Vermilion Memories Vol II - Barr, James and Family

Location: Vermilion, Alberta, Canada
Surname/tag: Barr

Contents 1 Vermilion Memories Vol II 2 BARR, JAMES AND FAMILY 2.1 Anecdotes: 3 BARR, CLARENCE AND FAMILY 4 BARR, MANSON AND VERA (LEWIS)

Vermilion Memories Vol II

• Compiled by the Vermilion History Book Committee
• Published by Vermilion & District History, Vermilion, AB Printed 1995
• Transcribed by Gary Milks in March 2022 to allow linking to and from the profiles of the individuals mentioned herein.

BARR, JAMES AND FAMILY

Submitted by Marg Lewis

James Barr Sr., who farmed at VanKleek Hill, Ontario, first came to the Vermilion district in 1910. He was accompanied by his wife and youngest son, Manson, their eldest son, Sam, having come west with his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. William (Billy) Robinson.

The country appealed to the Barrs and after returning to Ontario, the thought of the large farms and ranches was ever in their minds. In 1912, two other sons, Bill and Clarence, came to Vermilion. Later in 1913, James decided to make the big move, so after selling their holdings at VanKleek Hill, they came west with a load of settler’s effects and purchased land west of town owned by George Benson. They could see advantages of the new country and the many opportunities there would be for their four sons, Sam, Bill, Clarence and Manson.

Sam decided to be a blacksmith, learning the trade from Bill Raddatz and Curtis Wilson. After returning from World War I, he married Mary Wotherspoon, sister of another well-known blacksmith. They later made their home in California where they lived the rest of their lives.

On his return from war service in 1919, Bill married Grace Perks who had come from Quebec and was working as a secretary in Nelson’s hardware. They settled just west of the Agricultural School on Section 25 which they bought from John Thompson. Seven children were born to this couple. The eldest, George, died as a small child. Four girls, Margaret, Dorothy, Betty and Helen and two boys, Jim and Jack, grew up on the dairy farm which supplied the town of Vermilion with much of its milk since 1926. Bill and Grace took great pride in their farm, planting shelter belts of trees and large beds of peonies. Their farm and activities in community life won for them a Master Farmer’s Award. During the 20’s and 30’s with his brothers, Clarence and Manson, Bill was a member of the then famous Farmer’s Hockey Team. Later he took up curling for which he won numerous trophies. Over the years he served on the Vermilion School Board, Hospital Board and the Board of Directors of the Agricultural Society. He actively supported the United Church helping move the old church to a new foundation in 1948. The children attended Sunday School and belonged to Canadian Girls in Training (C.G.I.T.). Grace was active in women’s activities in the church.

Bill was predeceased by his wife in 1952. He retired from his dairy farm in 1953 and moved to Victoria, B.C., where he married Edna Taylor, daughter of the Daley family. He died in 1974 at the age of 78 following a lengthy illness spent in nursing homes in Vermilion and Lloydminster.

Margaret, the eldest daughter became a teacher, serving rural schools in Grand Prairie, Lloydminster and Vermilion areas. After World War II, she married Don Smith, a schoolmate and son of Mrs. Ruth Colpitts, who had come from New Brunswick in the late 30’s. The young couple settled in Edmonton where Margaret found work as a teacher in the Department of Education Correspondence School. Don worked as an architectural draftsman. Over the years he was disabled by severe arthritis, but managed to work in his home, drawing house plans for contractors until his death at age 49. Margaret and Don had one son, Robert, who graduated from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (N.A.I.T.) and is now a specialist designer at the University of Alberta mineralogy department in oil research. In 1971, Margaret married again to her Aunt Vera’s brother, John (Jack) Lewis, a retired Air Canada pilot, thus acquiring five stepchildren. Jack and Margaret travelled extensively until Jack’s death in 1974. Later Marg worked for seven years in the finance department of the Misericordia Hospital. She is now retired and at home in Edmonton.

Dorothy, Grace and Bill’s second daughter, also became a teacher, teaching in schools north of Vermilion and near Lloydminster. She too married a boy with whom she had attended school, Nelson Crowell, after he returned from the Navy following World War II. They established a bakery at Wadena, Sask. It was there that their son Jim was born. Later they moved to Edmonton where Nelson became an insurance agent and eventually rose to manager of the agency. In his position, he served Calgary, New Westminster and Saskatoon. Later in Edmonton he established a successful financial consulting firm. Over the years, their family grew to three with adopted son, Murray, and daughter, Holly. Their son, Jim, became a science teacher and after his marriage to Vicki Dirkson of Saskatoon, they went to Belize to teach under the auspices of the World Council of Churches. Dorothy and Nelson’s only grandson, David, was born there. Later they returned to Canada with their young son and furthered their education at the University of Saskatchewan. They were hired to teach in the high school in Fort Smith, N.W.T., where they have remained with their adopted daughter, Allison, teaching and taking an active part in church and community. After being awarded the Governor General’s Award, their son David enrolled in the University of Saskatchewan.

Holly, Dorothy and Nels’ daughter, took legal secretarial training and early childhood eduction and now works as Medical Education Coordinator at the Grey Nun’s Hospital. She married Michael Hipkiss and has two young daughters. Murray, too, lives in Edmonton and works with his father.

After attending high school and Vermilion College, Betty, Bill and Grace’s third daughter, worked at Craig’s store. She later married Ed Brimacombe when he returned from duty in the air force in World War II. She, thus, joined the family of one of the oldest pioneer families of Vermilion. Ed worked at Nelson Hill Hardware for some years and then entered the employ of the Provincial Government as a driver examiner. He was stationed in Vermilion, Calgary and finally Vegreville. He and Betty had a daughter, Patricia, who became a health records administrator at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (N.A.I.T.), worked in the Vegreville Hospital and married a co-worker, Wolf Beuhler, an x-ray technician. Betty and Ed’s son, Bruce, attended N.A.I.T. where he met and married Judy Derden. Bruce now works at N.A.I.T. They have a daughter and three small sons. Ed and Bet live on their lovely acreage northwest of Vegreville.

Bill and Grace’s eldest son, Jim, attended Vermilion Agricultural College. While there he met Alice Rollof from Leduc area. After their marriage, they took over the family dairy farm and over the years, had two daughters and six sons. Two of Jim’s sons, Greg and Dean, attended Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T.) in Calgary and now farm with their father using the latest in modern farm technology to produce milk from a large dairy herd. Jim’s eldest son, Bill, attended the University of Alberta and graduated with a Master of Arts in Entomology. After doing research at Lethbridge, Vegreville and Edmonton, he was employed by the City of Edmonton in mosquito control. Jim’s eldest daughter, Linda, took training in Early Childhood Education at Mount Royal College, Calgary and worked later in schools in the Brooks area. She married a Brooks farmer, Joe Hajash. Janet, Jim’s second daughter, married Neil MacMillan of Vermilion, a pharmacist. She completed her Bachelor of Education degree and now lives in Camrose where she teaches and Neil is a pharmacist. Neil, Jim’s fourth son, trained at S.A.I.T. as an aeronautics engineer and went to work on aircraft at Abbotsford, B.C., where he met and married Anita Amel. He now lives at Cultus, B.C. and works as a material systems designer. David, Jim’s fifth son, completed his civil engineering training at the University of Alberta and N.A.I.T. He married Shannon Shirreff of Islay and now works at his profession at Lloydminster. Ronald, Jim’s youngest son, lives at home and works in a Vermilion store when he isn’t attending the University of Lethbridge in pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts degree. Jim’s wife Alice has suffered from multiple sclerosis for years and is a long-term resident of the Vermilion Health Care Complex. She and Jim have numerous grandchildren. They can be justly proud of the eight children.

Helen, Bill and Grace’s fourth daughter, became a certified nurses’ aid and worked in Vermilion Hospital. She married George Barlow of Vermilion. They eventually bought the Russell Colpitt’s farm where they raised three sons – Glenn, now an electrician in the Vermilion area, Arnie, employed in the oil industry in Northern Alberta and Kenneth, also in the oil industry where he commutes from Canada to Libya. Helen continued to work at the Vermilion Health Care Complex.

Jack Barr, Bill and Grace’s youngest son, furthered his education at MacDonald College, Quebec, after attending school in Vermilion. On his return to Alberta, he took training as a welder and began work with Weatherford Oil Tool Company, Edmonton. He married a Vermilion girl, Bunny Bauer, a nurse. They had three sons, Murray, Terry and Barry. Jack became a salesman for oil well equipment produced by Weatherford and was eventually sent to Anchorage, Alaska, to manage his company’s interests there. He later transferred to British Petroleum and rose to the position of drilling superintendent on oil wells on the north slope of Alaska. He retired at 55 and moved to Hawaii with his second wife, Audrey. They presently spend winters in Hawaii and summers in their motorhome parked on the Kenai River in Alaska where he can fish. His sons remain employed in the oil-related industry in Alaska.

The William Barr family schedules a reunion every five years. Jack comes from Alaska and joins with Barr sons and daughter, grandsons and granddaughters, usually at the dairy farm where their ancestors, Bill and Grace, began a good life together many years ago.

Anecdotes:

Grace Barr told a story of the letters Bill wrote during World War I from overseas to his mother and his then his then sweetheart and intended wife, Grace. One time he mixed up the letters by putting each in the wrong envelope. On receiving a letter from him, Bill’s mother phoned Grace to say she had opened the letter and found it intended for Grace. She said, “I read it and enjoyed it very much.”

Margaret, Bill’s eldest daughter, is interested in the family genealogy. She was teased of late by the husband of her stepdaughter, David Shelly, a lawyer in the town of VanKleek Hill which James Barr left in 1913 to come to Alberta. David often buys antiques at auction sales, including any old VanKleek Hill newspapers. When asked why he bought the old newspapers, he replied that he hoped he would sometime find a story of Marg’s relatives being horsethieves. So far, his hopes have never been realized.

BARR, CLARENCE AND FAMILY

Clarence Barr travelled by train to Vermilion from VanKleek Hill, Ontario with his parents in 1913. He and his brother, Manson, bought section 25 from Sir Sam Hughes. Clarence married Helen Kelly McKay, an operator with Alberta Government Telephones, who was born in Scotland and came to Canada in 1910. They raised two children, Catherine and Stewart.

On the homestead, Clarence bred Shorthorn cattle before changing his herd to Herefords because of the market demand for larger animals. Travel to and from town was done in the 1938 Ford truck which remains in running condition at the farm today. When the snow was too deep, the roads were cleared by horse and plough. During the war, community evenings provided entertainment, such as singing, playing cards and visiting among friends and neighbours. The school provided concerts and skits, as well as keeping the children busy with hikes to the river, baseball and tending the garden that grew in the schoolyard. The Church and Sunday School were prominent in the family’s lives and the girls in Barr families belonged to C.G.I.T. (Canadian Girls in Training) as well. After the war, many of these community events died out as people became more affluent and began to spend more time building their livelihoods and attending other entertainment events. Clarence and his brothers were avid players on the Farmer’s Hockey team and Helen was very active in the church women’s group and the Eastern Star.

In 1942, a community school was built on Manson Barr’s land, where the Barr, Daley, McCormack and Hart children attended from grade one to eight. Most of the twenty-three students rode horses or travelled by cutter to school in the winter, and rode their bikes or walked in the warmer months. The school district paid a small amount to the older students who arrived early to light the coal furnace, carry water and clean out the barn. After completing grade eight, the students rode in a Ford panel to school in Vermilion. Special events that are remembered yet today were the big town celebrations on V-E Day and V-J Day, when effigies of Hitler and General Tojo were burnt amid much whooping and hollering.

Catherine graduated from University of Alberta Hospital as a Registered Nurse, and worked in Hawaii and Laguna Beach, California before she met and married Bob Oxner, from Waco, Texas. Bob served 25 years in the U.S. Navy, having been posted in Scotland, Okinawa and Vietnam. They settled in Oceanside, California where they live today. Catherine and Bob have two sons; Scott, who is living in Oceanside and working as an autobody painter, and Rob who is studying to be an Athletic Trainer at the San Jose College. Both boys excelled in high school football and enjoy exploring the sand dunes of southern U.S.A. on dirtbikes. Catherine spent much of her time as an active volunteer with various school groups and functions and enjoys singing in the church choir today. Bob enjoys ocean fishing when he can get away from the Marine Corps base where he is employed.

Stewart married Nancy Ruth Beatty of Vermilion, and farmed with his father until Clarence’s passing in 1962, when Stewart took over the family farm. He has expanded the farmland he works and has diversified by growing canola, wheat and barley as well as raising cattle. Stewart was a talented hockey player and displayed his skills in the sport until a few years ago. Ruth worked in the Vermilion Hospital for many years, and was involved in most of her children’s activities in the school and community as well as singing in the United Church choir. Stewart and Ruth have six children: Colleen, Darryl, Elaine, Mitchell, Gale and Patricia, all of whom are very sports minded and were active in the Vermilion figure skating and hockey clubs.

Colleen is employed as a certified Teacher Assistant and has coached figure skating for eleven years (Vermilion, N.W.T. and B.C.). She moved to Elkford, B.C., in 1978 and resides there now with her husband Frank Trozzo of Nelson, B.C., who is a machinist/vibration analyst with Fording Coal Ltd. They have two children; Aaron and Jessica who are carrying on the “Barr Family Tradition” in their promising ability on the ice. Colleen is very active in her community and spends many volunteer hours working with children and teenagers – fundraising and producing entertainment events.

Darryl worked many years on the oil rigs before returning to the farm to work with his dad. He and Stewart now farm 2,850 acres, including pasture land. Darryl is a gifted hockey player and, until last year, played recreational league hockey with his brother Mitchell and friends. Many trophies for winning snowmobile races mark his past as well and he enjoys recreational rides when the opportunity arises.

Elaine is an insurance broker and owns and operates Vermilion Insurance with her husband Keith Nelson. Their children, Megan and Andrew, attend school in Vermilion and have also belonged to hockey and figure skating clubs in Vermilion. Elaine is very involved with the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce. Keith serves on many executives, including Vermilion Minor Hockey, Vermilion Golf Club, Vermilion Jr. B. Hockey Club and the Vermilion Legion.

Mitchell lives in Vermilion and recently obtained his Interprovincial Journeyman Carpentry ticket. He has worked at the Upgrader site in Lloydminster for several years, as well as being a part-time farmer with his father and brother. Mitchell has coached Minor Hockey in town as well as being an asset to his team in Senior recreational hockey league.

Gale married Wayne Papineau from Girouxville, Alberta, and they live in Vermilion with their young son, Jacob. They run a trucking company and spend their summer months away, where both are employed on government highway improvements. Gale’s artistic talents in drawing, painting and calligraphy have appeared on the Vermilion Figure Skating Club’s ice show props and continuously in Chamber of Commerce presentations. Trish graduated with Distinction from the University of Alberta in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Honor Program; majoring in Sociology. She married Doug Mills of Edmonton; an entrepreneur in the hotel and restaurant business and they reside in Edmonton. Trish works for the Government of Alberta, Department of Advanced Education. She and her husband are key players on a slowpitch team and study Karate.

Clarence passed away at a young age in 1962 and his wife, Helen, in 1985. Ruth Barr passed away in 1983. The family remains close and often gets together during the holidays to laugh and reminisce about old times. Catherine recalls that she fondly remembers a “busy and very happy childhood living on the farm” and her brother and nieces and nephews agree with her.

BARR, MANSON AND VERA (LEWIS)

Submitted by John Barr

Manson Barr was born September 25, 1902. He came to Vermilion from VanKleek Hill, Ontario, in 1913 with his parents, James and Alice, and his three brothers Sam, William and Clarence. James Barr purchased land from Sir Sam Hughes three and a half miles west of Vermilion.

During Manson’s days of growing up, he became very interested in hockey. He was an outstanding defenceman and was a member of the famous Farmer’s Hockey Team. He also played for a few seasons in California while staying with his older brother, Sam. Manson used to tell his family about going to Mannville to play hockey by sleigh because the roads were unplowed after many snow storms. This happened more than once. He also used to travel by freight train to play hockey in Vegreville.

In 1934, Manson married Vera Lewis (a 1930 graduate of the Royal Alexandra Hospital). Vera was a nurse at the Vermilion Hospital. Manson and Vera had six children – Marion, Robert, Hazel, Keith, Louise and John.

Manson loved the heavy horses and in his younger farming years, he raised Clydesdales. He also developed a well known Shorthorn herd of cattle. Manson served some 40 years as a director and then as Chairman of the Heavy Horse Committee of the Vermilion Agricultural Society. He also had a keen interest in fitting and showing cattle for the Edmonton and Calgary Spring Livestock shows. Manson had the honor of showing steers at the Toronto Royal Winter Fair. They hauled their steers to Edmonton and then boarded the train to Toronto. This was approximately a four-day trip by train. This interest in livestock was passed on to all of the children, and all were very involved in 4-H.

Marion, Bob and Hazel attended the one-room Hughes School which was located on the Barr farm. We can vividly remember going to school by buggy, cutter, horseback and bicycle. We remember the excitement of Christmas concerts, the make-shift stage and the cotton-sheet curtains.

We had a dam on the farm and can still see the teacher coming down to get us to go back to school after rafting all noon hour. We also had noon hour horse races in Uncle Clarence Barr’s field opposite the school. Catherine Barr always won as she had Jack Tucker’s good horse, but we had fun. The school closed in 1946 and we were bussed to Vermilion.

Manson and Vera made sure their children didn’t miss out on two many activities, for example, scouts, hockey, ball, Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT), Sunday School. Many Friday nights or Sunday afternoons were spent at the skating rinks or on the slough.

Manson and Vera stayed on the farm until their deaths, Manson in June of 1974 and Vera in August of 1976.

Marion followed in her mother’s footsteps and graduated from the Royal Alexandra Hospital School of Nursing. Before Marion settled into her nursing, she travelled to Australia, New Zealand and England. While nursing at Tofield Hospital, she met her husband, Ron Eggen. Their son, David, was born in Brazil, as Ron was working for an oil company. They settled in Sherwood Park, Alberta. While raising her two children, Marion continued in the nursing field, and recently retired from the Royal Alexandra as Head Supervisor of the Nurse’s Residence. David, her son, is a Junior High Teacher in Edmonton, and her daughter, Heather, has her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is presently working in the Post Organ Transplant Clinic in Vancouver.

After Bob graduated from the two-in-one program at the Vermilion School of Agriculture, he worked for the Edmonton Exhibition Association as Livestock Director for nine years. His love for farming brought him back to Vermilion where he purchased the farm from his dad.

Bob became involved in the Vermilion Agricultural Society, serving as director for about five years and then as President for three. He was also the President of the Western Canada Fairs Association for two years. Bob was married in 1976 to Marion Mead. Unfortunately, cancer took Bob at the young age of 49 in 1986.

While growing up in Vermilion, Hazel was very involved in sports, particularly softball. She also showed cattle in the spring shows, as did the rest of her brothers and sisters. Hazel attended the Vermilion School of Home Economics. After college, she entered the teaching profession. How many of you have had the experience of teaching your younger sister and keeping an eye on your younger brothers while teaching?

Hazel taught school for eight years. She married Don MacLeod (a member of 2PPCLI) and they had two children, John and Debbie. Most of their holidays were spent at the farm helping Uncle Bob and learning to love and appreciate the farm life. John took after his grandfather and was a good defenceman. Now he is coaching Bantam hockey in his spare time in Calgary. Deb loved the farm and horses. She is a Physiotherapist working in Calgary also. Don and Hazel have a home in Calgary where Hazel has been employed with the Calgary School Board as a Library Assistant for 21 years.

Keith left the farm after high school and went to work at the Greyhound Bus Lines in Edmonton. He started out in the baggage department and worked his way up to Parts Manager in Calgary. He worked there for 12 years. Keith married Barb Dawson, and they had two daughters, Shannon and Kimberley. His love of agriculture drew him to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede in 1973. He has been an Assistant General Manager for 12 years, working in all departments and is presently in charge of the race track and the rodeo during Stampede time. His term of two years as President of Race Tracks of Canada finished in February 1994. He spends his spare time with his daughters, Shannon and Kimberley. Shannon’s love for animals is finding her continuing her education in the field of Animal Health Technology and Kim is training in the field of Cosmetology and Beauty.

Louise also graduated from Vermilion High School. She worked at Dr. Jim Brown’s Veterinary Clinic after school and on weekends. She went to Edmonton and got a job with Dunn and Bradstreet. Being young, she took the transfer to Toronto and stayed for about three years. Upon returning to Edmonton, Louise married Bob McLean and became a full-time mother raising three children, Cameron, Kathryn and Stewart. All of the children are very involved in school activities and sports, and Stewart is very musical as was his grandfather. High school and junior high keep them all very busy. During her time at home, Louise continued to be very busy with her sewing and always entered the Vermilion Fair taking home many prizes. She also chaired the Women’s section of the Ardrossan County Fair for three years. At present, Louise is working for the Nakeman Insurance Group in Edmonton. They live on an acreage east and south of Sherwood Park.

John is presently farming in Vermilion. John attended the Vermilion School of Agriculture after high school. He acquired his diploma in Agriculture in 1967 and then went to Norway for six months on an Agricultural Exchange program. While there, he spent some time with Don and Hazel who were stationed in Germany at the time.

When he returned to Vermilion, he worked in the Post Office before going to work for Schlumberger of Canada. In the five years working for this oil company, John travelled as far east as Halifax. John then became an Engineer for an Oilfield Perforating Co. in Red Deer. John married Heather Haverslew of Vermilion in 1976 and lived in Red Deer before returning to Vermilion to farm. John and Heather are owners of Altabarr Farms where they raise purebred and fullblood Limousin cattle. They are very involved with their family, Scott and Alexis. Scott is a very avid hockey player as is John and as was Manson. Scott is also very involved with refereeing of hockey. Lexi is active in figure skating and has been skating at the senior level for four years. She hopes to continue her education and become a veterinarian. John and Heather are very involved with their cattle and show at many local shows, as well as Edmonton and Calgary. They have sold their cattle all across Canada and Mexico and to Brazil. Scott and Lexi are also very active with their parents in showing cattle and they are both very active in 4-H.