Florence and Jack McPhee

By Margaret McPhee Stevenson

It was during the first year of their marriage, when they were living in Wetaskiwin, that the influenza epidemic that had spread through Asia and Europe reached Canada by way of troop ships bringing soldiers’ home after the First World War.  Florence and Jack both became very ill with the ‘flu, so Florence’s mother, Maude, came from Lacombe to look after them, probably travelling by train. Florence and Jack recovered and Maude, who in spite of her small size (85 lb.) was very healthy, did not catch the dreaded disease.  They were indeed fortunate, as the ‘flu epidemic took 20 million lives worldwide, 50,000 of them in Canada, almost as many lives as Canada lost in the war.

Grande Prairie 1920-1926

The years in Grande Prairie, where Jack was transferred by AGT in 1920, were very busy years for Florence.  Grande Prairie was a small town, with a population of no more than 300-350, but there was a hospital where three daughters were born: Lucille Mary on April 25, 1921; Margaret Theresa on July 31, 1922; and Elizabeth Eileen (Betty) on June 1, 1924.  Florence learned how to curl; a game she came to love and continued to play into her 60s.  She was a charter member of the Aurora Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star, an involvement that provided an introduction to new friends in each town in which they lived.  Jack’s parents and his sister, Effie, had followed them to Grande Prairie, and provided additional support to the young family.

Jack was in charge of a crew of men who were constructing a telephone line between Grande Prairie and Peace River, and so was away from home for long periods with no way to communicate with his wife.  Florence recounted one particularly anxious time when Jack had been gone longer than she expected.  While walking past the train station one day Florence decided, on the spur of the moment, to see if by any chance he had been working close to the track, and had been able to send a message.  Miraculously, or so it seemed to her, there was a telegram from Jack telling her that all was well.

Taber 1926-1941

In 1926 Jack was transferred to Taber, 700 miles south of Grande Prairie, and had to go on ahead of the family.  Florence remembered very clearly making the 24-hour train trip from Grande Prairie to Edmonton and then on to her parents’ farm outside Lacombe with three little girls and pregnant with her fourth child.  (When Florence was in her seventies she flew from Edmonton to Grande Prairie for the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Aurora Chapter, O.E.S., a journey that took 45 minutes.  On the way to the airport she wondered at the miracle of modern technology that it now took 45 minutes for a trip that was once a very long 24 hours.)

Florence and her daughters stayed on the farm with Maude, Val, and young Maudie, now almost 16.  On May 1, 1926, William Kent McPhee was born in the town of Lacombe.  Later in the spring, Florence, now 28 years old, completed her train journey to Taber with her three little girls and her baby son.

Florence had always lived in the northern half of the province, where the land was treed, the soil was dark and rich, and where snow, rain, and sun provided ideal growing conditions.  One can only imagine her dismay as she traveled farther and farther south and then east to find a flat land devoid of trees, where you could see forever in any direction, and where the dry wind blew constantly from the west.  But at least the young family was together once more.

For some time Florence was very busy caring for her family, especially since a second son, John Alexander, was born at home on January 4, 1928, much to the delight of the older children.  There was always a "hired girl" who came in after school and provided an extra pair of hands to help with the five. (One of the girls the family remembers was petite Doris Longdon, the younger sister of jockey Johnny Longdon, whose family lived nearby.)  In July of 1930 Florence received a much needed break when she travelled by train to Lacombe for her sister Jessie’s wedding, taking John (2 1/2) and Betty (6) with her, and leaving the rest of the family with a housekeeper.

In 1931 or 1932 Florence and Jack purchased a cottage on the western edge of town.  Their home was surrounded by prairie on three sides; half a block to the north was a single row of six or seven houses.  The thirties brought drought to the prairies.  Huge clouds of dust rolled in on strong west or northwest winds, filling the ditches with topsoil from miles away, blowing the tumbleweeds across the prairies, and howling around the corners of the house.  Towels soaked with water were placed on the windowsills to stop the dust, but made little difference. But there were also beautiful, sunny, wind-free days, gorgeous sunsets, and the songs of the meadowlarks that nested in the grass.  The prairies have their own particular beauty.

Florence was determined to turn their large yard into an oasis for the family in the middle of this desert, and demonstrated her ingenuity and creativity in making it happen.  Jack set up a swing in the back yard, a very tall swing, made with telephone poles! Jack and Florence worked together to plant a windbreak along the north side of the property.  Jack built a six-foot board fence to shelter Florence’s flower garden from the west wind and also from errant golf balls, since the prairie golf course bordered two sides of the property.  They planted a lawn and shade trees, and the children spent the hot summer days running through the sprinkler on the lawn, not realizing at the time that their lawn was the only one around.

Most amazing of all was the lily pond.  Jack dug the hole and had it cemented in. During the summer Florence had beautiful water lilies floating on her pool and goldfish swimming about.  Mignonette lined the stone steps approaching the pool, which was surrounded by rockroses, iris and daisies.  Behind the daisies were stock and snapdragon.  (This is taken from Florence’s description of her garden.)  Keeping the flower garden and the trees alive was a challenge.  There were cold and hot water taps in the kitchen of their house but no plumbing to carry away wastewater.  All water from the kitchen sink was directed to the windbreak through a rubber pipe that Jack laid under his driveway.  In the summer, bath water from the big tin tub that had to be set up in the kitchen, was carried out, bucket by bucket, to water the flowers.  In retrospect, what Florence and Jack created was a credit to their determination and industry as well as to Florence’s creativity and ingenuity.

During the winter afternoons, Florence enjoyed curling with her friends, and continued her association with the Eastern Star.  The Masonic Lodge held regular card parties and dances, which both Jack and Florence enjoyed.  Florence took a landscaping course by correspondence, and took great pleasure in creating designs that she could use in her yard.  She now had an electric sewing machine and made clothes for her daughters, including suits, coats, and party dresses. This continued until their late teens, while at the same time Florence was teaching them how to sew.  She particularly loved the challenge of taking apart an adult’s worn suit or coat, turning the material, and making a new coat or skirt for a child with the unworn side out.  Florence would not have thought this extraordinary; that is what women did during the depression.

Florence enjoyed singing with the church choir, where she was often given a solo part. As she recognized musical or artistic talent in her children, she encouraged it.  Lucille, who inherited her mother’s fine soprano voice, had singing lessons.  Betty took dancing lessons from a teacher who traveled from Lethbridge every week, and Florence accompanied the classes on the piano.

Florence, who had grown up with many family members nearby, missed those family connections more and more as the years in Taber went by.  Long distance calls by telephone just to visit were unheard of during the depression; communication between the sisters, their parents, grandparents and other relatives was strictly by letter.  Every month or so Florence would receive an envelope bulging with letters from various family members; it would take the better part of a day just to read them all.  Then she would write her own letter, add it to the collection, and forward them all to the next person on the list.  The day the mail packet came was a happy day for Florence.

Every few years the sisters would plan to have a family gathering at the farm. Jack, Florence, and the five would take a full day to drive over the gravel roads to Lacombe, starting early in the morning and arriving twelve hours later, with the car windows rolled down so all could inhale the fresh smell of the evergreen trees.  They were always just in time for supper, which could be chicken soup with Grandma’s homemade noodles.  Only once was it possible for all the sisters and their families to gather at the same time, as distances were great and roads could be impassable.  But they could always be sure that the large envelope bulging with the collected letters would eventually arrive, and that would be their visit.

One summer, probably in 1932 or 1933, Florence and Jack, with their five and a friend of Betty’s, made a memorable trip by car, a Whippet 6, pulling a four-wheeled trailer to camp at Waterton Lakes.  This was no doubt Florence’s project, since she loved the trees, the mountains, and outdoor life so much and wanted all the family to experience it.  As they drove into the higher elevations the Whippet became balky, but Jack coaxed it along, and eventually they made it.  Bill, about six years old at the time, remembers that he and his younger brother, John, were in the car with their Dad one day when he dropped Mother off at the beginning of a path up a mountain.  Florence wanted to walk, and headed up the path by herself.  Two hours later Jack and the boys came back to pick her up.  As they waited, a bear ambled down the path. John started to cry, afraid that the bear had eaten his mother.  Jack had a time trying to calm his son, and, while he was wondering what he should do next, Florence arrived, walking calmly down the path.  She hadn’t seen the bear, nor, fortunately, had the bear seen her, so all was well.

In 1934, Florence drove with her parents, Maude and Val, in their 1926 Oldsmobile to visit Helen, whose husband, Frank, was a mountain guide and hunter.  To reach the small cabin where they lived with their young daughter, Maude, Val, and Florence drove along the Banff-Windermere highway, then down the Settlers’ Road for eight miles.  At this point they stopped the car beside the Kootenay River and honked the horn several times, to announce their arrival.  The cabin was on the other side of the river. Frank then walked down to the river and took the visitors across it by way of a homemade, hand operated cable car riding ninety feet above the water.  The seat of the cable car was 24 inches across with a two-by-four board at each side.  There was no back to lean against. Completely undaunted by the experience, Florence and her parents then walked three-quarters of a mile uphill to the cabin. When it was time to go home, they rode on the cable car back across the river to their parked car.  Florence thoroughly enjoyed her time in the mountains with her sister and her parents.

There were few family visitors to Taber during the 15 years Jack and Florence lived there.  Probably the most exciting was the time Florence’s parents, Maude and Val, came in 1928 or 1929.  They were on their way from Lacombe to Nebraska, (or on their way home), the only time Maude and Val were to make the trip since they emigrated in 1899.  Val was driving his 1926 Oldsmobile sedan with seats that folded down to make a bed.  They took food with them, and slept in the car most of the time.  There were no motels then, but there could have been the odd hotel and store on the way. It would have taken more than a week to drive one way (not counting their stop at Taber), considering that they traveled on many dirt roads and, of course, sometimes it rained.  (There are no written records of this trip, so no details are available.)  Their visit to Taber was quite an occasion, as it was the only time their grandparents were to visit the McPhee children.  Jessie and her husband, Ken, visited once or twice when they were living at Raymond in southern Alberta, and Maudie, now a young lady who worked in a bank in a small town east of Edmonton, came once on her holidays.  Not much travelling was done in those days.

Drumheller 1941-1952

In the spring of 1941 Jack received the last transfer of his long career, this time as District Manager for AGT at Drumheller, 90 miles northeast of Calgary.  He had to move to his new position ahead of Florence and the family, who stayed on in Taber, Florence packing while the students finished school.  Florence was ready to leave the prairies and live in a green river-valley, even though she had to leave her lily pond behind.  On July 1, 1941, Florence and the children took the train from Taber to Drumheller, and the family was reunited once more.

Life was different in Drumheller.  It was a busy coal-mining town of over 3000, situated in the Red Deer River valley.  There was an ample supply of water, so everyone had a lawn and a garden, and, what seemed a minor miracle, there were trees everywhere.  But there was one aspect that was a challenge.  Their Taber home had been heated by natural gas, while Drumheller, at that time, had many mines operating 24 hours a day, since coal was in great demand during the Second World War.  So, of course, natural gas had not yet been brought into the town, and all homes and business buildings were heated by coal.  For Jack, this meant shovelling coal into the hungry furnace, banking the fire each cold winter night, and spending Saturday morning carrying out the ashes.  For Florence, it meant dealing with a film of coal dust throughout the house on the day the coal truck sent two tons of coal down the chute into their basement.

Florence and Jack finally found the house they wanted to buy.  All five children were living at home, so a large, two-story home was needed.  These were changing and busy times for Florence, as the three girls were soon married. Lucille and Jim Hunter were married at her parents’ home on November 20, 1943; Betty and Don Campbell were married in Calgary on September 15, 1945; and Margaret married Andy Stevenson at home on March 21, 1946.  The boys finished school, went away to work, and didn’t live in Drumheller again.  Special occasions brought children and grandchildren to the house that was suddenly too large for Florence and Jack.

Florence took the train to Chilliwack, B.C. for John and Rena’s wedding on June 24, 1950.  Florence’s parents, Maude and Val, had sold the farm at Lacombe in 1945 and had moved to Chilliwack, so Florence was able to see them, as well. (Val had actually driven his 1926 Oldsmobile over the mountains to Chilliwack!)  Bill and Irene were married in Edmonton on September 15, 1951, the year Jack turned 65 and was due to retire.  However, he stayed on one more year at the request of AGT and in 1952 officially retired.  Jack and Florence then joined other family members in Chilliwack.

Retirement 1952-1958

At first Florence and Jack lived just outside Chilliwack and raised chickens, but that proved to be more work than they wanted.  They then moved into town where they were able to enjoy their retirement and spend more time with Val and Maude, son John, his wife, Rena, and their family as well as Florence’s sister, Ethel, and her family.

All went well until February 1956, when Florence was in Kamloops with Betty and Don Campbell, their two young children and new baby.  Jack suffered a heart attack, but was able to dial son John’s number before losing consciousness.  John, knowing somehow that it was his Dad calling and that he was in trouble, called an ambulance before driving to his Dad’s house, no doubt saving his life. It was a long recovery, and Jack was never completely well again.  In 1957, Florence organized their return to Lacombe, taking Maude and Val with them.  For a time, Jack and Florence, Maude and Val lived together in a big house, but it wasn’t long before Maude and Val had to move into a nursing home in Calgary, as there was no appropriate facility in Lacombe at that time.

On August 29, 1958, all the children and grandchildren as well as Jack’s two sisters from Chicago gathered to celebrate Jack’s 72^nd birthday.  It was a very happy gathering and a time that they always remembered.  Just weeks later, on Saturday, October 5, after staying up later than Florence to watch his favourite television program, Hockey Night in Canada, Jack suffered another heart attack as he sat on the side of his bed.  Evidently he died instantly, falling back on the bed, where Florence found him in the morning.

1958-1989

When Jack died, Florence was a very healthy 60-year-old.  In fact, she remained healthy almost until her death, 31 years later.  Florence had never undergone surgery and had had no major illness since the 1919 ‘flu.  She and her sisters were pioneers in healthy eating and living, and, except for Ethel who died of cancer at 54, they lived very long lives. Florence’s mind was very clear and sharp, and remained so all her life.  Florence realized she most likely had many years ahead as a widow, and talked about it briefly.  Then, after spending a few months in Kamloops with Betty and Don and their family, she returned to Lacombe, determined to make the most of her life.

Renovations to the large house resulted in a suite that could be rented out, providing income.  Although Florence, like many women of her generation, had little opportunity to practice financial management, she learned to manage her own affairs very capably, and to deal with bank personnel, her lawyer, and other business people.  She focused on maintaining an active social life through the Eastern Star, the Garden Club, Lacombe Seniors, and her bridge club and church groups. Like her sisters, Florence had artistic and creative talents, and loved activities that allowed her to use her hands and her expert eye and color sense.  She took classes in flower arranging, basket weaving and pottery.  She bought a small loom and learned how to weave, making articles that members of her family still treasure.  Florence made beautiful beeswax candles as gifts for family and friends.  She reupholstered favourite chairs and spent afternoons quilting with her friends.  When there was a tea or social gathering, it was Florence who spent hours making floral centerpieces for the tables. It was a labour of love.

Nothing was more satisfying to Florence than her flower garden, the carefully planned borders and her rock garden. At one time she had 2,000 tulip bulbs and hundreds of gladioli that she grew each year.  On occasion, Florence was asked to speak to the Garden Club members about a particular aspect of her gardening, which she considered an honour and carried out with confidence.  For several months Florence traveled 20 miles by bus to Ponoka, a small town, to work in a florist’s shop.  Florence often said that, if she had had the opportunity as a young woman, she would have loved to work with flowers, in a greenhouse or in a florist’s shop.  Florence was also pleased and proud to see that some of her granddaughters had inherited her eye for design and color, her talent for sewing and working with her hands at various crafts, her love of gardening, and her love of music and dance.

Florence made regular visits to see her five children and their families, took part in family celebrations and went on trips with each family.  She particularly enjoyed going to Banff and also driving through the mountains to the West Coast. One year she and her sister, Jessie, went on a trip by car to Toronto and then down to Chicago to visit relatives.  On another occasion Florence made her first flight in a plane to Tucson, Arizona to spend some time with Jessie and Ken at their winter home.

There were many happy family times and trips, but also sad and difficult times to be faced without Jack, her partner for 39 years.  Florence’s parents, Maude and Val Redig, outlived Jack; they both died in 1960, as did Florence’s younger sister, Ethel.  Most difficult to deal with were the death of Florence and Jack’s youngest child and second son, John, in 1984, and the deaths of three of their grandchildren, Morris Stevenson in 1968, Shirley McPhee in 1984, and Rick Campbell in 1989.

After living by herself in Lacombe for 15 years, Florence said that she was restless, and wanted a change. In 1973, at the age of 75, she sold her house in Lacombe, moved to Chilliwack once more, and bought another house.  Three years later she moved to Edmonton, stayed for two years, and then moved back to Lacombe, finally settling in Cameron Lodge. Wherever she lived, Florence made another flower garden, and, as long as she was able, a rock garden.  Only in her last year was she unable to plant her flowers.  But the purple pansies she loved had seeded themselves, and bloomed all summer long.

During the night of August 4-5, 1989, Florence died quietly in her sleep, one cheek resting on the palm of her hand. She had lived 91 years and 5 months. The previous evening she had had a long conversation by phone with Jessie, the sister next to her in age, and the one to whom she was closest. Independent to the end of her life, she had been able to live on her own with some housekeeping and personal assistance.  Florence’s mind remained sharp; she managed her own financial affairs and did her own banking and shopping.  She was living in the town where she had grown up, where she had met her husband and where she felt very close to the land that she loved.

Florence and Jack are buried side by side in the Lacombe Cemetery, which at one time adjoined the Redig homestead. A few steps along are the headstones of Florence’s parents, Val and Maude Redig. The graves of Florence’s maternal grandparents, Eliza and Arthur Kent, are located a short distance away.

In tiny St. Cyprian’s Anglican Church, Lacombe, attended by Florence since childhood, a beautiful stained-glass window is dedicated by their family to the memory of Florence Redig McPhee, March 4, 1898 - August 5, 1989 and John William McPhee, August 29, 1886 - October 5, 1958.  The design chosen by the family is that of Ruth the Gleaner, carrying a sheaf of grain in her arms. In the background are the beloved rural fields and countryside.

Lucille and Jim Hunter

The first time Lucille saw Jim Hunter was at his mother's funeral in the fall of 1939 at Knox United Church in Drumheller. Her dad Jack McPhee had been transferred by the Alberta Government Telephone from Taber to Drumheller to take over the position of local manager. Lucille soon joined the choir so was present at the funeral of Mrs Hunter. She also joined a choir group and at one of the practices noticed Jim sitting at the back and asked a friend who he was. He asked to take me home and that was the beginning of a rather short war-time courtship.

Later Jim joined the army and was in the dental corps a year before transferring to the Air force. Lucille and Jim were married on Nov. 20, 1943. Lucille worked in the Treasury Branch while Jim took his training in Regina and McLeod. Lucille had joined Jim in McLeod for a few months before he graduated as a Pilot Officer in March 1944. After leaving the Air force they shared a suite in Calgary with a Mrs. Hunter (no relative) for a few months. There next move was to a single room in Calgary which they shared with four other families. While there they had their first child, Allyson, born on July 17, 1945. Later they moved to the back of a house where they had two rooms. Jim's jobs at this time were with White Rose Petroleum and Jenkine Groceteria.

At this time Jim and his brother Maynard decided to enrol at the University of Alberta. The Federal government paid for the tuition of veterans. The family moved to Edmonton in July, 1947 where they shared a big brick house with the owner and Maynard and his sister Muride. While there their son John was born on April 25, 1948.

There next move was to a location on the north side of Edmonton called Camp 106 where they stayed from 1948 to 1954. The city had bought the American Air Force Base and converted them into housing units for University students and their families. While there Adienne was born on Nov 18, 1951 and Nancy arrived on May 28,1954.

Their first house was an older home where they stayed until 1957. They were in Hudson's Bay Reserve district for one year, 15 years in the Woodcroft district, where their son Kevin was born on Jan. 10, 1960. They have spent nearly 28 years in their present home in North Gunard district and plan on staying there as long as they can. Jim retired as a teacher, principal and consultant from the Edmonton School board in 1979 after 23 years. Jim and Lucille celebrated by going on a trip to Australia to be present at John's marriage to Cathy. Jim volunteered at McKay Avenue School Archives and Museum until recently. James was a sensitive, hard-working man, with a great wit and a keen intellect. He had a long life, many friends and a close and loving family for which he was grateful. He has left us, but his favourite saying remains a wish for those he loved: "Lang mae yer lums reek." (Long may your chimney smoke).

Margaret and Andy Stevenson

Betty and Donald Campbell

Bill and Irene McPhee

John and Rowena McPhee