My dad, Stephen, came to Canmore in 1902. He landed in Montreal from Poland and then went to Edmonton enroute to the Yukon (where there, they almost froze). Then somebody told Dad there was work in Canmore in the coal mines. He worked in the No. 1 Mine and then in the Lamphouse for fifty-one years (from 1902 – 1953). Stephen was born in 1882 and died in 1955.
My mother’s name was Julia. She was born in 1898 and died in 1954. Joe was born in 1908, worked in the mine all his life, and died in 1949.
My sister, Anne, was born in 1910, moved to Banff, and died in 1987.
Brother John, born in 1912, worked in the mine most of his life and then went to Vancouver. He died in 1976.
My brother, Stan, was born in 1926. He worked in the mine all his life and stayed two years after the mine closed because he was in management.
I, Bill, was born in 1929 and worked for the coal company store starting in 1947, until John Hrushka, Ed Niskanen and I purchased the store from the coal company and managed it until 1980. In 1957, I married my wife, Maxine, and we have two sons, Stephen and Patrick, and four grandchildren. In 1991 1 retired from working in Banff National Park for the government.
My dad brought his two brothers, Lawrence and Valic, from Poland to Canmore in the early 1900’s. Uncle Lawrence had the first taxi in Canmore. Valic was familiar with handling horses in Austria so he worked with the horses in the mine.
The first golf course in Canmore was established in 1926 and was used until 1962. It had a lot of character, even in those days. On the first hole, you had to hit your ball over the railroad tracks which were running from the mine to the train station. Also, you had to look out for the steam engine that would be bringing the coal cars to the station.
I was the executor for Lawrence Grassi. When Lawrence was getting older, I was the only one who communicated with him. When the window blind was half-up, that meant he was awake. He was well-read and spent much time reading, until his eyesight failed him.
Jack Gustason, Bill Cherak
Ron Marra, Bill Cherak, Nick Kazimer 1954
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 44
