Recollections

Monday, September 4, 2017

Hazel Marguerite Fraser

Hazel Marguerite Fraser (nee Stevens)

Mom was the third child born to Fred and Zelma Stevens, and the only daughter. The family was living in Winnipeg when she was born, on January 11, 1922, but moved to Sidney a few years later. She attended school in Roseisle and La Riviere, Manitoba, and completed high school in Pilot Mound (where she met her future husband, Murray Fraser).

After high school Mom moved to Winnipeg to attend Success Business College. She lived with her mother and young brother Wes in a roomy downtown apartment until her marriage. She enjoyed her work and spoke fondly of her years with Dale & Company Insurance.

Myrna re-enacts Mom's 1946 photo with her colleagues.
Dale & Co. offices were in the Union Trust Building, Lombard Avenue at Main Street.
It would have been a 2.7 km walk to Mom's apartment.

Murray Fraser and Hazel Stevens rekindled their high school friendship while Murray was in Winnipeg studying pre-war, and following his RCAF service in 1946. They married on July 9, 1949 and moved into a tiny house at 230 Parkhill Street, where their only son was born in 1951.

In 1952, the young couple moved to a larger home on the western edge of Winnipeg, and filled it with four more children, all daughters. They remained in St. Charles until 1982, when they moved into a smaller retirement home in St. James, at 137 Bourkevale Boulevard.

Hazel was the first of her siblings to pass away, a few days after suffering a stroke on Thanksgiving Day in 1989. She was 67.

Murray remained very active for several more years, and passed away in his suite at the Sturgeon Creek Retirement Residence in 2013. He was 93.

Hazel Marguerite Stevens

born: January 11, 1922, Winnipeg, Manitoba

died: October 12, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba

married: July 9, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba

to: Murray Reid Fraser, Pilot Mound, Manitoba

(b. May 31 1919, d. April 20, 2013)

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ALBUM: Hazel Marguerite (Stevens) Fraser

Zelma Stevens and her daughter Hazel

Zelma Stevens and Hazel. Judging by Mom's age, this may be at the Sidney, Manitoba brickyard.

Hazel with Jean Goulding

Hazel, summer of 1924

Hazel (at left) with a wounded rabbit. Maybe it was shot by her brother Ed, at right.

Hazel looking after younger brother Ernie (b. 1924)

Hazel tends to two-week-old Ernie.

Hazel, right, with Mary McElrea

Hazel with a very patient cat, friend Mary and brother Albert

Hazel, age 14 (1936)

Hazel (right) with high school friend Peal Appelrey, Pilot Mound, 1938

Hazel (second from left, back row) with Grade 12 class, Pilot Mound, 1938-39

Grade 12 class, Pilot Mound, 1938-39

Pilot Mound teachers L-R: A. Dobie, A Vopnfjord, J. Fraser

Hazel at Portage la Prairie park with Frank Richards (L) and Wilfred Stickley (R)

Hazel with the Lula and Milton Waddell, Portage la Prairie park, 1938

Lula Waddell with Hazel, Carman, Manitoba

Playing catch at the Waddell home, Carman, Manitoba

Hazel with her niece Marlene (Charlie's daughter), shopping in Winnipeg

From the 1943 Henderson's Directory. The Davidson Block was a long, low apartment building, stretching from 326 to 338 Young Street. Hazel lived in Suite 1 with her mother Zelma and her young brother Wes. I suspect she's the one on the lease (and paid the rent).

Hazel in the Young Street apartment

Advertisement in the Winnipeg Free Press, August 12, 1939

Mom's certificate from Success Business College, dated September 30, 1940.

Hazel (right) with Gwen Mitchell, upper deck of SS Keenora, August 1942

Hazel at Matheson Island, 1942

Hazel (back left) with other passengers on the SS Keenora, August 1942

Hazel with brother Ernie, 1942

Assiniboine Park Conservatory, 1942

L-R: Maryl Garwood, Edmund, Zelma, Hazel

Hazel in Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Fall 1942

The Union Trust Building, Lombard and Main Street, home of Dale & Co., Ltd.

Henderson Directory ad, 1943. A 1941 ad lists the office on the fourth floor, but that may have been a change in floor numbering, rather than a physical move. Today there is no second floor listed in their directory; it is a mezzanine / mechanical space.

at Dale & Company Insurance, 1946

Hazel (centre) with colleagues from Dale & Co. Insurance

On July 9, 1949 Hazel Stevens married Murray Fraser

Mrs. Hazel Fraser

Murray and Hazel Fraser bought 400 St. Charles Street in 1952.

OBITUARIES

Murray Reid Fraser, 1919-2013
http://frasertrunk.blogspot.ca/2013/04/we-lost-good-man-today.html

Hazel Marguerite Fraser (nee Stevens), 1922-1989
Peacefully after a short illness, on Thursday, October 12, 1989 at the Grace General Hospital, Mrs. Hazel Fraser, dearly beloved wife of Murray Reid Fraser, of 137 Bourkevale Drive, Winnipeg.
Mom was born on January 11, 1922 in West Kildonan, Man. and spent her childhood in several small towns in southwestern Manitoba, including La Riviere, Sidney and Roseisle. Completing high school at age 16, she moved to Winnipeg and continued her education at Success Business College. She enjoyed a rewarding career and spoke fondly of her years with Dale & Company.
She will be lovingly remembered and forever missed by her husband of 40 years, Murray; one son and four daughters and their extended families.
Also left to mourn are five brothers, Edmund and wife Phyllis of Carpenteria, Calif., Charlie and wife Gertie of Carman, Man.; Albert and wife Grace of Waterdown, Ont., Ernie and wife Bertha of Virden, Man., Wes and wife Dorothy of Regina, Sask.; numerous nephews, nieces and their families; friends and neighbours.
Mom took great pride in raising a happy family and was a devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother. "Po Po" will be sadly missed. Her influence and example will serve us well.
The family would like to thank Dr. Theresa Cavett, Dr. Chris Bourque and the staff of the 2nd Floor of the Grace General Hospital for their care and concern.
Cremation has taken place. A memorial service was held on Monday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m. at Leatherdale Gardiner Funeral Chapel, 1858 Portage Ave., (888-7977), with Rev. Ewing W. Rae officiating.
Flowers gratefully declined. If friends so desire, donations may be made to a charity of one's choice.

June 2013. Hazel and Murray return to Pilot Mound.

Go to:

Roots of the Stevens family tree

Fred and Zelma Stevens

Edmund Guise Stevens

Fredrick Charles Stevens

Albert Walter Stevens

Ernest Clifford Stevens

George Wesley Stevens

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Albert Walter Stevens

Albert Walter Stevens

born: April 5, 1923, Winnipeg, Manitoba

died: January 22, 2012, Waterdown, Ontario

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ALBUM: Albert Walter Stevens

Albert at about 15 years of age

1941

In camp near Victoria, BC, winter of 1941

Albert (left) on Vancouver Island, Spring 1942

Albert (right) on Vancouver Island, Spring 1942

A wounded Albert comes home

Zelma Stevens (center) with Hazel, Wes, and Albert (front)

Grace with sons David (right) and Jonathan, 1954

Grace and Albert Stevens, August 1960

Albert with Jonathan, Grace with baby Robert, David, 1955

1960

Back: Robert, David Jonathan

Front: Betty, Mark, Hazel

A growing family needs a growing home.

Albert and Grace's property, Waterdown, Ontario

Summer, 1963

The Fraser cousins visit the Stevens' gang in Waterdown

Albert's gang visits the Frasers, St. Charles, Manitoba

L-R: Ernie, Charlie and Albert Stevens

Grace and Albert Stevens

L-R: Charlie, Albert and Grace, and brother-in-law Murray Fraser

Grace and Albert Stevens. Photo taken for their 50th wedding anniversary.

Albert Walter Stevens

OBITUARIES

STEVENS, ALBERT WALTER. Long-time resident of Watertown and more recently of Alexander Place, went peacefully to be with his Lord on Sunday, January 22, 2012. Albert is survived by his devoted wife of over 60 years, Grace (nee Rey), and is the father of David (Jean) of Watertown, Jonathan (Val) of Abbotsford, B.C., Robert (Lisa) of Stoney Creek, Elizabeth Rael (the late Barry Rael) of Toronto, Mark (Cindy of Waterford, and Hazel (Don) of Stirling. Albert is a beloved Grandfather and Great-grandfather.

As a Master Carpenter, he practised his trade in around Waterdown for many years.

A Family Interment Service will be held. The family invites friends to share memories at Alexander Place, 329 Parkside Drive, Waterdown on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Flamborough Baptist Church Building Fund or a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

STEVENS, GRACE E.M. (nee RAY). Long-time resident of Waterdown (Robson Rd.) and more recently Alexander Place, went peacefully to be with his Lord on August 14, 2014. Devoted wife of the late Albert Stevens. Loved mother of David (Jean) of Watertown, Jonathan (Val) of Abbotsford, B.C., Robert (Lisa) of Stoney Creek, Dr. Elizabeth Rael (the late Barry Rael) of Toronto, Mark (Candy) of Waterford, and Hazel (DonShaver) of Guelph. Beloved Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. Grace is survived by her sisters Lois Wagner (Harold) and Ruby Johnson. Predeceased by brother Sidney Rey.

The family would like to thank the staff of Alexander Place for their compassion and care. In lieu of flowers, donations to the charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family. A private burial has taken place. Friends and family are invited to gather and remember Grace at Alexander Place, 329 Parkside Dr., Waterdown on Friday, August 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please sign the Book of Condolence at www.kitchingsteepeandludwig.com.

Go to:

Roots of the Stevens family tree

Fred Guise Stevens

Edmund Guise Stevens

Fredrick Charles Stevens

Hazel Marguerite (Stevens) Fraser
Albert Walter Stevens
Ernest Clifford Stevens
George Wesley Stevens

Ernest Clifford Stevens

Ernest Clifford Stevens

born: September 14, 1924, Sidney, Manitoba

died: March 24, 2009, Virden, Manitoba

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ALBUM: Ernest Clifford Stevens

1924, Sidney, Manitoba. Hazel attends to two-week old Ernie as another brother looks on.

Hazel Stevens with the first four Stevens brothers, around 1925. Ernie is the baby.

Ernie with his father Fred Stevens, March 1942

Hazel and her brother Ernie Stevens, October 1942

L-R: Ernie, wife Bertha, daughters Brenda and Kathy, and Ernie's mother Zelma Stevens

Front left: Bertha (Clark) Stevens

Back, L-R: Bertha's husband Ernie Stevens, Gertie (McKay) and husband Charlie Stevens, Ben Thiessen and wife Glenda Stevens (Charlie's daughter)

L-R: Charlie, his brother Ernie, Murray and Hazel (Stevens) Fraser, Jim Burrows (Alice Hood's husband)

L-R: Ernie, Charlie, and Albert Stevens

L-R: Ernie, Edmund and Wes Stevens

Ernie (L) with sister Hazel and brother Charlie

Wes Stevens with brother Ernie

October, 1989 at Hazel's funeral:

L-R: Edmund, Charlie, Ernie and Wes Stevens

OBITUARY

EULOGY

A Life Remembered

The sudden death of Ernie Stevens has gathered us together this day. We gather because we share the sense of loss that comes when someone who has shared our lives is with us no longer. Each of us has known Ernie in our own unique way ... as father, father-in-law, grandpa, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, neighbor, mentor, coffee shop companion and friend. We gather to share stories of him … to remember him … to honour the impact that his life has had on ours. We know that the place which Ernie held in our lives can never be filled. We trust that in time healing will come, and that memories will help to soften the wounds of our loss.

Our relationship with Ernie does not end at death, even though he is no longer physically present with us. Something of his spirit lives on in our lives. The force which animates this continuing relationship is the love and affection that bound Ernie’s life to ours. The gifts and blessings of Ernie’s life are interfused with ours, blended with mind and memory, joined to our souls. Someone once said that, “the dead are not dead if we have loved them truly. In our own lives we give the immortality.” So we gather to hear the story of Ernie’s life, and to give thanks for those gifts of his which will never die … his legacy … which lives on through those who loved him and were loved by him.

Ernest Clifford Stevens was born on September 14, 1924, the fourth child of six, born to Zelma and Frederick Guise Stevens. He was born in Sidney, Manitoba, and spent his childhood in La Riviere and Roseisle. All the Stevens siblings shared a creative, inventive nature, and Ernie was no exception. As a boy he developed what was to be a lifelong friendship with Clifford McPherson, the son of his mother’s best friend. The two boys shared a love of all things electronic and mechanical.

Mrs. McPherson paid tribute to her dear friend Zelma by naming her son Clifford after Ernie, and giving her daughter the name Zelma. From the age of 11 onward, Ernie grew up in a home without his mother. He learned how to cope in the kitchen, making some special food requests for his dad and older siblings. He did enjoy spending time at the McPhersons where he had some fine meals after doing chores there … cutting wood with Clifford, and spending time talking about their latest electronic projects.

Ernie was very inquisitive by nature … he was always curious to find out how things worked. While still in school, using the tools from his dad’s workshop, he made a small gas-powered piston engine, which his teacher encouraged him to enter in the local fair. He won first prize for his entry … a one-dollar bill!

He fashioned a square gas tank and V pulley from a round jam pail, and used parts of a washing machine motor to power his bicycle … and so he had his own unique moped to climb the hills around Roseisle. Using the Radio Amateur’s Handbook as a guide, he built a small battery-powered radio.

Ernie was conservative by nature – one of the original recyclers. “Waste not, want not” was the motto by which he lived. If Ernie needed a washer for a bolt, he would fashion his own.

In wartime, Ernie joined up, but wasn’t accepted by the army because of a leg injury he’d sustained on his bike. A truck had hit him and thrown him into a barbed wire fence in the ditch. He almost lost his leg as a result, and developed a lifelong dislike of hospitals and doctors due to the lengthy stay in hospital. He was grateful, however, to the young doctor who convinced the other doctor that the leg could be saved.

The army wouldn’t take him, but the air force did, and from 1942 until 1945, he served at Eastend, Saskatchewan, doing mostly office work … and peeling potatoes. Towards the end of the war, Ernie’s brother got him a job at a welding shop in Winnipeg. From there he worked for an electrician in Pilot Mound, wiring farmhouses for rural electrification.

In 1958, Kathy was welcomed into the family. Kathy and Brenda grew up in a home where their Dad was always busy in his basement workshop, inventing things, building things, repairing and improving things. His work was also his hobby. Ernie was a man of great patience. When the noise coming from the basement proved to be interfering with the girls’ TV watching, their shouting down the register, or thumping on the floor to get their dad’s attention usually resulted in his stopping his work to accommodate them. He’d come up for air, now and again.

Ernie’s electronics and mechanical projects were amazing. He made his own 2-way radios for the house and the car, an intercom system, several metal detectors, and a simple hearing aid with a transistor radio earpiece. He also figured out a way to make an amplification device to help those hard of hearing at The Sherwood enjoy their TV watching. With parts ordered from an electronics company he made his own laser bean, and delighted in showing Kathy the little red light shining on the chest freezer in the basement. He modified his bicycle so the pedals moved up and down instead of around in a circle. His modifications to the family car caused Bertha some trepidation. She was sure that his tinkering with the ignition and carburetor might have disastrous results.

He loved to spend time with friends who knew how to talk “electronic-ese” and had loads of patience for young chaps such as Keith Lobel who was interested in learning more about electronics. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge and his projects with his friends, and he loved to pore over diagrams filled with electronic “hieroglyphics.” He had great respect for those he worked for, and with … and enjoyed trips away on courses to learn more about the Zenith and Sylvania TVs that he worked on.

Brenda and Kathy fondly remember fishing trips with their dad to the river and roasting wieners on the riverbank; stops at the Creemee for ice cream and popsicles; picking berries; and rides out to the Assiniboine Valley and the “Million Dollar Bridge” at the Eternal Springs. They remember the extra loud lawnmower Ernie used, and the relief when the motor finally shut down. They remember their dad spraying down the house to cool it on hot summer nights. There were holiday trips and many car trips to visit relatives and friends. They noted how their Dad had a soft spot in his heart for their pets, although he wouldn’t be caught showing it.

Ernie retired at age 65 … but continued with his various projects. The timing was probably right for him, since the tendency was growing to simply throw things out when they didn’t work. Ernie could never understand why you wouldn’t fix something if you could.

He was famous for his one-day trips … away and back home in his own bed that same night. He enjoyed attending the Threshermen’s Reunion with his brother Wes, or Charlie, brother-in-law Murray, or his “electronics” friends, and he took great interest in the farm machinery and the way it worked.

He and Wes made several trips to explore the hills around Roseisle, hunting for the remains of their old house and stopping by to visit his childhood friend, Cliff McPherson, and working in a visit with brother Charlie at Carman.

In 2004, at the age of 79, Ernie underwent heart bypass surgery, and although he didn’t give up his routine, he lost interest in his workshop. He took up an interest in reading and movie watching, and preferred true stories such as “Paddle to the Amazon” and some of the Reader’s Digest stories. He especially liked the movie, The World’s Fastest Indian. The title referred to an Indian motorcycle. Erie had owned an Indian motorcycle at one point in his life, and he could identify with the Anthony Hopkins character in the movie, Bert Munroe, who worked at modifying his motorcycle to improve its speed and set land speed records at the Bonneville salt flats.

Ernie was an independent man, never wanting to put anyone out. He learned how to cope with the household and laundry after Bertha died in 1997. He enjoyed coming to Kathy and Dale’s for Sunday supper, and returning home with leftovers for the week. He always waited to be invited; he never just dropped by. He didn’t like to impose, and for him it was important to know one’s place.

Ernie was a regular at the Chicken Chef two or three times a day, but for Ernie it was always tea, never coffee. It is said that Ernie spent more money on tea there than anyone else before or since. He was always glad to meet his buddies there, and to visit with the former Greyhound bus drivers (from the days when Cook’s Electric received parts delivered by bus). You could tell time by Ernie … he would be there promptly at 9:00 and 3:00. The joke was that if he didn’t show up at his regular times you knew something must be wrong. On the 24th of March, Ernie didn’t show up … he had died suddenly in his home. He left this life the way he would have preferred, quietly and at home. He was 84.

Ernie was predeceased by his parents, his wife Bertha, his three brothers Ed, Charlie and Wes, and his sister Hazel Fraser. He leaves to mourn, his daughter Brenda Heywood, his daughter Kathy and his son-in-law Dale Heaman, his grandson Jason, his brother-in-law Murray Fraser, his sister-in-law Dorothea Stevens, his brother Albert and sister-in-law Grace, and many nieces and nephews. Ernie will be greatly missed.

As people of faith we believe that just as Ernie’s life is a gift from God, so the gifts that he leaves us enrich our lives and our memories. In some way unknown to us, Ernie’s life remains in connection and continuity with those who have gone before and those who remain. Knowing this, we can bid Ernie farewell with grateful hearts, confident that nothing can destroy the good that has been given through Ernie’s life. He leaves a legacy of honesty, respect for others, resourcefulness, curiosity, creativity and inventiveness. With thankful hearts, assured that the Holy One has welcomed Ernie into God’s deeper presence … and assured also that God holds those who remain in tender care … we can say … Thanks be to God for Ernie. Thanks be to God for a life lived with quiet patience and ingenuity.

The rose statue in Roseisle was conceived, designed and built by Ernie's friend Clifford McPherson, and painted by local artist Stephen Jackson. It was unveiled in 1980.

Go to:

Roots of the Stevens family tree

Fred Guise Stevens

Edmund Guise Stevens

Fredrick Charles Stevens

Hazel Marguerite (Stevens) Fraser
Albert Walter Stevens
George Wesley Stevens