I was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan. Right after high school, the bank manager came and asked me to work for the Royal Bank in Neudorf. After one month I was transferred to Wapella. Six months later I was again transferred, this time to Moosomin (Birthplace of Gordon Thiessen, governor of the Bank of Canada, and Gen. McNaughton). Moosomin was where I met Ron.
Ron and his brother Ernie had been in the services for five years, from 1939 to 1945. Upon their return, both Ron and Ernie were well-known hockey players, playing for the Moosomin Badgers. Moosomin had the McNaughton’s Store, interesting in that clerks did not handle money. The bill and money were sent by conveyor belt up to the office, transacted there and any change was sent back down the conveyor belt to the clerk. Ron and his brother had a dray service delivering goods from the train.
Ron and I were married in 1950 and lived in Moosomin, Carlyle and Unity before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Our centennial move was back to Saskatchewan (Saskatoon) in 1967. Ron, Gary and I moved here from Saskatoon in August, 1972. We opened the first Macleod’s store here. Actually Canmore was one of three choices to open a store and because we were somewhat familiar with the area, Canmore was the place. This was located in the same store as the RD Hardware but only half of it. The other half was the Bank of Montreal. There was no place available to rent in Canmore so we bought a mobile home in Saskatoon and loaded it with our furniture. Canmore, at this time, did not have a real estate agent. The company transported this mobile home to Canmore and located it at number 30 in Restwell Trailer Park. Rent was $40 a month. We both joined the golf club, nine holes at that time, and the ladies’ fee was 25 dollars. I also joined the curling club and we had many good times in the old rink. We sold the store in 1976 and Ron worked at the mine office for a short time. In December, 1977, we took over the Gulf service station on 1A highway (it is now PetroCanada). In the meantime we built a house. We had won the lot in a lottery draw. This cost $12 000 and was actually part of the original golf course. Archibald Construction built the house and we moved into it in 1978.
We retired in 1981. We made some trips to B.C. and Arizona. The birth of our first grandchild in 1985 curtailed any plans to move farther west as we wanted to be closer to the family. Ron went back to work as a guard at the RCMP barracks in Banff. That was July, 1982, until October, 1985. So I went back to work too at Mountview Supermarket until he again retired. Ron suffered a heart attack in January 1986 but recovered nicely. We again went to Arizona for the next few winters. Ron was diagnosed with cancer in July, 1994 and died in November, 1994. My son, Gary, and I still live in Canmore. Gary works at Banff. My daughter, Judy, lives in Saskatoon with husband, John Hanson, and two beautiful grand-daughters, Ashley and Courtney. I am currently treasurer for the Canmore Seniors Association and finally mastered the computer. I am enjoying retirement: bridge, golf, curling, bowling, and intend to spend the rest of my days in beautiful Canmore.
Leona and Ron Jeffers
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 139.
