Keith tells of Mouse
During a fierce storm on May 24, 1908, Dr. Brander crept across what was left of the old Battle River bridge as he raced the stork to the Dalgliesh little log house at Ferry Bank, Alberta… but the Stork and Mouse got there first!
Three or four years later her parents (Kenneth and Clara) loaded the ox-drawn covered wagon and set off to homestead at Acadia Valley, Alberta.
It was in the late fall or early winter and they very nearly perished on the trip. They did however survive. They lived in a tiny shack too small for the five of the (Mom, Dad, Gran and Bill) so Mouse and Gran slept under warm feather ticks in a tent.
They picked the wrong time to homestead and only harvested two decent crops in eighteen years of trying. The wolf was never far from the door and it's a good thing for him that he didn't get too close or they might have eaten him! During that time two more members of the family arrived (Kenneth Jr. and Shirley). The kids didn't know they were poor. Their parents loved them and they never went hungry. Their mom and Gran were experts at turning hand-me-downs and flour sacks into clothes. They had Gran and they had God and so they made it.
From an early age, Mouse had a strong urge to mother anything and anyone who would let her. She would bribe my Dad (her younger brother) to let her dress him in baby clothes and feed him from a bottle. When she became a teacher she mothered all the kids she met.
At this point I'd like to read one of Dad's letters recalling those earlier days.
Dad's Letter to Mouse
Dear Mice,
Do you remember when we lived in Acadia Valley? My most vivid recollections are of school days at Edendale. When I started it seemed to me that you must be almost finished and I thought Bill must be at least half way.
Do you remember when we were janitors? I was too small to do much more than get in the way. But I remember that we had to haul the water for the drinking fountain as well as sweep the floors and start the fire in the furnace during cold weather.
I remember that at one time we used my little red wagon to haul the water. I think we had a cream can to put the water in, and eventually we had a dog to pull the wagon. Uncle Ralph made shafts to fasten to the wagon. Somewhere we got a harness to fit the dog. What exciting times we had whenever the dog saw a gopher!!!
We had quite a few friends who traveled the same road. There were the Conways, the Priors and the Chapples to help us in emergencies. I wonder where they all are now.
It was during those days that I decided I would be a teacher. Our teachers all seemed to be skillful organizers. They managed to arrange schedules which had the older pupils supervising the younger classes, while they seemed to do whatever they pleased. By the time I actually became a teacher the whole system had changed. The students had become masters and the teachers were the slaves! What a revolting development that was! Fortunately I had become acquainted with some teachers who had convinced me that my conclusions were too hasty. In fact I'm related to one who has demonstrated that teaching can be rewarding for both teacher and students and she has done it for over forty years! Many more Happy Birthdays!
Kenneth D.
In May of 1926 she began her career as a teacher in a five pupil school at Craig Murray near Oyen, Alberta. After Mouse's twelve years in a one room country school, her parents sold a cow and sent her to Normal School in Calgary. While she was away, her parents moved to Iron Springs where they established a dairy farm.
Eleven years and five one-room country schools later, she began teaching in Picture Butte where she finished her forty-three years as a teacher. During her teaching career she also drove a school bus, operated a hot lunch program, taught Sunday school, helped her ailing father with the milking, and raised four orphaned Smith children (aged six to fourteen). In addition to mothering the four Smiths, she befriended Japanese families who were moved inland during the war years, helping them to learn English and find jobs.
Mouse was very active in the church. In addition to teaching Sunday school, she drove the Sunday school bus and took kids to Summer Camp where she was a Camp Counselor.
When she helped circulate a petition to get a Seniors Lodge in Picture Butte, she had no intention of becoming a resident for another twenty years or so, but when her friends who signed agreed to move in as soon as it was built, she did too. She moved into Piyami Lodge on the day it opened and lived there until shortly before her passing.
While she was a resident of the Lodge, she continued her community involvement. She and many other volunteers operated a Bible-Storytime, a community-supported, non-denominational free Bible-oriented program for pre-school kids. She provided free transportation in her Suburban for residents who wanted to shop in Lethbridge. There was a group of ladies in their eighties called the "Galloping Gals" who she would take to lunch at Lee's Palace before commencing their afternoon shopping.
Mouse wrote hundreds of letters, kept track of many birthdays, and in some cases, sent gifts to first, second and third generations of children she taught.
She was talented, imaginative, creative, self-motivated, warm-hearted, kind, energetic, young at heart and trustworthy. Her long career and dedication to education was recognized when this elementary school was named after her. The University of Lethbridge honored her with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree. Canada recognized her as an outstanding Canadian at the time of the 125th birthday celebrations.
Serving others has been her trademark all her life and knowing her has enriched mine and many other lives.
Mouse was predeceased by her parents, brothers Bill and Ken. She is survived by her sister Shirley Besnia of Stirling Junction, Massachusetts, two foster children, Dorothy Shortt of Vancouver and John Smith of St. Albert, and numerous nieces and nephews.
