2000 Obituaries
Arne R. Hjalteon
September 24th, 1924 – December 17th, 2000
It is with deep sadness that the family announces the passing of Arne R. Hjalteon Sunday, December 17,2000 at Kerrobert Hospital. Arne was born September 24, 1924 on a farm near Fusilier, Sask. He was pre-deceased by his parents, Alfred and Elizabeth Hjalte, his sister, Anna and nephew, Ernest. He leaves to mourn his passing his brothers, Jack, Nels (Margaret) of Saskatoon, Albert (Shirley) of Major and his sister, Lucille Morris (Melvin) of Kerrobert; eight nephews and two nieces. Arne will be remembered for his interest in farming and ranching and restoring antique farm machinery. He had a private pilot’s licence. The funeral service washeld Friday, December 22, 2000 at the Compeer Community Hall, with the Reverend Ron Fletcher officiating. Interment was held at the Dorcas Cemetery. Memorial tributes in memory of Arne may be made to the Cancer Society, c/o Bicks Drugs, Kerrobert. Funeral arrangementswere entrusted to the Kerrobert Funeral Home.
Margaret Hutchings (nee Gould)
March 28th, 1909 – December 25th, 2000
Margaret Kerr Hutchings (nee Gould) died in the Consort Health Centre on Christmas Day, in the year of our Lord 2000, in her ninety-second year.
Margaret was born in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia on March 28, 1909, but moved with her family to the Consort area in the spring of1920. Her career training was in elementary school education, but her career choice was homemaker and community worker, in both of which she excelled.
“Mog”, as she was affectionately known, was predeceased by her three brothers, Irving, Matt and Ken Gould, and her older sister, Janet Fawcett. She is survived by her loving husband, Jack, two sons, Jim (Nora) of Consort and Charles (Sharon) of Sherwood Park, three daughters, Mary Ellen (Ted) Lutz of Mississauga, Ontario, Sandra (Bonar) Hanson of Airdrie and Barbara (John) Olekszyk of Edmonton; eighteen grand-children and twelve great grandchildren. She has two surviving sisters, Ellen Gilmer of Consort and Sarah Clarkson in Toronto, a large number of nephews and nieces and a host of friends. As they entered the church, as an act of remembrance, the grandchildren each carried the toy monkey that Grandma had made for them. Funeral services were held on Thursday, December28, 2000 in Knox United Church, Consort with Reverend Hilde Seal officiating. Tributes in memory of “Mog”were given by Ted Lutz and Clark Fawcett. Susan Bow-yer played the piano for the congregational hymns,”Come Let Us Sing Of A Wonderful Love”, “Lord Of All Love”, “Once in Royal David’s City”, “Give Thanks For Life”, “In The Bulb There Is A Flower” and “Halle, Halle, Halle”. A quintet of Janice Olsthoorn, Analisha Kurek, Andrea Church, Tracy Hanson and Shari Hanson,sang “Rise Again” accompanied by Pat and Charlotte Gilmer. Active pallbearers were Shane Wolokoff, Brent Wolokoff, Darren Hutchings, Brad Hutchings, Jerrett Hutchings, Travis Hutchings and Damien Kurek. Following the funeral service, family and friends gathered together in the lower hall of Knox United Church for a time of fellow-ship and light refreshment prepared and served by the Knox United Church Women. The interment will take place in the spring in Lake Road Cemetery, Consort. If friends desire, memorial tributes may be made in Mrs. Hutchings’ memory to the Consort Municipal Hospital Foundation, Long Term Care, Box 310, Consort, Ab.T0C 1B0 or to the Knox United Church, Mission &Service Fund, Box 56, Consort, Ab. T0C 1B0 or to a charity of the donor’s choice and would be appreciated by the family. Parkview Funeral Chapels “Families Serving Families” were entrusted with the care and arrangements. Tribute Given By Son-in-Law, Ted Lutz Margaret Kerr Hutchings (nee Gould) was born on March 28, 1909 in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, a small town sufficiently close to the City of Halifax that she remembered hearing the famous explosion of the munitions ship in Halifax harbour in 1917. Preceded by an older sister and brother,she was eventually to be followed by two more brothers, then two more sisters. Even before the birth of the youngest sister, however, the Charles Gould family pulled up stakes and, after a week long train ride across Canada in company with the Foster Campbell family, resettled, in the spring of 1920, on a farm five miles south of Consort.
Margaret, known affectionately to everyone as Mog, was raised, educated and, with but brief absences, spent virtually all her life in this area. After completing High School in Consort, she went to Edmonton to attend Normal School in preparation for a career in teaching. Her first full-time teaching post was at Willow Brook school, two miles south of the Gould home. In the spring of the following year, she was called to relieve at the Cooper school in the Talbot district north of Coronation. The school was fortuitously close to where ashy, but handsome young bachelor was farming. For the next two years she happily continued to teach at Cooper School, balancing her paedagogical responsibilities with a socially proper courtship with the man who was to become her husband. Before the date set for their wedding arrived, she was asked once again to relieve for a teacher on sick leave at Silverdale School.That teacher never returned,and the wedding of Margaret Gould to Jack Hutchings finally took place on the first day after the last day of school, June 30, 1936. A honeymoon to Banff not only inaugurated a lifelong fascination with the mountains for both of them, but set a precedent maintained by their descendants for three generations. The time allot-ted for the trip to Banff came to an end; the honeymoon continued for sixty-four and a half years! They took up residence in a one-room grain bin, but they were totally oblivious to the fact that some people lived in houses. They thought they were playing house.
Almost half a century later, when they moved to the Manor, they still thought they were playing house. Between these residences they lived on the Gould farm during the war, on their own farm south of town, purchased from John Flewelling in 1945, in a house beside Knox United Church upon their retirement from farming in 1971, and in a room in the Lodge in 1979when their frequent travels to the mountains limited their time for yard work. After an eleven year stay in the Manor, they returned to the Lodge for two and a half years before moving to the Long Term Care unit at the Consort Health Centre. Mog was a homemaker. She didn’t think of herself in those terms, of course. She thought she was a wife, a mother and a member of a friendly, and supporting community. She performed the tasks these relationships entailed with pride and dedication, and with such competence and love that she has defined the term”homemaker” for all her children and grandchildren, male or female. She brought distinction to a role society too often considers something one falls into by default. After most of her children had left the nest, Mog returned to the profession for which she had trained. For five years in the 1960’s, she taught the children in grade three at Consort Consolidated School. Church and children were the two foci of Margaret’s life. If you were to interpret those words more broadly as religion and people, it would belittle far from the truth to say that everything she did was directly or indirectly related to one or the other of those two interests. She and Jack raised five children of their own, but their home was always open to receive countless neighbors, nephews and nieces, for however long a stay they could manage. Such warmth was therein her welcome, so pleasant was the environment of her kitchen, so enthusiastic her unconditional acceptance of everyone, that no one entering her space ever wanted to leave. She made no distinction between her children and their spouses. I can attest that they all count themselves most fortunate to be privileged to call her “mother.” She was a faithful church attender all her life and served in every capacity imaginable.
Her service was combined with an intense interest in spiritual matters, particularly the teachings of Jesus. When others much younger than herself were rejecting the new directions in which the United Church appeared to be going, she struggled with an open mind to discern why. In those few quiet moments when she could rest from her activities, she would read her Bible. Ten years ago, when her eyesight allowed her to read only with some difficulty, Jack bought her a large print edition of the most recent translation of the Bible. Today that Bible shows the same marks of use as Bibles that have been read for a lifetime. Mother was genuinely modest about her abilities and achievements. I think that one of the essential marks of a saint is to deny being one. But in my books, if saintliness be defined by the difference for good that one’s life has made in the lives of others, Mog Hutchings was a saint. Words From The Extended Family by Nephew,Clark Fawcett. My mother and Aunt Mog were sisters and they were very emotional people. Tears were never far away. They could be caused by a simple act of kindness, joy or sorrow. If I inherited anything from my mother, it is her emotions. When I heard of Aunt Mog’s passing, my heart said I had to do this, but my head said no, so please bear with me. My parents spent a lot of time working on farm organizations – Wheat Pool, U.F.A., Unifarm, etc. and as a result I spent a fair amount of time farmed out. The Hutchings’ household welcomed me,quite frequently. I was not there as a house guest but as part of that family. I remember one two week stay that turned into a month and a half stay before my folks got home. We came down with some bug and the house was quarantined. We all took turns coming down with it, so it took over a month for everyone to get over it. Aunt Mog was “mother, nurse and teacher” to all of us. If Aunt Mog ever did something for herself, other than eat her meals, she must have done it before we were awake or after we went to bed. I am not here to give a eulogy or tribute, for that is in a lot more capable hands than mine. I think that I can speak for the extended family and the community. This Christmas Eve, we attended the 5 p.m. service and our oldest daughter, Jeannette,had a conversation with Lynda Mohr. Lynda made a couple of remarks that I feel fit the situation very well. They were – If there are angels amongst us, Margaret Mamie Beebe, Coronation; Ross Galloway, Amisk; Ann & Bob Graefer, Forestburg; Margie & Hugh Jones, Ponoka; Sarah Healy, Onoway; Jackie Healy, Onoway; Danielle Healy, Onoway; Jeannette Fawcett Weir, Sherwood Park; Christina Jones, Edmonton; Joelle Fawcett, Edmonton; Judy Gatto, Edmonton; Bill Gould, Edmonton; Kim Gould, Edmonton; Peggy Walker, Edmonton; Lester & Muriel Isaman, Edmonton; Jo-Ann & Tony Peters, Edmonton; Pat & Gordon Reeve, Edmonton; Eva Bostrand, Edmonton; Erik Bostrand, Edmonton; Chris Gould, Mayerthorpe; Janice& Bob Christie, Hanna; Delsie Hanson, Balzac; Margaret Hanson, Balzac; Lois & Ted Mulligan, Calgary; Jack & Denise Isaman, Calgary; Mary Ellerby, Calgary; Carol & Dave Hunchak, Calgary; Dorothy George, Calgary; Jim & Mary George, Lethbridge; Maureen & Dwayne Sklapsky, Castlegar, B.C. Following are the members of the Jack Hutchings families who were able to be present. We include Edie Smith. Others are listed according to their association with the children of Jack and Mog, in their chronological order. Edie Smith, Stettler; Mary Ellen & Ted Lutz, Mississauga, Ontario; Sandra & Bonar Hanson, Wimborne; Andrea Church, Balzac; Colton Church, Balzac; Tracy Hanson & Earl Munro, Airdrie; Justyn and Brennan Munro, Airdrie; Shari Hanson & Dave Gower, Edmonton; Thomas John Gower (2 weeks!), Edmonton; Janice & Michael Olsthoorn, Canmore; Barbara & John Olekszyk, St. Albert; Shane & Shan Wolokoff, St. Albert; Brent Wolokoff, Vancouver, B.C.; Jim & Nora Hutchings, Consort; Jodi & Jason Kurek, Damien & Analisha, Consort; Darren Hutchings & Kelly Redden, Consort; Brad Hutchings, Calgary; Nicole Hutchings, Consort; Chuck & Sharon Hutchings, Sherwood Park; Amber & Scott Harding, Okotoks; Travis Hutchings, Sherwood Park; Jerrett Hutchings, Sherwood Park; Christine Jackson (Jerrett’s fiancee), Edmonton. Of the immediate family only Mary Ellen’s children, Jeremy, Brian, Tammy in Ontario, and Daniel in The Netherlands, and Barbara’s daughter Theresa in Newfoundland, were unable to attend the funeral.
THANK YOU – Jack Hutchings, his children and their families, would like to thank the wonderful people of Consort and district for all the acts of kindness and expressions of condolences generously showered upon us during mother’s illness and following her death. The wordless hugs, the bountiful food, the beautiful arrangements of flowers, assistance leading up to and during the funera l— all have been immensely appreciated. There is nothing like a small community when support is needed, and there is no community comparable to Consort in this regard. Among the many blessings mother enjoyed in her life, not the least was living it in your midst. As an expression of our thanks, and in lieu of sending thank you notes to each and everyone of you, we have made a donation to the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church of Canada.
Cleona Kroeger
October 18th, 1918 – December 28, 2000
On December 28, 2000, Cleona Kroeger passed away at the age of 82 years, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Camrose.
Cleona Elora Kelts was born on October 18, 1918 to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Kelts of Consort. This is where she got her schooling and spent her early years. In 1939, she married Henry Kroeger, a local boy and together they started out in a single room with his parents, until they could afford something of their own. It was the end of the Depression and the start of World War II and conditions were not easy. They lived in various places – Consort, Stettler, Hanna, Edmonton. Cleona particularly enjoyed their time when Henry was M.L.A. She loved music and especially enjoyed playing the drums for the Tory Blue Notes, a band composed of M.L.A.s in which Henry played bass guitar. They had a lot of fun during those years, going around to various places making music, and Cleona was always the gracious hostess for various functions. As well as being an excellent cook, her home was well kept. After Henry’spassing in 1987, Cleona made her home in Camrose and for the past several years, her health has been deteriorating.
Left to cherish her memory are her sons, Tommy and Brian (Lee) of Camrose, and daughter, Debbie Sullivan (Bill) of Provost; grandchildren Kerry Vickers, Michael Kroeger, Brandon Kroeger, Chad Kroeger, Brady and Ginger Sullivan; three great-grand-sons, Maxwell and Daniel Vickers and Alexander Kroeger; sisters, Myrtle Larson, Killam, Lela Melin, Medicine Hat; brothers, Orval, Red Deer and Doug, Consort; and many nieces and nephews. Cleona was predeceased by her husband, Henry; her parents, Harvey and Flora; and sisters, Jewel Lewsaw and Gertrude Doherty. The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon, January 2nd at 2:00 p.m. from Knox United Church with the Rev. Hilde Seal officiating. Robbie Knight played the organ and accompanied the choir for two hymns, “The Lord Is My Shepherd” and “Beyond the Sunset” . There was also a musical selection from “Nickelback”, a band that two of her grandsons play with and a gospel number from the Gaither’s. A Eulogy was given by daughter, Debbie, and brother-in-law Arthur Kroeger reminisced on the year she knew Cleona. Carleen Ellis, Cleona’s companion during her last years, remembered her with much fondness, recalling her sense of humor in the face of all adversity. The pallbearers were Kerry Vickers, Chad, Michael, Chris, Brandon, and Cheryl Kroeger. Interment of the cremains will take place at a later date at Lake Road Cemetery. Lunch was served following the service in the United Church Hall, where friends and relatives gathered for a time of fellowship. If friends desire, donations can be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Gregory’s Funeral Home of Provost in charge of arrangements.
Eulogy by Debbie
Mom, Mother, Mommy, Grandma, Grandma Bear. We said goodbye to our Mother and Grandmother at the hospital. We don’t like hospitals, but we must remember that that’s also the place we first met her. She first laid eyes on her children and most of her grandchildren, in a hospital. Those were the times of her greatest joy. She said goodbye to Dad in a hospital, but never in her heart. There were also their four babies who didn’t make it all the way into this life, but were missed all the same. Mom was, and is, a very intelligent, interesting and funny spirit. I’m sure she’ll be sneaking up on all of us from time to time, for the rest of our lives. She loved music, dancing, entertaining friends and family, sports and politics. She followed the curling and figure skating and politics on her television. She was even able to catch Tommy and Brian’s curling games on the local network. She loved that, but of course, there should have been more shots of her boys!
Mom was a bit sad to leave her house to move into a condo, but she has been blessed to have Tommy come and stay with her. Sometimes he would just look at her and she’d start to laugh. Then she’d look at me and say, “He’s so funny”. I have no idea what that was about. They teased each other and it was wonderful to see, because humor washer favorite thing. Brian and Lee spent a lot of time with Mom. They made sure she had everything she needed or wanted. They gave of their time and of their hearts. All of her grandchildren (and grand children they are) came when they could and she loved every moment with them. She was as proud of their accomplishments as though they were her own. In a way, they were. There was a steady and sweet contact with her brothers and sisters. There has been a lifetime of very deep and precious love. They have travelled a long way together and have shared their lives through every turn in the road. Dad’s family wasn’t made up of “inlaws”. They were Mother’s parents, brothers and sisters. They were all very close in thought and deed. Nieces and nephews loved Aunt Cleona and she loved them back with all her heart. When Mom was in the Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton, her niece, Betty, visited her every day and the days were many. Betty even brought then “little Tara” to dance for Aunt Cleona – and dance she did! Hair, makeup, costumes and music; all the moves and that terrific smile! When we were in emergency at a hospital in Edmonton on December 23rd, Mom looked at me, shrugged her shoulders, grinned and said, “Well, Mewwy Cwissmas!” I don’t know why somebody was always making off with her teeth. I can never really tell anyone what this lady means to me, and to all of us, because I’d be here forever. She wants us to mourn her death and celebrate her life, but she needs us to get back to what we were doing, and make her smile with satisfaction and joy, at the lives we lead.
Mommy: you were here!
Harvey Gordon Day
January 23rd, 1919 – December 29th, 2000
Harvey Gordon, husband of the late Marjorie (Parks) Day, was born the 5th of 11 children on January 23, 1919 in Sperling, B.C. He died on December 28, 2000 in Victoria B.C.
He is survived by sons and daughter-in-laws, Lawrence and Gisele and Gary and Diana; his sisters, Matilda Rouleau and Ellen Soderstrom; his brothers, Jack Day and Melville Day, and four grandchildren, Tony, Kelly-Anne, Darrin and Steven. His family and many long-time friends including Dolly McIntyre and his nephew, friend and fishing partner, Barry Rouleau, will sorely miss him. Harvey served in the engineering branch of the Navy from the outbreak of the Second World War through 1964, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer 1st Class in 1947. He held that rank until he retired as the highest non-commissioned officer in the Navy. Returning to Victoria he worked at Yarrows and then the Dockyard for the next fifteen years. His family and friends will also remember Harvey as an inventor. The Canadian government presented him an award for his design improvements for Navy ships. Harvey was an avid fisherman, golfer and curler. He was a founding member of the Victoria Curling Club and enjoyed many an afternoon of card playing with his fellow members. He and his teams won numerous curling trophies, including the Canadian Legion National Championships in Ottawa in the 1960’s. After retiring, Harvey spent much of his time traveling to Connecticut to see his family, and to Las Vegas and Arizona to enjoy the slots and the sun. A funeral service celebrating Harvey’s life was held at First Memorial, adjacent to Royal Oak Cemetery, on Wednesday, January 3, 2001, at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that donations be made in Harvey’s name to the Canadian Diabetes Association.
This was taken from the Victoria B.C. paper.
