I was born in Canmore Hospital, the old hospital on the hospital/store hill. My parents were John and Pauline Cavanaugh. Dad had come from Scotland when he was about twenty because he had an aunt and uncle here, Annie and Charlie Cochrane. They had come to Canmore via Bankhead. Charlie worked in the mine. When Bankhead closed they moved to Canmore and lived in “mineside” in a company house.
My grandfather came to Canmore with his parents from Europe. Their names were Tom and Caroline Lytkowski. They only spent a few years in Canmore, then went homesteading. When my grandad was a young man, he was asked to go to the train station to meet a girl coming from Hungary to marry a “friend”. However when Grandad saw this girl from Hungary, he was instantly smitten and they were married a month later. Grandad mined in the winter time and farmed in the summer for many years. When Grandma was having her seventh baby, she died in childbirth. Grandad never returned to the farm for years. He remained in Canmore until he retired and then he went farming. He remarried when the kids were all grown. Grandad played the violin and they had band practice at his house every week. Grandma always baked a cake for them.
One of the children, Hilda, died at fourteen. Beth, Pauline, Tom, Gertie, Mary, and Willy were the names of the other six. Pauline ended up quitting school to care for the family. Upon returning to Canmore one summer from a visit to the farm Pauline noticed a young man running around town in shorts, a garment not particularly common for men in those days. This person became my dad, John Cavanaugh, a good runner. He won the championship of Alberta one year. My mom said she could run faster than him, however, because she caught him that year.
Actually his dad had sent him a ticket to return to Scotland. So that evening, Dad, who was on afternoon shift, arrived at my mother’s house all covered in coal dust and driving the mine ambulance. He told her he would go back to Scotland if she didn’t marry him the next day. And he said, “Decide while I turn the car around”. And so they were married the next day.
Betty, Kathleen and Pauline arrived over the next six years. War broke out and Dad went overseas and was gone for five years. Pauline’s first words were “Shh, the news”. Radios had to be licensed in those days. Good programs were “The Whistler” and “Lux Radio Theatre”. Common during the war was rationing. We had to choose between sugar, syrup or honey as these came from the same coupon. Also rationed were tea, coffee, butter and meat. Coupons were frequently traded. My dad bought my mother a pair of nylons on his last leave. After that it was difficult to obtain nylons because supplies went to the war effort.
Dad returned to Mewata Stadium in Calgary. What an exciting day! I can still see all those soldiers marching in with the band playing – everyone was laughing and crying. We took the midnight train home from Calgary. Then life went on. Dad bought a car, a Graham Supercharger. It didn’t have side windows for some reason. Unless there was a union meeting in the summer, we could go for a picnic. Sometimes we made the big journey to Johnson Canyon, other times to Carrot Creek, Deadman’s Flats or Three Sisters area.
Because Dad was secretary of the union, he never missed a union meeting. Other political interests for him were the school board and president of the Legion.
Our childhood years seemed to center on skating at the rink or on the river in winter, and of
course, hockey games. In summer we had the freedom to play in the now Three Sisters area. We hiked to Sulphur Springs and Grassi Lakes. We called all this area simply “up the bush”. After Dad was home six years, the family was increased by a set of twins, Lorna and Jim. We all went to school in Canmore on the present Lawrence Grassi school site. Brother Jim and his Bonnie still live in Canmore.
I, Kathleen, got married right out of high school to Bill Belenky. Bill was a mine electrician whose first love was music. Just before our second daughter was born, we left Canmore and Bill joined the airforce as a musician. We lived in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Colorado Springs with NORAD and back to Calgary. After I retired we came home to Canmore. Unfortunately Bill’s health had really failed by then and he passed away in 1995.
Our three daughters are in Calgary: Kaida, Betty and Kris. I have two granddaughters; Melissa is in school in Edmonton and Nicole is married in Calgary. I also have a wonderful great grandson. I am so glad we made the decision to return to Canmore, although there have been many changes, some good, some bad. It is easy to keep busy with a little volunteer work thrown in. I have been blessed with wonderful friends and the time to enjoy them.
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 10-11.
