Volume 30 NO. 1. SPRING 2016_______________________________ _
AGS Brooks & District Branch 35th Anniversary Edition
Presidents Message, by Bob Franz
Local Diggings, by E Carol Anderson
In memory of Lyle William Kloth , AGS 5548
This and That—Branch News
What got me interested in genealogy—
Articles by various members of the B & D Branch of AGS
What goes around, comes around—
Relatives who are our relatives related to us. By Glenn P. Michell
ISSN 1192-1137
p. 1
p. 2
p. 6
p. 7
p. 8
p. 14
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Robert (Bob) Franz
What? June is here? Impossible! When I was working for a living, I used to have a
calendar frame that said “The dates on this calendar are closer than they appear.”
That was very true then, and is very true still in retirement. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all members for their support and words of encouragement, and
their patience and understanding if I am not as quick on the response, with my new
undertaking as President of the Provincial Association. By now you will have received
Relatively Speaking and have read my opening message regarding the goals of this
organization for the next two years. If you have not yet done so, check out the AGS
website where you will read my message regarding concerns in relation to the health
of this society. Both concern you. I welcome all suggestions, advice, and offers to
help. The success of the Brooks and District Branch, and of AGS Provincial, lies on
your shoulders as volunteers and members, and your efforts and your membership are
appreciated. May you have an enjoyable summer and we will see you in the fall. Bob
Local Diggings by E. Carol Anderson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE BEGINNING –35 years ago
Brooks Junior High School Library. Elections
were held for all executive positions.
President—Beverly Hagen
Vice-president—Jocelyn Robertson
Treasurer—Maren Burns
Secretary—Win Spence
Other Charter members
Heather Miyauchi
Irene Vanderloh
Vicky Mattson
Margaret Lelond –Librarian
Carol Anderson—Program
Clara Iwasa—Publicity
Margret Lelond—Library
Jean Lutes
Historically the founding of the AGS Brooks
& District Branch was brought into being by
students who were taking
a six week
Genealogy Beginner’s course in the fall of
1980 at the Brooks High Brooks School
under the auspices of the Brooks Adult
Further Education Council with course
instructor Jocelyn Robertson. We were a class
of enthusiastic want to be genealogists.
One of the evening lessons was one the
“Alberta Genealogical Society” founded in
1973. On completion of the course we were
egger to form our own branch of the Alberta
Genealogical Society.
In the early years of the Alberta Genealogical
Society the branch presidents attended the
Provincial AGS Executive meetings every two
months traveling to Red Deer until the AGS
acquired a permanent location in Edmonton.
The ground work began on December 1980.
On January 8th 1981 the letter of intent when
applying for branch status was signed by 10
people. Three were already members of AGS
Beverly Hagen, Carol Anderson and Heather
Miyauchi.
Beverly Hagen and Jocelyn Robertson
attended their first meeting on January 10th
1981. Their purpose was to gain help full
information for the branch.
In the fall of 1979 the AGS Medicine Hat
Branch sponsored a one day Genealogy
seminar “What could AGS do for us?”
Coincidentally both Bev and Carol attended
neither knew of the other’s interest in
genealogy. They became AGS members that
day and joined the Medicine Hat Branch.
The AGS Librarian brought genealogy books
for the branches to have for two month loan.
The branch president would return them at
the next AGS meeting.
Our Brooks Branch had a small collection of
genealogy of books with no place to keep
them. The Brooks Public Library provided
some temporary space for our use.
On January 11 1981 the Brooks & District
Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society
was instituted. We were anxious to continue
to put our knowledge into action. Thus it was
on February 12th 1981 an inaugural meeting of
the Brooks & District Branch was held in the
During the growing years of the Alberta
Genealogical Society 1978 into the1980’s the
meetings were held in the Red Deer Museum
~2~
and Archives. Following the meetings we
would have a grand time visiting during
lunch. Friendships were created in those
years formative years of the society and our
branch. Many have passed away, and others
are still active in AGS yearly events
collected in this area. That was a welcome
addition to our collection.
Our branch participated in the Lethbridge
Branch Seminar on April 3rd 1981. We had a
display of the charts and Jocelyn ‘s quilt
books and Jean Lutes Historical Atlas of
Lanark and Renfrew counties and Maren
Burns showed her Historical Atlas Bruce
County all are located in Ontario. {1874-1880
Canada Historical Atlas project was created
for Ontario, Quebec and The Maritimes}
The Brooks Branch members sat down to
business and looked to the community for
guest speakers and the obvious person to
invite was
the head librarian Karen
Armbruster of the Brooks Public library who
talked on what books were available in the
Public Library there were several of interest
that we could borrow. There was so much to
learn and we took it all in our stride.
In May Branch member Sam Alberts, an
amateur photographer, was the Guest Speaker
for the evening. Sam spoke to the group on
his method of taking pictures of old snap
shots and photos he shared that he was able
to copy nearly any type of picture but better
results to have a negative which he could
make.
On a later visit, Karen spoke on several issues
that would be to our advantage in our
research; Inter-library loan from Archives
Canada for photocopying, microfilm reader
and a microfiche reader.
We were so
ambitious and enthusiastic about what we
were doing in our branch we even thought
that we could buy a microfilm reader and a
microfiche reader in March 1981 we had $50
in our bank account. We faced reality, how
little did we know!
Jocelyn Robertson, always the teacher, helped
us with Genie Jargon – i.e. Progenitor from
Latin means to be get so is linked to the
beginning of a Genealogical Line of one
person who gives rise to a family line’s
descendants primary and secondary sources
collateral l family lines, pedigree chart family
group charts and drop charts connecting two
people generation by generation through to
the original ancestor. Do Genealogy classes
of today introduce the above forms?
In February Margaret Lelond began to collect
obituaries from the Brooks Bulletin weekly
newspaper on a three month trial basis to
see how mammoth a job it would be. “These
will be useful for persons requesting
information on diseased as well as using it for
the committee working on cemeteries.” One
Fall we took all news clippings to the Brooks
museum and pressed them out with an iron.
The Medicine Hat Genealogy branch turned
over all obituary clippings that they had
In the summer the executive met three times
in the planning of a booth for entry in the
August 20 and 21nd fall fair. Our branch
display consisted of books, pictures,
members’ personal family and histories.
People were very interested and wanted to
know more about genealogy. Due to the
~3~
excellent response it proved to be a good way
to advertise our branch. We were encouraged
by this and as a result. It was decided to have
an open house for the benefit of new
members and interested public. We set the
date for the evening of September 24th. In
the October branch minutes it was deemed to
have been successful.
the 40-plus assigned cemeteries were recorded
we continued on to locate several others that
were a further distance from Brooks the
pivotal able point of direction. Today we are
attempting to cover any of the “lost” pioneer
cemeteries.
Quote”’ someone once remarked that a
peaceful walk through a cemetery is like a
walk through history there are stories to tell
on each on head stone” providing dates of
birth and some providing and including
marriage and death, family, wife or husband,
parents and children’s names occupation
military place names each one unique
depending on the early settlements the their
culture religion and location and history of the
people. IBBESTAD CEMETERY begins
with the settlement of Lutheran Norwegians
in 1910. The name in itself was chosen
because many had come from a church
congregation of that name in Norway.
The Alberta Genealogical Society’s branch
members participate in the provincial
cemeteries project of recording cemetery
headstones. We received our first listing of
cemeteries to be recorded by the Brooks
Branch members from the AGS cemetery
committee, along with Guide Lines in
recording headstones. We began with the
Brooks Cemetery. Smith’s Funeral Home
gave us a map of cemetery. September 17th
was set forth with all who could to meet at the
cemetery at 6p.m. This was the local Brooks
site ½ mile from town (in 1981). Florence
Bartlett volunteered to record the cemetery in
Duchess. Vicky Mattson recorded the
cemetery in Rolling Hills. Maren Burns and
Helen Kurtz enquired at County of Newell
office concerning their jurisdiction on
cemeteries.
The oldest dated monument is Johana J
Johnson 04 April 1895- Nov 1910. The last
burial in the cemetery was Jennie Orsten
1895-1988. The cemetery lays on the top of a
lone hill where once stood the IBBESTAD
CHURCH. The location of the cemetery is
east of the town of Lomond and northeast
and near of the town of Enchant.
These first members were the first cemetery
recorders in Brooks & District Branch many
members who followed over the years have
continued to record cemetery head stones
they still pack a lunch, a bottle of water, a hat,
note book, pencil (and now they take a photo
of each head stone), covered shoes, mosquito
repellent, and they had to watch out for
snakes to be on the safe side! In the early
years we would travel 2 to 3 hours before we
reached our destination. We spent many,
summers of adventure and good times. When
The inaugural year of the AGS Brooks &
District Branch 1981 was soon coming to a
close we have done well with members
working together toward the same goal. We
accomplished more than we anticipated. To
close out the year we celebrated with a
potluck dinner hosted by Maren & Bob Burns
in their home. December potluck dinners
became a tradition.
~4~
In 1991 we were in our first permanent
location in room # 4 of the Brooks
Community Cultural Centre, also known as
the Old Hospital. In 1999 to room #122,
where is located today. We have acquired
furniture, various equipment, and our branch
library
has
grown
tremendously.
Modernization has included installing the
internet, setting up a branch webpage, and
acquiring computers, printers, and a power
point projector.
In 1984 the Brooks Branch had its own
“nameless” newsletter publication. It was
edited by Joyce McCune. In 1987 a context
was held among members to give it a name
and logo. Claire Iwaasa and Betty Penner
were the winners. Carol Anderson has been
the editor since the spring of 1990. Since
1990 the B & D HEIR LINES won the Ken
Young award three times for best overall
Branch newsletter.
For many years the AGS Brooks & District
Branch has taken an active role participating
within the City of Brooks, and in outlying
areas. Research requests have come to us
from many parts of the world, which has
made the many years of work gathering,
storing, preserving, and archiving information
to have been all the worthwhile.
In the early years members had to travel to
the LDS Family History Centres in Taber,
Lethbridge, and Calgary. At the Calgary
Public Library we would go to read microfilm.
Later we could access the Brooks Public
Library to obtain through inter-library loans
various microfilms of records. Our Brooks
Branch also helped with the establishment of
a Family History Centre in Brooks located in
the local LDS Church as a separate
organization. Prior to the days of the internet,
our members made a lot of use of their facility
to do research.
AGS Brooks & District Branch Presidents
1981-1982
1983-1984
1985-1986
1987-1988
1989-1990
1991-1992
1993-1994
1995-1996
1997-1998
1999-2000
2000-2002
2003-2004
2005-2005
2006-2007
2008-2008
2009-2010
2010-2012
2013-2016
The Brooks and District Branch initiated the
microfilming of the Brooks Bulletin
Newspaper. Today, thanks to our members,
there is an entire indexing of births and deaths
from 1910 to the present. In 2013, in
partnership with the Brooks Public Library,
the Brooks Bulletin, and Canadiana.org, the
microfilms have been uploaded and are
searchable on that website. Currently our
Branch is making improvements to its own
website with goal to include linked obituaries,
cemetery & head stone photos from our local
area.
~5~
Beverley Hagen
Maren Burns
Carol Anderson
Eileen Flexhaug
Claire Iwaasa
Carol Anderson
Barbara Tarney
Jean Stewart
Betty Penner
Andre Menard
Nestor Martinez
Terry Jackson
Nestor Martinez
Vicky Stafford
Brian Dunlop
Eileen French
David Fionn Clark
Robert Franz.
IN RECOGNITION
In Memory of Lyle William Kloth
Our members of the Brooks Branch
Who have served on the
Alberta Genealogical Society
Executive and Committee Chairs
(March 9, 1933 - June 10, 2016)
E Carol Anderson – AGS President,
1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President,
AGS Past President
Jean Stewart – Secretary
Clara Iwassa – Researcher
Brian Dunlop – Finance Committee Chair
Nestor Martinez – 1st Vice President,
2nd Vice President
Diane Granger – R.S. Editor
Robert Franz – President
Our Branch in the Local Community
“Lyle Kloth, the 83 year-old man who was
struck in a cross walk while driving a
motorized scooter, succumbed to his injuries
at Brooks Health Centre on June 10. The hit
and run occurred at 1:30 pm on May 28 at 9th
Avenue and 3rd Street West…” Brooks
1996-present—Genealogy display at the
Brooks Museum Days.
2004—Sarah King Maternity House history
was researched by branch members for the
Brooks Museum, a three years project
accounting for over 170 babies born in her
home prior to 1938.
Bulletin, 14 June 2016
The above quote is the opening words of a
second, of three, news story that appeared in
our local Brooks Bulletin.
Many were
saddened to hear of this senseless tragedy.
We of the Brooks and District Branch of the
AGS were especially saddened, as Lyle was
one of our beloved members. Since joining in
2009, Lyle has regularly attended our monthly
programs and social outings. He lived across
the parking lot of our branch library in a
senior’s apartment, and would come for the
fellowship and shared interests of our hobby.
Born in Manitoba, Lyle was a long time
resident of Brooks, having moved there over
40 years ago.
2004-2008—Branch members served food at
the genealogical booth set up at the Annual
rooks Medieval Fair.
2005-2008—Telling Your Story: Three
members helped seniors in the community
tape record or write about their history in the
community.
2008—Branch participation in the Newell
Regional Expo.
2010—Brooks and Medicine Hat branches
co-hosted AGS GenFair in Medicine Hat.
2012-The Branch hosted Robbie Burns Night.
~6~
This & That in Branch News
Brooks and District President is elected as
President for all of AGS for two year Term.
Programs January to June 2016
Bob Franz, a long time member of the Brooks
and District Branch, and it current president
since 2014, was acclaimed at President of
AGS at the Annual General Meeting held in
Drayton Valley. Bob succeeds Susan Haga of
Lethbridge who served the past two years.
January 23 – Branch 35th Anniversary
Guest branch member, Patricia Hutton,
showed a power point about her research
in England and Ireland. The celebration
included special cake, and the opening of the
2006 time capsule containing items put in it
by members from ten years ago.
February – Karyn Norden spoke on the
origin of the Valentine Card, and a brief
history about the Saint and the day
commemorated to him. There was an
assortment Valentines on the table. Bob
Franz had Carol Anderson had several
Valentine antique keepsakes to show as well.
Susan Haga speaking and the Brooks &
District 35th Anniversary celebration.
March – Find A Grave power point
presented by Eileen French
April – Dane Shivers came and shared about
his die-cast model airplane hobby.
May – Visitors from the Sheffield
Historical Society led by Shelia Langolis
and David Dennis showed a power point of
pictures about the early history of the once
thriving town of Sheffield & area, prior to the
opening of the military base.
June—A group of eight went on a field trip
to the Etzikom Museum for the day, which
includes an excellent collection of pioneer
history displays inside, and a preservation of
historic windmills outside; and, the outing
included a stop at the Red Rock Coulee to see
the unique formation of large reddish
boulders concentrated in a small area of the
otherwise open prairie. The day ended with a
stop for coffee at the new A & W in Red Cliff
before returning home after a wonderful day.
Bob Franz, current president, with Beverley
Hagen, first president of Brooks & District
Branch in 1981, cutting the 35th Anniversary
Cake.
~7~
35th Anniversary Celebration of the
AGS Brooks & District Branch
Why I Got Interested in Genealogy
As a part of the recent 35th Anniversary
commemoration for the Alberta Genealogical
Society’s Brooks and District Branch, some
members have submitted essays explaining
what got them interested in genealogy:
My Journey to Genealogy
By Iris (Hagen) Dunham
I had been willed a set of 6 silver spoons by
my Dad’s uncle when he, Martin Hagen, died
in 1959. The set was pure silver, with gold
‘bowls’ and they were still in the original box
from Jens Evensen Guldsmit Gjøvik. Martin’s
initials, M H, and the year 1911, were
engraved on the back of each spoon. The
story was that Martin had left a girlfriend in
Norway to build a future in a ‘New Land’ but
when he returned for her, with this gift in
hand, she was already promised to another.
He returned to Canada, and was a bachelor
the rest of his life. He loved kids and from the
time I was old enough to remember, my folks
would visit his place for a christmas drink. Us
kids would get a little shot glass with a little bit
of whiskey; it took our breath away and made
our eyes water but we looked forward to it!
Martin was an excellent cook and held many
community get-togethers at his house. When
he was unable to continue farming my Dad
farmed his land. Who was the Mystery
Woman who broke his heart? What happened
to her? Was she happy? Would I ever find
out?
Presidents present: (l to r) Carol Anderson,
Clara Iwaasa, Eileen French, Bev Hagen,
Vicky Stafford, and Bob Franz
Charter members: Clara Iwaasa, Beverley
Hagen, and Carol Anderson.
My sister-in-law, Beverly Hagen, had been
doing genealogy on her Mom’s and Dad’s
sides for many years and I thought it was
intriguing but – she was in Saskatchewan. One
day I saw a course, in the Continuing
Greetings from Newell County Reeve, Molly
Douglass; and, Brooks Mayor, Barry Morishita
~8~
Education calendar entitled ‘Tracing Your
Family Roots’ and, in 2003, I signed up for it.
I was excited about it at first but then finding
that all my ‘root’ information was in
Norwegian (which I didn’t read, nor speak),
and seeing how the surnames could stem
from the father’s given name with “son”, or
“datter” appended, or, instead they might use
the ‘farm’ name---and spelling was totally
inconsistent… I was disheartened and
thought tracing my roots would be an
insurmountable task. Then I met Joyce
Duggan, an experienced genealogist who also
knew some Norwegian and an AGS member,
who volunteered at the Library on the nights
the ‘Tracing your Family Roots’ class was
offered. In speaking with her about my
frustrations she offered to give me a hand. .
She also encouraged me to join the local
Lodge of the Sons of Norway for some
Norwegian camaraderie and connections to
other Norwegian resources. As part of the
Sons of Norway I took Norwegian language
classes and travelled with a group of SON
members to Høstfest in Minot, North Dakota
in the fall of 2006. Here I found, and joined
the America/Norway organization called
Totenlag of America, an organization
specifically aimed at descendants of the Toten
region of Norway; the area where my father’s
Dad, August Hagen, immigrated from. I also
joined Trondalag of America; an organization
specific to the Stjørdal area of Norway in
Nord-Trondalag where my mother’s Dad,
John Moxness, had immigrated from. Now I
had connections upon which to build, and my
interest in Genealogy was re-ignited as I
thought ‘okay, maybe I can make some
headway’.
(Granshagen) Rolijordet, via email. Arne’s
mother, Hjordis Rolijordet, had been
conversing with my Mom, in Norwegian, for
many years but was now unable to continue
writing due to ill health. Arne and I conversed
for a number of years but in early 2009 my
emails were no longer receiving replies ( I
knew he and I were very close to the same age
so I was shocked when I later learned he had
a massive heart attack and had passed away).
Though he had sent me the descendent charts
from his grandmother, Petra, forward I had
not learned anything about Petra’s other
siblings (the other 5 that remained in
Norway). I knew that 6 of Johan Nielsen and
Antonette Pedersdatter’s children left Norway
from the Granshagen farm near Lena in the
Toten commune. There were four boys; Nils,
Martin, Ole, August, Taale and 1 girl, Oleane
that left the Granshagen farm for America.
My brothers and I had suggested Mom and
Dad visit Norway for their 50th Wedding
Anniversary in 1995 but Dad said his Dad
never wanted to go back ‘as times were very
hard when he left Norway’, and if his Dad,
August, didn’t wish to go back then he wasn’t
interested in going there either. In June, 2011,
my Dad died of Leukemia.
Finally, in early 2013, I got a real ‘break’ on
the Granshagen research! One of my cousin’s,
Lisa Wigness of Victoria, BC (Oleane
(Granshagen) Wigness’s grandaughter) had
been doing some research and had been
contacted by Bjørn Thune, the great grandson
of Peder Anton (Granshagen) Thune, and
Bjørn’s uncle, Torstein Thune, still owned and
maintained the Granshagen farm. That was
the breakthrough I needed! Now I knew there
were 12 children in all and of the 6 that stayed
in Norway 4 were girls (Petra, Marie, Bertha,
In 2003 I had made contact with Arne
Rolijordet of Oslo; the grandson of Petra
~9~
and Julie Granshagen; Marie was a spinster
and remained at home to care for her mother
and father; the rest married
and took their husband’s names.) There were
also 2 boys but Peder Anton wanted a farm of
his own before his Dad was ready to stop
farming – so he bought a farm beside the
Granshagen farm, called the Thune farm and
he became Peder Anton Thune, and all his
descendants were ‘Thune’. Likewise the next
son, remaining in Norway, also wanted his
own farm before his Dad was ready to retire
and so he, Johan, bought the farm on the
other side of the Granshagen farm, the
Bakkelund farm, and thereafter he became
Johan Bakkelund and all his descendants, took
the Bakkelund surname from that point
forward. When Johan and Antonette were
ready to quit farming, Peder Anton, being the
oldest son still in Norway was offered the
‘home place’ but he was well established on
the Thune farm and didn’t wish to move so
his Dad sold him the Granshagen farm but
the parents continued to live on the
Granshagen farm until their demise.
Now I knew why I was having no luck
looking for the Granshagen surname! And,
now I could get on with my Genealogy
research! I had connections!
In June, 2015, my brother, his wife, my
husband and I took 31 days to do a land, sea,
and air tour of Norway.
We found and visited a relative in Stjørdal on
my Mother’s, Dad’s, side (via research at the
local, Verdal Bibliotek, after being assisted by
their resident Genealogist, Thomas Berg). Mr.
Berg was only too happy to have us visit him
at his home and then provided a connection
for us - Arne Heggeseth of Stjørdal. Arne
invited us to his house where we had a
delightful visit and he gave us a
‘RelativesBook’ that he had compiled with all
the Genealogy relating to the descendants of
one of my Great Grandfather’s brothers:
Olaus Berg..
We found and visited with family at the
Granshagen farm (emigration had shortened
the name Granshagen to be ‘Hagen’ in
Canada) . We had a wonderful time visiting
the Thune, Bakkelund, and Rolijordet
relatives.
While in Norway we also passed by Davik
where my Dad’s. Mother’s side (Torgerson),
originated from, and also Fåberg, where my
Dad’s,
Mother’s
family
(Gilbertson),
originated from but we hadn’t done sufficient
research before leaving Canada and, we also
ran out of time so, if we’re lucky maybe we
will return to do our Genealogy research
onsite..
Meanwhile plans have been confirmed for
Torstein Thune, his wife Else, his sister, Aud
Buflatten, and Torstein’s nephew, Per Martin
Buflatten to arrive June1, 2016 to see where
the rest of Torstein’s Great, Great Uncles, and
one Great, Great Aunt (Oleane) lived. They
will have a huge surprise in comparison to the
area these siblings originated from in Norway;
a land of small farms, hilly land, and lots of
trees, grass and water versus the Canadian
prairies of SW Saskatchewan where there are
virtually no trees, low rolling hills, poor soul,
huge farms, and very little water. But the
reciprocating visits between Granshagen
descendants in Norway and Canada have
begun; thanks to Genealogy!
Furthermore, Arne Heggeseth, his wife, May
Sissel, and their son and daughter have
~ 10 ~
planned to attend my Mother’s 90th birthday,
in Canada in April, 2017. Arne is the Great,
Great Nephew of my Grandpa Moxness (my
Mother’s Dad) so, here too the doors have
now been opened between the descendents of
Jon Jonsen and Eln Henrichsdatter – the
Moxness relatives in America and the ones
who remained in Norway.
The Torgerson and Gilbertson lines still
require a lot of work but, I am confident now,
that this task is not insurmountable.
The more I work on my genealogy, the more
exciting it is…I suspect, however, that the
Mystery
Woman will forever remain a mystery as none
of the Granshagen relatives, so far, could shed
any light on the ‘story’, and, the shop, Jens
Evensen, Guldsmit, Gjøvik – no longer exists.
Why I Became a Genealogist
By Bob Franz
I initially became interested in genealogy due
to an obsessive-compulsive disorder, the need
for order and structure around me and an
obsession for detail. With twenty-eight aunts
and uncles and scads of cousins and assorted
greats and grands, I decided in my late teens
to draw a traditional family tree to keep track
of who was related to whom. I quickly
discovered that my family tree had a lot of
broken branches, unknown or forgotten
names and b/m/d dates. Putting together
what I could, I eventually shelved the project
in frustration as a poor idea and doing
nothing to help my obsessive-compulsive
disorder. (Much later I was to discover that a
number of people I knew in my hometown
whom I thought were acquaintances were
actually relatives lurking in the closet which
really threw my disorder in a spin.)
Ten years later the community decided to put
together a history book and put out a call for
family histories.
That appealed to the
narcissistic side of my personality, thinking it
would be a great idea to see the family name
in print in a book. I quickly discovered that
my family did not agree. My maternal
grandfather who lived two doors up the street
spoke for himself and my grandmother when
he advised me “that is in the past and nobody
would be interested”. (He was to later
demonstrate his belief when downsizing by
throwing their memorabilia into the refuse
heap.) My paternal grandmother lived 100
miles away, spoke with a heavy German
accent, and my parents and I only visited her
for an hour once a year. I didn’t even ask.
My father gruffly told me his family history
was “his business and nobody else’s”. The
parents of my new spouse replied with a curt
“not interested.” So I pieced together what
little I could from my mother and my father’s
sister and submitted it, only to have my father
complain after it was published that
everything I wrote from his sister was all
wrong. (What was correct I never did
discover.) A later call by the community for a
second edition with photos I wisely ignored.
Forty years passed and one Canada Day, five
years ago, I walked past a display by the B and
D Branch. Retired by then six years and
having always been interested in history, I
thought genealogy would be an interesting
and relaxing way to fill in some of the time I
now had and to meet new people so that fall I
joined the Branch. Two years ago I thought it
would be a great idea to dust off the old
~ 11 ~
family tree and contact my myriad of aunts,
uncles and assorted cousins to obtain an
update on the names and b/m/d dates of
their children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren and corresponding spouses. I
quickly discovered my family didn’t share my
enthusiasm. One person responded eager to
participate and share but only about half
responded to my request with the desired
information. One replied with additional
information but with relatives they did not
like whited out. One replied “we don’t know
that stuff.” The rest appear to have misplaced
my stamped, self-addressed envelope as I am
still waiting to hear from them. From all this,
I’ve concluded the real reason I’ve become
involved in genealogy is to satisfy my inner
masochistic needs --bashing my head through
these brick walls brings such a delightful pain.
And I have met some nice new people with
the same perversion.
Since that time I also started researching my
husband’s lines.
This has made for binders upon binders of
genealogy information on the shelves. I love
the research, the history and finding the
elusive next generation back. Organizing the
material is the hard part for me but my theory
is that as long as I keep the info in the right
family tree it will always be there.
Joining the Brooks Genealogical Society, of
which my mother was also a member, has
been very rewarding, fun and interesting.
Getting help with your research from
members is a great benefit that membership
provides. I recommend joining a genealogy
society near you.
Who got me started doing Genealogy,
How and Why!
By Clara Iwaasa
My interest in Family Research
By Eileen French
In the 1970’s and 1980’s my mother Helen
(Preston) Kurtz started doing research on my
parent’s lines. Her side was Preston and Irwin
and my dad was Kurtz and Klein. She put a
huge binder of info together on our tree and
gave one to each myself, my sister Karen and
my brother Gary.
After she passed away she gave me the honor
of holding and preserving all of her research.
Having the binder and talking to her about
her findings and research sparked my interest
in going forward (or backwards actually) to
find out more.
The “tree” that got me started was the
PENNY TREE – James Damside Penny and
Ann Dougal – my paternal great grandparents.
In the 1960’s during the summer holidays we
would travel to Plamondon to visit my parents
Alex and Eliza Stratton on the mink ranch
and while there Dad’s sister, Catherine
Warren from Victoria would often come for a
visit at the same time. On her way she would
stop at Sherwood Park and pick up her and
Dad’s cousin, Annella King. They would
spend much of he visit discussing all the
relatives in Scotland as they were the two who
kept in touch with and knew them all.
Finding out that my husband Mits was a sign
painter they decided he would be the ideal
person to handprint a “Penny Tree.” They
~ 12 ~
would gather and provide all of the
information. The end result was a tall tree
trunk with eleven branches coming off of it,
and the names of over 300 descendents of
James D Penny and Ann Dougall, married
1855, to the latest births in the fifth
generation. (I am sure today the sign would
be three or four times the size to fit all of the
names now into the seventh generation!)
Since then my sister Evelyn and I have
continued to work on the “tree’ gathering and
recording of birth, marriage and death
information.
Our search has included trips to Scotland.
The oldest headstone we have identified is for
our ancestor Helen Mores, spouse to John
Peny, who died October the 5th 1758 aged 30
years.
In the fall of 1980 a Genealogy Course was
offered in Brooks through Adult Further
Education. They needed 8 people to hold the
course. My neighbour Maren Burns had
registered but they were one person short of
the 8 needed, would I be interested in taking
it? The rest is history – Penny, Stratton,
Dougal, Saunders, Powder/Lapoudre, House,
Bruneau, Bews, Cardinal, Ladouceur and
Iwaasa – 20,000+ and growning.
Is it genealogy research or family history,
or a combination of both,
or does it even matter...
By Connie Hemsing
Getting together with family was the highlight
of my childhood. There were twenty of us
born from 1947 to 1964 from the six children
Grandma had bore before she had turned
twenty-seven. The games (from ball to cards)
in which everyone joined in on were fun but
the very best part came when the adults would
start with remember when... and out would
come the remembrances of growing up a bit
wild in the hills – my mom and her siblings
had such a zest for life, their stories were
enthralling. By 1984, a deceased maiden
grand-aunt’s treasure trove of old letters,
photographs and published articles revealed
the adventures and tragedies of previous
generations and I was hooked.
Lucky is the family that has stories about its
past generations to add colour to the names
and dates. What a challenge to sift between
fact and legend; should one cite sources or
just enjoy the creativity? Families do treasure
the legends...they are a part of our family
history.
I spend a lot of time keeping track of an ever
growing clan and was inspired to do so about
1986 after joining the Brooks and District
Genealogy Society. It was Maren Burns
(originally from Tilley so had been aware of a
rather large family in a neighbouring
community).
1983 marked the 50th wedding anniversary of
my in-laws and with 70 grandchildren at that
time, the family had reached 116 persons and,
of course, I did know everyone but no one
was keeping track that I knew of – she said
that now would be the perfect time to start
before the family grew to three-hundred.
We’re over 350 family members now and I am
very glad I took her advice.
===========================
Genealogy is more than names and dates, as it
is a skeleton for our collected Family History.
~ 13 ~
What goes around, comes around—
Relatives who are our relatives
related to us. By Glenn P. Michell
In 1964, four days after I was born in Calgary,
I was given up for adoption. My birth
mother’s motives were noble, and, though a
very difficult choice for her to make, her
decision was hers alone, made for what she
knew would be the best for me. She was
nineteen and single, which in 1964 was both
socially and economically difficult. Little is
known about what happened to me for the
next four months as I was a ward of the
province of Alberta, and was placed into
foster care. Whether I was in one home or
several, I have no idea. This was right at the
end of the post war baby boom, which is
commonly defined to be children born from
1946 through to about 1964. Social services
had their hands full with many babies needing
homes, and prospective parents had a pretty
good pick to choose from. I am told that
matches of babies were easily made according
to physical features such as eye & hair colour,
as well as Protestant & Catholic backgrounds,
ethnic backgrounds, and identified similarities
of birth parents with adoptive parents.
Robert Michell and Lucy Loblaw were
married in November 1956, then ages 24 and
22. Typical of that time, they rented a suite to
live in on their own, and for two years both
worked and they saved as much money as
they could to put a down payment on a house.
In November 1958 they moved into their
brand new house on 45th Street S.W. Calgary
in the then young district of Glamorgan. The
1400 sq foot three bedroom bungalow was
priced at $14,000 and they had a twenty-five
year mortgage with the Royal bank of Canada.
I am not sure of the exact time line, but over
the next few years, Lucy had at least two
miscarriages. Her older sister and brother-inlaw, who married in 1948, had adopted two
girls in 1958 and 1960, and Bob & Lucy
decided to look into that option. I am not
sure how long they contemplated that, or how
long the process actually took once they
started, but on 05 September 1964 they
brought into their home a new baby boy they
named Glenn Patrick Michell. The name was
chosen in part, as like all parents they had
dreams and hopes their son would grow up
and do well for himself and they thought
being a G.P. might be something they would
like him to be. (G.P. = Glenn Patrick and
General Practitioner.)
For this article I am not going to write an
autobiography about myself or our family,
except to note that Robert and Lucy adopted
a daughter in early 1966, and gave birth to a
third child, a daughter in September 1967,
which was the year of Canada’s centennial.
They received a mint set of commemorative
coins, which I was always was told came from
the Federal Government to all parents of
children born that year. I grew up and lived at
home until I was twenty-three, which included
attending the University of Calgary and
earning a B.Ed. I left home, got married and
~ 14 ~
now have four grown children, three son’s-inlaw, three grandchildren, and one more
grandchild due later this year. My youngest,
still single, has just turned twenty. Robert
developed a degenerative muscle and nerve
disease sometime in the mid 1980’s and
passed away in 1996, two months short of his
64th birthday. Lucy passed away in 2004, one
month after her 70th birthday.
In November 2004, the Alberta Government
opened up the sealed adoption records. Out
of interest, I applied for my information. I
never regretted or had any animosity or
confusion about being adopted, but had an
interest to learn about my ethnic background,
if I had any blood siblings, and if possible,
now forty years old myself, with four growing
children, I was also curious about medical
background, and wondered if my birth
mother, who was living in a nearby
community just outside of Calgary. We
quickly decided that I would allow my friend
to make the phone call and “break the ice.” If
there was a request for not having contact, I
would respect that. The phone call was
successful and my friend had arranged a time
I would call the next day. I did so, and ever
since, my birth mom and her husband have
taken on as their own, a son and four
grandchildren. The relationship was been and
continues to be wonderful. I was later able to
locate the man named as the birth father and
contacted him via a posted letter. I received
one reply and he politely requested not to
pursue further contact, which I have respected
and understand to be his desire.
Due to various career moves, I now live in
Brooks, Alberta, and have been a member of
parents were alive and would want to meet. It
took until March of 2005 before I received my
package of information. I found out that I
was named at birth as Roy James Rasmuson.
(For confidentially purposes, I will not
comment on the names given of the birth
parents.) A friend of mine, who has made it a
hobby to help others find birth families, went
to work for me. At 6:45 pm on a particular
the Brooks and District Branch of the Alberta
Genealogical Society for almost three years. I
have had an interest in genealogy and family
history since my youth. My dad’s brother and
his wife (my aunt & uncle) have written two
different history books on our Michell family
and my g-grandmother’s Duval family. In
about the year 1999, I decided that I wanted
to write a similar book about my mother’s
evening, I got the mail and opened the
package from Alberta Registries. By 6:50 pm
I was on the phone to my friend and read to
her all of the information. At 7:15 pm, she
called me back and said she had found my
birth Mom. Wow!!! With 100% certainty, my
friend had the phone number of my birth
background, the Loblaw and Lawson families.
For this article here I will not discuss the
details of my research, as that would be a
whole article of its own. I will mention that I
started the old fashioned way of contacting
known relatives, and going to the Family
History Centre in Calgary to look for marriage
~ 15 ~
indexes and 1891 and 1901 UK Censuses for
the locales of the known marriages. With the
advent of the internet into my life in he early
2000’s and the growing number of website
resources, I have accumulated a massive
database and many email contacts all over the
world. It is a fun hobby and it is like a jigsaw
puzzle where each new piece put into place
adds more to the picture. (This jigsaw puzzle
is never really finished and will be a work in
hear about so many people who find out
interesting facts and tidbits about their
relatives and their various connections in the
community at large. For example when I
researched my eldest daughter’s husband’s
family; I found out one of my daughter’s
maternal sets of g-g-grandparents were
neighbours to one set of his g-g-grandparents
in a small Manitoba village in the 1881 census.
progress for the rest of my life.)
Norman Lawson passed away in 1993, and I
had only briefly met him once in 1980 at my
My mother, Lucy Theodora Loblaw, was born
in 1934 in Hespero, Alberta, the youngest of
seven children to Theodore Loblaw and Lucy
Winnifred Lawson, who were married in 1922
in Red Deer, Alberta, when he, a WW1
veteran, was 26 and she was only 16. (She lied
about her age to minister saying she was 18, as
they had eloped, on horseback going from
grandma’s funeral. However in 2001, his wife,
Vivienne, was still living in Edson, Alberta,
and using directory assistance, I was able to
make contact with her and glean all sorts of
interesting bits of information. Vivienne and
I
had
many
wonderful
telephone
conversations. She was in her 80’s at that
time. Vivienne shared with me that she had
Hespero to Red Deer). Lucy Winnifred
Lawson was born 1906 in Pinchbeck,
Lincolnshire, England, the second of two
children of John William Lawson and Emma
Leake. The family immigrated to Canada in
1909 and settled near Hespero. Their eldest
son was Arthur Frances Lawson born 1900,
and he married to Thelma Louise Masters in
1923. Arthur and Thelma were parents of six
first been married to a John Schultz and they
had three children. She and John divorced,
and a few years after she met and married to
Norman Lawson and they had two sons. The
family has resided in Edson since the 1960’s.
For personal reasons, the middle child of John
and Vivienne decided to legally change his
surname from Schultz to Lawson. Still new to
putting together my database, I felt it
children, including their second born son
Norman Wilfred Lawson.
important to include John and Vivienne’s
children into the family of Norman and
Vivienne in my database.
Why write this article? What is it that goes
around and comes around? Which relative is my
relative related to me?
In the world of
genealogy and family history it is amazing to
In April of 2005, my birth mother invited my
children to be taken to the wave pool in
Calgary with the idea they could swim while
~ 16 ~
she and I could visit. Of course I was full of
questions about everything and had a
notebook I was using to write down things
she was telling me. We got into a discussion
about her mother’s family. Her maternal
grandparents were immigrants who came
from Poland in the early 1900’s and by 1916
had settled near the Hutton Post office, north
of the Red Deer River in the area broadly
known today as Cessford.
They were
Alexander and Alexandra Schultz, who had
three children born to them including James,
John, and Mary. James died in a horse riding
accident and was buried in the Hutton
Cemetery. John grew up and, in 1942 in
Banff, Alberta, married to Vivienne Kathryn
Fryberger, whose family had lived in the
Cessford area.
Mary Rose Schultz had
married to Raymond Obert Rasmuson in 1935
and they were my biological grandparents. As
my birth mom was explaining this to me, it
was mostly just names and some stories I was
still digesting.
Then my birth mom
mentioned that her “Aunt Kaye” was still
living in Edson. My lights went on and I
immediately mentioned Norman’s name, and
that she had three children with a John
Schultz and two more with Norman. My
birth mom looked at me with some surprise as
I quickly attempted to explain that Norman
Lawson was my Mom’s first cousin and that
his dad and my grandmother were brother
and sister. My Vivienne Lawson and her Aunt
Kaye were the same person—Vivienne
Kathryn Lawson nee Schultz nee Fryberger.
Even with her divorce from John Schultz,
Vivienne had remained in friendly contact
with Mary’s family, especially my birth mom.
One of Vivienne’s daughters lives in the same
town as my birth mom.
Over the years I have added and added to my
database and actually have two separate
databases: One for the family that adopted
and raised me, and one for the family I was
born from. In the nearly 20,000 names I have
collected, one person connects the two
databases together and she is “Aunt Kaye.” A
mature and insightful person will acknowledge
that one should not have a whole bunch of
regrets in life. Hopefully we learn from the
consequences of the mistakes we have made
and we know we cannot go back and change
or reverse decisions and behaviours that have
happened. That said, I do have it on my short
list of “real” regrets, that I did not take the
time to make a trip to Edson to meet
Vivienne in person and spend some time with
her. She passed away peacefully on 25
November 2015 at the age 94 years. She was
the last surviving of the three children of
Cloyd Anderson Fryberger (1894-1962) and
Zilla Ethel Reed (1897-1994) late of Gem &
Basanno, Alberta. Her sister, Marie Fryberger
(1923-2009) married to James Creighton
Brown (1914-1985) and they have one
daughter Barbara Jeanne; and her brother,
John Reed Fryberger (1927-2014) married
1967 to Julie Misty Goodwin and they have
three children: Lee Emmett, Nina Elizabeth,
and Angela Mae. John’s family is connected
to the local Newell community to this day.
~ 17 ~
BROWN , Marie (1923 – 2009) nee
Fryberger
Marie Brown passed away
peacefully at the Beverly Centre Glenmore in
Calgary at the age of 86 years. She is survived
by her daughter Barbara Thomas, grandson
Craig Thomas (Krista), granddaughter Tiffany
(Trevor) and great-grandchildren Mackenzie,
Brenden, Riley and Avery. Marie is also
survived by her sister Vivienne Lawson and
brother John Fryberger. We would like to
of a man for progress, John appreciated the
simple things in life. He had fond memories
of the time he spent with family in the
Flathead Valley in Montana and enjoyed visits
with his American cousins and was an avid
historian of the prairies and his community.
John enjoyed the early years of retirement
traveling with Julia and spending time with his
grandchildren; they brought him great joy,
pride and amusement. In 2005 he moved to
thank the staff at the Beverly Glenmore for
the Playfair Lodge in Bassano where he lived
their compassionate care and support. May the
stars carry your sadness away, May the flowers fill
your heart with beauty, May hope forever wipe away
your tears, And, above all, may silence make you
strong—Chief Dan George. A Private Family
Service was held.
until his passing. John was predeceased by his
mother Zella Reed Fryberger, father Cloyd
“Jap” Fryberger and his sister Marie Brown.
He is survived by his oldest sister Kate
Lawson, wife Julia Fryberger, children Angie
(Matt) Frasz and children (Camryn and Jack),
Nina (Gerry Conners), Lee (Terri) Fryberger
and children (Falyn and Graysen), and
Fryberger – John (Johnie) Reed Fryberger,
beloved husband of Julia, passed away in
Bassano on December 31st, 2014 at the age of
87 years. John was born on January 9th, 1927
in Bassano to Cloyd and Zella Fryberger. He
received his Grade 10 education and when his
father bought the family ranch on the Red
Deer River in 1947 John followed him. He
was known for his love of horses, dogs, the
wide open prairie and its animals, and the Red
Deer River Valley. After the passing of his
numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Services will be held at 2:00 PM on January
12th at Patricia Community Hall. Reverend
Alvin Penner Officiating. In memory of John,
if family or friends desire, memorial tributes
may be made to Bassano and District Health
Foundation by mail to: Bassano Health
Centre, 608 5th Avenue Bassano, Alberta T0J
0B0
father, John ran the ranch and dabbled in his
passion of saddle building. He met Julia Misty
Goodwin, a nurse from England, and they
married on October 27th, 1967 in Bassano.
Children soon followed with Lee born
January, 8th, 1969, Nina on April 9th, 1970
and Angela on August 21st, 1971. Not much
~ 18 ~
Vivienne Kathryn Fryberger was born 28
February, 1921, in Bassano. She married in
1942 to John Alexander Schultz (1916-1982)
and three children were born to them: Janice
Marie Schultz, Robert James Schultz, and
Candace Eileen Schultz. Vivienne secondly
married in 1957 to Norman Wilford Lawson
(1927-1993) and two sons were born to them:
Norman Gene and Arthur Francis. Vivienne
passed away in Edson, Alberta, on November
The following poem is included on the
Memoriam for Aunt Kaye:
IT'S NOT THE END OF THE TRAIL
It's not the end of the trail for me;
I've just traveled on, you see,
up ahead where greener pastures grow
and cool water streams dance as they flow.
28, 2015, and she is survived by her five
children, and seven grandchildren, and many
great grandchildren. A memorial service is
planned for in the spring of 2016.
Flowers in bloom of every sort and kind,
Colors more vivid than any I left behind,
Family & Friends I haven't seen in years,
hugs and handshakes and no more tears.
They've welcomed me home here today,
a place of peace for me to stay,
they say its my home for eternity;
no, it's not the end of the trail for me.
As is the case for so many of our Prairie
Pioneering families, Aunt Kay’s death
marks the end of a generation who settled
and built this land and province their
many descendents call “home” today.
~ 19 ~
Brooks and District Branch of the
Alberta Genealogical Society
represent the area within the County
of Newell.
2015 EXECUTIVE
President: Bob Franz
Vice. President: Eileen French
Recording Secretary: Glenn Michell
Treasurer: Karyn Norden
Finance: Brian Dunlop
COMMITTEES
BRANCH MEETINGS
Monthly -2nd Thursday, 7:30p.m. Brooks
Community Cultural Centre 327-Third Street
West, Main floor, south wing Room #122.
Enter building from west parking lot through
doors on ground floor. Use stairway to main floor.
Doors open at 7:00pm Meeting 7:30pm.
Visitors Welcome.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
All members are required to belong to the Alberta
Genealogical Society.
Membership: January 01 to December 31.
Regular Individual or Family* (includes one
branch)...$50
Senior (65) +individual or family*…$45
(includes one branch). *Family members must
reside in the same household.
Membership: Henry Najda
Library Asst: Lee Hunter
Publications: Carol Anderson, Glenn Michell
Research: Clara Iwaasa
Website: Karyn Norden, Brian Dunlop
Casino: Eileen French, Brian Dunlop,
Karyn Norden
Cemetery: Eileen French, Mary Burkholder
Historian: Iris Dunham
Publicity: Karyn Norden
Email: Henry Najda
Sunshine Greeter: Executive members
Program: Executive members
B & D HEIR LINES PUBLICATION
--Published each May and November
Contributions are welcome from our readers; we
encourage submissions of articles that are of
interest to genealogists.
Articles are to be sent in to the Editor by April 15
and October 15, a month prior to the publication
date.
Printed by Iwaasa Industries
107-1st Ave
Brooks, Alberta
Phone: 362-3688
Fax Line: 362-0316
BRANCH LIBRARY HOURS
Members may obtain key at the front office desk
to room #122, during office hours. Borrowing
privileges for members only. The Library is closed
in July and August.
AGS Brooks Branch Web Site:
www.agsbrooks.com
Email: [email protected]
NOTICE REGARDING COPYRIGHT
Material in this newsletter may be reprinted, unless
otherwise noted, provided that the original source
is credited.
~ 20 ~