and Lena (Shellian). Dad loved to garden. He planted a huge garden with as many vegetables as possible. I do remember eating peas and carrots everytime we went by. A special day was when we went into the bush to get the wood. Dad cut the trees and we piled them. The next chore was to pile the wood in the shed after the blocks were chopped. We would stop for lunch and that was when Dad would make coffee in a five-pound lard pail – delicious! He passed away in 1963.
Mom was the oldest daughter of John and Rosalie Zboya. She was a member of the Catholic Women’s League and Ladies Auxiliary to the Legion. She would spend many hours embroidering and crocheting for the Catholic bazaars. John and Elizabeth have fifteen grandchildren.
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 283.
