I was fortunate enough to know my great-grandma, who was born on this day 118 years ago today.  We spent lots of time with her as children until she moved to the other side of the country, and even then she came back to visit and we vacationed there a few times. I even got to celebrate her 100th birthday with her! My favourite memory of that event was my great-aunt speaking about what a great mother-in-law my great-grandmother was, and how they had never had a fight, to which my great-grandma responded, “There’s still time!”

When I started doing genealogy I was able to learn more about her and her life and I loved her even more. In fact, I think it was because of her love for her family and her family history that her daughter caught the genealogy bug and passed it onto me!

Ethel was one of eight children, the oldest girl. She had one other sister with whom she was very close, and often made trips to visit. Apparently the only time they ever fought was when Edna borrowed Ethel’s silk stockings without asking! (1)

Her parents had grown up near a Hudson’s Bay Company post and had come to the city as young adults. They passed on their love of nature to their children. Ethel loved the outdoors, and spent her time canoeing and swimming in the Summer and snowshoeing in the winter. (3)

Ethel came of age in the roaring 20s, and was a bit of a rebel. She bobbed her hair and wore a Jantzen bathing suit, which was a considered shocking at the time. (5)

She wanted to become a teacher, but her parents couldn’t afford the tuition, so she worked at Eaton’s in the mailing room. (7) I wrote in Happy Birthday, Bert! how she met and married her husband.

When they lived at the Winnipeg Swim Club, she created a warm and welcoming place. Maybe a little too welcoming, as she once told a bunch of kids crashing a meal for the umpteenth time, “Don’t you have families to go home to?!” (8)

I also wrote about how they found and built their property, and how it flooded. The first time it flooded in 1948 they had to scrub all the mud from the house. When it flooded again in 1950, my great-grandmother said, “Well, at least we don’t have to clean this time!” (10)

She was a vital force, helping to bring money into the home by growing seedlings to sell in greenhouses and later working selling cosmetics door-to-door. Her brothers bought her a car so she could visit and care for her aging mother until her mother came to live with her. She worked the property, turning it into a beautiful park-like space. (11)

She did not slow down, even after her husband passed away. It was only in her 80s that she finally moved from her beloved home into an apartment. Even in her 80s and 90s she was well enough to travel, visiting her sister in California, and making a few trips to Hawaii.

Ethel knew how to make a house into a welcoming home for her family and friends. She loved cooking and making fancy treats. Here I will leave you with her recipe for lemon pie that she passed on to me:

Juice and rind of 1 lemon

1 c. sugar

1 c.  boiling water

Pinch salt

Boil together

Add 2 tbsp. cornstarch

Cook till clear

Add butter size of walnut

Add 2 egg yolks

Remove from heat. Pour into already baked pie shell.

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1 conversation with SR

2 Andy, Ethel, Edna, Bob and Lawrie, photograph ca. 1911; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.

3 conversation with SR

4 Ethel and Bert, photograph ca. 1925; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.

5 conversation with SR

6 Ethel in her Janzen, photograph ca. 1925; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.

7 Ethel’s memoirs

8 conversation with SR

9 Ethel and friends at lunch, photograph ca. 1930; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.

10 conversation with SR

11 conversation with SR

12 Ethel plowing, photograph ca. 1945; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.

13 Ethel scuba diving, photograph ca. 1988; digital image ca. 2018, privately held by Jennifer Wiebe, Montreal, Quebec, 2019.