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Gerald Oscar Vick, born 16 July 1919, in LaFleche, Saskatchewan, formerly of Deer Hill (AB), passed away this morning, 4 December 2020, at the age of 101 years.
Gerald married Jean Knoepfli Vick on 11 July 1949 in Deer Hills, Clear Hills, Alberta and she preceded him in death, in 2014.
Gerald is survived by their four children, Vera Vick Brisbin, Janet Vick McLean, Gary Vick and Leonard "Calvin" Vick, and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A Private Graveside Funeral will be held from the New Waterhole Cemetery in Fairview on Wednesday, December 9 at 1:00...
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Gerald Oscar Vick, born 16 July 1919, in LaFleche, Saskatchewan, formerly of Deer Hill (AB), passed away this morning, 4 December 2020, at the age of 101 years.
Gerald married Jean Knoepfli Vick on 11 July 1949 in Deer Hills, Clear Hills, Alberta and she preceded him in death, in 2014.
Gerald is survived by their four children, Vera Vick Brisbin, Janet Vick McLean, Gary Vick and Leonard "Calvin" Vick, and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A Private Graveside Funeral will be held from the New Waterhole Cemetery in Fairview on Wednesday, December 9 at 1:00 PM.
Gerald and Jean Vick history
Gerald Oscar Vick was born in LaFleche, Saskatchewan on July 16, 1919, the eldest child of Victor and Christine. He is the only brother to sisters, Garnette, Deloris, & Dorothy. Gerald’s parents were born and raised in the Dakotas and some of both families moved into Saskatchewan shortly before Victor and Christine met. After their marriage in 1918, both Victor and Christine worked for the telephone companies, doing lines and looking after the switchboard. Gerald and his sisters and parents moved to places such as Sexsmith, Blue Hawk, Figure Eight Lake and Last Lake where the family farmed and lived for many years.
Jean Eleanor Knoepfli was born in Sylvan Lake on April 11, 1927. She was the first and only daughter of August and Esther Knoepfli and sister to Allan. The family moved north to the Deer Lake District in 1933 and settled in to farm. They rode horseback to the Deer Hill School in summer and sleigh in the winter. During these homesteading days, the Knoepflis and Vicks became not only close neighbors but very good friends. August passed away suddenly in 1942, leaving Esther, Allan and Jean and Jim Nadeau to carry on.
Gerald attended schools in Mount Star (near Sexsmith), Blue Hawk, Figure Eight Lake, Last Lake and Meredian and remembers some of his favorite teachers, Miss Ketter, Miss Roy and Mr. French.
In 1941 Gerald joined the Royal Canadian Armed forces and did his boot camp and training in Camrose, Alberta and Brandon, Manitoba. On one occasion, Gerald had spent a couple of days in the hospital. When he returned, he and his troop were presenting arms – first do the gun moves, stop, take ½ step back. Stop. While in the hospital, Gerald had missed the part about what happened after the second “stop.” So he stopped and the rest kept going. This was quite embarrassing. Another time when he met an officer, he as usual saluted as he should have. The problem was, usually the soldiers wore a “wedgie,” a hat with no beak and the salute was to bring your hand farthest way around, shortest way down. On this particular occasion, Gerald was wearing the pith helmet for the first time and in the middle of the salute, he knocked the helmet right off his head. This was again pretty embarrassing for a 19 year old. He returned home to Deer Hill in 1942. Gerald also ran large machinery and worked on the construction of the Alaska Highway.
Jean attended school in Burnt Lee and Deer Hill and in 1944-45 attended Bible School at The Lighthouse Tabernacle, in Grande Prairie. After her formal education, Jean worked for a while at Schmelke’s Hardware in Peace River. She worked for Jean Labourne in 1946-47. During a couple of winters she worked as a second-cook, along with her future mother-in-law, at the lumber mills. She worked for Dr. and Mrs. Letts and did housework. In Hines Creek she worked for a family doing housework and looking after children. She also worked in a store in Whitelaw.
As young people, both Gerald and Jean attended community functions such as softball, box socials and country dances. Community lunches were always part of these outings. On July 11, 1949 they were married at Jean’s home in Deer Hill. After they honeymooned in Dawson creek, they settled into the new house that Gerald, with Allan’s help, had built of lumber he had cut at Cook’s sawmill.
It was in Deer Hill that Gerald and Jean had four children, Vera, Janet, Gary and Calvin. As a family, they farmed and raised cattle. In earlier years they had horses. During many winters Gerald worked at the lumber mills: Thordeson’s, Cook’s and HR&N, while Jean and the kids looked after things on the farm. Gerald worked on building roads for the Dept. of Highways out of Peace River. He also worked for several different companies driving cat, cutting seismic lines in the bush. Gerald also spent several years working at CANFOR, the Fairview Auction and the College.
Gerald enjoyed sports – baseball in particular. He often played first base. He and the Deer Hill team played against teams such as Whitelaw, David Thompson and Granger. The family enjoyed these baseball outings. Horseshoes was another sport they enjoyed. Saturday nights would often find the family in Fairview watching Hockey Night in Canada with Grandma and Granddad Vick (Victor and Christine, who lived in Fairview from 1960 to 1971 and 1990). Of course watching the real thing – the Fairview Monarchs was good entertainment too. At that time you could go to watch a good game of hockey for 50 cents! Some winters Jean and Gerald both curled, along with Allan Knoepfli, the Aune brothers, and Archie & Betsy Hayes, sometimes in Whitelaw and sometimes in Hines Creek.
In 1962 electricity was brought into the Deer Hill District and in 1966 AGT put in the telephones – party line at first. That was pretty exciting!!!
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Contributed by the kids
Dad, although he seems like a pretty quiet guy, is a bit of a character. He loves to pull tricks on people and who would be more gullible than his poor Mom? Once he phoned Grandma from downtown Fairview pretending to be someone from the Town Water Company. He said the water was going to be off so that she should gather and save some water for flushing, cooking etc. When we got up to her house later on, we found that Grandma had the tub full, the sinks full and pots of water on the stove and all over. Another time he bound a set of her old dentures at their old homestead and instead of giving them to her or just chucking them out, he gave them to Uncle John Lindman to mail from “out of town.” A few months later, Uncle John mailed the teeth to Grandma. She worried for weeks abut some poor soul going without their teeth (not realizing, of course, that they were hers). Finally Dad owned up to his prank.
Mom, on the other hand, in a different time and place could have been, would have been, or should have been, a vet. One time she found a half grown chick nearly drowned in some water and after mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the chick survived to become fully grown (and was butchered). Another chicken story – we had hauled out and dumped the potatoes sprouts in the spring and a young chicken made a real pig of itself, stuffing its crop so full that it was cutting off its breathing. Mom found the poor thing just about dead, so brought it in for emergency surgery. She cut the skin, cut the crop open, pulled out sprout after sprout (at which time the chicken suddenly breathed and started flopping), sewed up the crop, sewed up the skin and let the chicken go. This chicken also survived, probably to end up butchered too. Mom also mended up dogs; once when Sandy had a foot nearly cut off by a mower, another time when he was chewed up by another much bigger dog.
On the farm we had a few horses, lots of cattle, some pigs and almost always chickens. A few times Mom had turkeys but Dad didn’t appreciate them because they left their calling cards all over. And they seemed to like Dad and follow him all over. There was also one sheep, Queenie, who turned out to be a much lived family pet for many years. We still have quilts with her wool in them. There was always a dog and one or two cats.
Mom sewed most of the clothes for us girls when we were younger. In these later years she has been part of the Northern Lights Missionary Group, who make and give away quilts to people who need them, like victims of fire or as gifts to graduating students.
Mom and Dad attended the Hines Creek Gospel Chapel for many years, before moving into Fairview and attending church at the Fairview Gospel Chapel.
In 1995 Mom and Dad moved into Fairview. It hasn’t taken them long to become very involved there. Dad is a member of Legion #84. He has his carpentry skills to keep him busy and cares for the fairly large yard. Mom continues to plant and keep a big garden – which she has always done. She plants an extra row of peas just for Dad to snitch at. In the fall you may find both Mom and Dad our picking saskatoons, blueberries, or whatever berry happens to be in season. Mom enjoys crocheting and painting. Together they have had some trips including travels to Israel, Australia, India and most recently, the Knoepfli Falls in Ontario.
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Gerald and Jean had four children born into their family. Vera (in April 1950 at her Grandma’s house on a very snowy winter-like night), Janet (in February 1952), Gary (in May 1954 at home – Dr. Lett’s arrived not quite in time – on a tractor because the roads were so bad) and Calvin (in September 1965).
The children all grew up on the farm and were bussed to Hines Creek for their 12 years of formal education. The year Vera started school was the first year the school bus came to the Hines Creek area. In those years, some of the roads were lacking gravel, so there was some exciting trips for George Olstad, the bus driver, when there had been two or three days of rain (at least the kids found it exciting). The kids on the Deer Hill school bus liked to sing and they would often be heard singing the miles away.
The family started attending Sunday evening services at David Thompson Hall when Hazel Taylor came from Ontario to work with the CSSM in Hines Creek and Eureka River areas in 1954. In winter, benches were set up in a circle around the old wood stove and Miss Taylor played a little portable pump organ for music. The Sam Eeles family came in 1960, took over the services and eventually this group of worshippers moved to Hines Creek where they had obtained a church building of their own – The Hines Creek Gospel Mission. The highlight of the week for the teenagers was the Friday night Young People’s activities. Vera and Janet did some singing at church-related activities, accompanied by their Dad on the guitar. Both girls took piano lessons from Mrs. Olstad.
As the family grew up, there were also good times visiting the neighbors around, even though transportation wasn’t always easy. Walking worked if nothing else. Grandparents on both sides lived less than 3 miles away. Holiday celebrations were a good time for family to get together.
After high school graduation, Vera took 3 years of study at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills and in 1971 married Dave Brisbin, who was pasturing a church in Bonanza, Alberta, which turned out to be a 16 year commitment for him. He also managed the David Thompson Bible Camp for 9 years and is now pasturing Fairview Gospel Chapel. Dave and Vera moved to Fairview in 1988 and then just out of town in 1990. Vera has taught piano lessons during most of their married years. They have three children, Troy (and Esther) of Calgary, Trina, also of Calgary and Trevor of Grande Prairie.
Janet attended PBI for two years worked at the hospital in Fairview and then took Medical E-ray training at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton. She then worked in High Level and Spirit River Hospitals. She then trained in Medical Lab technology in Edmonton and Olds. Since then she has worked in Grande Prairie and LaCrete. In 1979, Janet married Dick McLean, a teacher and they have lived in various communities, including a year’s teacher exchange in Australia. They also spent a couple years in South Dakota, where Dick received his doctorate in Educational Administration. Dick and Janet have 2 girls (Hillary and Shauna) who both live in Calgary. Dick and Janet live in Eaglesham.
Gary has worked most of his life in construction and oilfield work. He married Marilyn (Puddy) Bjornson in 1975. She is a gal of many talents and has worked at various jobs through the years, such things as catering, parts person, bookkeeping and crafts to mention a few. They have 2 children, Danny (and Shannon, with grandchildren Kiana and Dawson), and Dawn (and Kelly, with granddaughter Faith). The family has a cabin at the Hines Creek golf course, a perfect retreat for these golfing enthusiasts.
Calvin attended Peace River Bible Institute for 2 years after High School where he met his future wife, Cathy Faszer, the daughter of missionaries to India. They were married in 1988. Both Calvin and Cathy graduated from LPN training in Grouard in 1987 and a year later Calvin took Emergency Medical Training. Fifteen years late he continues working in this career. Cathy worked in McLennan and High Prairie until the children came along. They have a daughter, Bronwyn and a son Adam, who are both little musicians. While working at the hospital, Calvin has had a few other jobs on the side, such as installing satellite dishes, handyman and truck driving.
One time when Dad was working in Whitehorse, the window of his bunkhouse was facing the window of his foreman’s office, just across the street, so they could easily keep an eye on what he was doing. One day when the foreman went into town, Dad snuck over and made a dummy using his hat, overalls, boots, etc. and set him up in a chair so he could be easily seen through the window when the foreman came home. When he did come back, he hurried through the door, only to get a good dousing from a pail of water which was carefully placed over the door. Dad was quite pleased with himself, but this wasn’t over. One night later on, he woke up from a sound sleep, with someone tickling his feet. He was very ticklish. But he couldn’t move. The foreman had managed to wrap a rope around him and his cot, so he had to just lay there and take his punishment. The score was even for the time being anyway!
Gerald Vick by Gerald himself.
Gerald Vick
My mother and father, Christine and Victor Vick moved from Saskatchewan to Sexsmith in about 1925. They rented land there until 1929 when they moved to Blue Hawk and rented land belonging to Mr. E. Weiss (SW 30-83-25-W5). The school was only across the road, so my sister Garnette and I had just a short distance to go to school.
Dad farmed there and bought land in 1931 at Figure Eight Lake (SW18-84-25-W6) and (NW7-84-25-W5). I and my sister went to school there until I passed Grade eight – as far as we could go in that school.
I’d like to, at this time introduce a neighbor of ours, a bachelor, who lived on a homestead about a mile from our place. His land was in the next School District (Last Lake). This man’s name was Mr. French and he taught school at Last Lake. The school was held in the community hall. There aren’t many people of Mr. French’s caliber. It was through him that Lorna Hanson, Mary Hansen, Andy Robb and myself had some High School. This was the reason my sister and I went to Last Lake School. Mr. French, I believe, paid for part of our books and taught us grade nine and ten in between teaching his other grades. We also stayed some after school for instruction. He was very strict but fair. He let us boys go swimming in the lake at noon hour. One day, us older boys, Andy Robb, myself and Bob Chase, Bill and Gordon Hanson, Ed and Blacky Chase, (I can’t remember if there were more) went swimming. We had a large log along, I don’t remember why, but we went right across the lake, hanging on to this log and paddling with our hands. When we got across, we were pretty tired, so we walked around the lake on the West side. Remember, we had left our clothes on the North side, so we were all in the nude. Who was waiting by our clothes? You likely guessed, it was Mr. French. He could look very cross, but I imagine there was a twinkle in his eye when he saw us coming, nobody wanting to be first. He didn’t even scold us very much. He said No more Swimming, but that lasted only a few days. Then he brought his alarm clock so we wouldn’t be late again.
Mr. French had a mismatched team of horses, - one very large and quite a small one. The first winter we knew him, the small horse seemed to get thinner and thinner. My Dad said something about this one day and Mr. French said, “I don’t understand why, because I give him the short end of the double tree.” It’s funny a man as good as he was at math could make that kind of mistake.
Mr. French must have had a soft spot in his heart for me because he gave me his 22 rifle, the first rifle I ever had.
Our teacher for grade eleven was Miss Ketter. That fall I quit school and went threshing.
I had two more sisters, Deloris, born on October 31, 1931 and Dorothy born on September 19, 1936.
My Dad hauled groceries for our country store, owned by Mr. Charlie Brady. He also was a very kind man. Our grocery box always had a small bag of candy or peanuts. One day he disappeared, I think about 1935 and hasn’t been heard of since.
In 1938 my folks homesteaded in Deer Hill on N1/2 of 21-84-2-
W6 and we moved her in 1939. It was pretty hard going for several years as the land was cleared by hand. I worked out at threshing time and in sawmills in winter. I homesteaded the SW22-84-2-W6 in 1947.
I was called to the Army in 1941, in the spring. I took Basic Training in Camrose, Alberta. After Basic, I joined the R.C.A. in the Artillery. I was in for six months, then discharged as unfit for duty because of medical reasons. My Artillery training was at Brandon, Manitoba. I made some pretty good friends and often wonder what happened to them. I’ve belonged to the Canadian legion for a number of years and enjoy the companionship of the boys.
I worked for the American Army in 1943- 44 as a heavy Duty operator on the Alaska Highway. So when I came back I was able to drive cast. This made clearing the land so much easier. Jean Knoepfli and I were married in 1949. We have two girls, Vera and Janet and two boys, Gary and Calvin.
When Dad and Mom moved to Fairview in 1961, we bought their land, making us four quarters, which we still farm.
I’d like to add that my Dad was mail carrier for the Deer Hill Post Office for many years. The Post Office was at Mike Retzler’s, a neighbor of ours about 5 ½ miles to the west. Dad would haul the mail once a week from Hines Creek to Retzlers. After it was sorted, he would take the mail for those on his way home and deliver it.
My Mom worked many years as cook in Construction and Saw Mills. Some of them were Zavishas, Thordason, Cooks, Moons, and Park Brothers and MacClure Construction. |
