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Note: celebrated his birthday on May 28th. We and Dad did not know his actual date of birth until he had to obtain his birth certificate to apply for the Old Age Security. It turned out that May 28 was the anniversary of his Baptism and his birthday celebrations were held on the anniversaries of his baptism in keeping with a Polish tradition. The family continued to celebrate Dad�s birthday on the 28th even after we knew the real birth date. His father was a successful businessman in Wilno. Dad lived with his family in Wilno for about nine years. He would have attended school in Wilno with his older siblings. The family moved to Edmonton Alta in 1911. He also attended school in Edmonton. He told us that he had a paper route in Edmonton as well as delivering groceries from the Family Store. Dad did not enjoy school and did not excel in it. He said he would often play hooky from school. He always said he only had a grade four education but he must have of attended school for more than four years. He did not attend school in Saskatchewan after the family moved to Lucky Lake in 1916. My father could read and write. He often added a note to the letters mom had written. My father participated in sports in Edmonton. This interest in sports stayed with him all his life. I recall dad showing me how to chart a curling game , drawing the house and using checkers to mark where the rocks were,as we listened to the games on the radio. He did the same for listening to football games drawing the football field and marking the position of the ball with a penny. In his young adult years he played Hockey and baseball in the Greenbrier / Lucky Lake community. He played goal in hockey. When the family resettled on the homestead near Lucky Lake he took a keen interest in farming. He enjoyed working with horses and caring for them. Over the years he honed his skills in animal husbandry. Often neighbors called on him for assistance in caring for their sick animals. Later he learned about farm machinery and became knowledgeable in the use and maintenance of farm equipment. Cars were of special interest to him. He owned several cars during his life time and enjoyed reminiscing about tales of car adventures. Unfortunately none of these were written down and I am unable to recall the details. He always took pride in his car and kept them super clean.
Dad farmed with his parents for several years and later took over the farm operations from them. He farmed at this Lucky Lake location until 1942. There were hard times during the latter years of the 1930s. 1942 was a water shed year; a bumper crop was totally destroyed by a August hail storm and became a life altering experience. Following the hail devastation, grand dad Isley asked Dad to take over Triangle Farm near Milden. Dad accepted the invitation and the family moved in the fall of 1942. Dad always viewed this hail storm as �a blessing in disguise� because the new land was more productive and enabled Dad to become more prosperous and provide more for his family. Dad continued to farm until 1966. Don returned to the farm in 1962 to begin his farming career and took over the family farm in 1967. Dad was very active in the community. He served on municipal council, the school board, hospital board. wheat pool and church board for many years. He was a member of organizations including the Elks Club and Knights of Columbus. He supported and worked on many community and sport projects. Dad provided well for his children and encouraged a good education. He sent us children to private catholic schools out of both a religious commitment and his desire for our better education. We were all given the opportunity to seek higher education and training
In 1966 Dad .Mom and David moved into Saskatoon to begin their retirement years, as well as to give David an opportunity to attend the University of Saskatchewa
Note: My father was born at Wilno Ont. Canada May 19 1902. Interestingly, we always
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