Remembering our roots ~ Gerry & Flo Linton

Times Contributor

 

Gerry’s family originated in Leith, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to Canada in 1910. They landed at Halifax, then travelled to Montreal and eventually Winnipeg. This was where Gerry’s father John Gerald Linton grew up, met Edna Nash and were married. Gerry was born in 1933 at Alsask, Sask. Edna was visiting her parents in Benton, Alta. and as the time to give birth arrived, her father hitched up the horse and sleigh. The depth of snow made the roads impassable and they traveled cross-country to reach the nearest hospital at Alsask. Gerry grew up in Winnipeg, and went to school in St Vital at Windsor Elementary. His family moved to Nelson, B.C. where he completed junior high before moving to Calgary in 1950. He attended high school for a few months in Calgary, before going to work for the provincial government as an apprentice electrician. After a couple of years, he joined AGT (now Telus), where he worked for the next 27 years. He moved with his family to AGT Head Office in Edmonton in 1964, then back to Calgary in 1969. During his time with AGT he obtained his license to be a radio amateur in 1956. His call sign is VE6PL. He has over the years been very involved with both the Calgary and Edmonton associations. He was the founding member of the Calgary Communications Club, the Golden Vista Amateur Radio group in Apache Junction, Arizona, and is a member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association – QCWA.

In 1975, he started his own company G.W. Linton & Associates, which assisted law enforcement agencies with some high tech electronic equipment. 

In 1980, he completely retired from telephone work, and concentrated full time on his company. As the business grew, he was joined by his wife Flo and sons Cliff and Kim. The security work took them to many countries around the world, serving mainly the oil industry.

Flo’s family originated in England. Her grandparents, James Harwood and Florence Stevens (from Namaka), were married in 1893, in what at the time was the Province of the Northwest Territories, because Alberta didn’t become a province until 1905.This was the start of The Harwood Dynasty, which continues to this day. After their wedding they farmed five kilometers east of Strathmore on land purchased from the Hudson Bay Co. The original farmhouse is still standing, and the property contains a Heritage Cairn. About 250 family members attended the unveiling of this Cairn in 1992. James and Flo farmed the land and raised a family of thirteen, six sons and seven daughters, of which Flo’s mother Gertie was number 10, born with her twin Ida in 1908.

Flo’s other grandparents (George & Minerva Potter) also came from England, through the U.S. to Ontario, then west to Suffield, Alta. in 1912. Her father, Harvey Potter, born in 1907, was the youngest of seven children. The land around Suffield was not very productive for farming, so they moved to Strathmore, where he met Gertie, and they were married in Calgary in 1928. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Flo was born at home, just south of Strathmore, on Jan. 11, 1934. Flo spent Grades 1 to 9 in Strathmore schools before the family moved to Calgary in 1948. She finished her education at Western Canada High, with many extra classes over the years at SAIT. She remembers her father telling her, when she was in her teens, that he had put on her first diaper, and if she didn’t behave he would do it again.

Gerry and Flo met while they both worked for the Alberta Provincial Government in 1952. She says most of their courting took place on a motorbike! They were married in 1953, at the same church that her parents were married in. This marriage produced two sons, Clifford and Kim. They have two grandsons and two granddaughters, plus three great-grandchildren. After their sons had graduated from high school, Flo started working in chiropractic, where she worked for the next ten years.

In 1987, they semi-retired and built a home in B.C. This gave them lots of work on their small acreage, but they had fun times golfing, boating and entertaining family and friends. In 1992, they sold the acreage, as the family and business brought them back to Calgary. Over the years they have enjoyed camping, trail riding on motorbikes, golfing and square dancing. For 12 years, they enjoyed travelling to California and Arizona for the winter months.

In November 1999, they moved to Strathmore, to get away from the big city. Why here? Well, Flo was born here, and wanted to return to her roots. She is a hive of information of Strathmore in the past. For example, how many of you know or remember, that there used to be a 12-feet-above-the-water, diving board at the north end of Kinsman Lake (the swimming hole)? If your dive was too deep, you ended up in the mud! Flo’s parents were residents in Wheatland Lodge, and the move enabled her to spend more time with them.

Gerry wanted to get more involved with his amateur radio and needed space for antennas. The town gave him the approval he needed.

They have seen many changes in Strathmore over the past 14 years, and they enjoy all the walking trails, biking paths and park developments. They have hope for the 

revitalization of the downtown area.

They say, “thank-you Strathmore for making our years here so enjoyable.”