Remembering our roots ~Judy Pethick & Wendy Rubner

John Godsman
Times Contributor

 

Judy Pethick’s great grandparents were born in Russia, and immigrated to Canada in the late 1800’s. After crossing the Atlantic by boat to New York, they crossed America by wagon train and ended up in the Fox Valley/Golden Prairie area of southwest Saskatchewan to farm.
Her father was born in Fox Valley, and Judy was born in Maple Creek, Sask. in 1945, the first of five children. She started Grade 1 at Fox Valley, where she was bussed to school. The school bus driver was the father of the former mayor of Strathmore – Keith Schneider!
She remembers that one cold winter day, the driver forgot to pick her up, and the nuns of a nearby Catholic Nunnery took her in, gave her hot food, then she waited there until the bus returned. For Grades 2 through 5, she attended a prairie schoolhouse with a single teacher, who taught all grades. She remembers being very active as a volleyball player at school. After completing her education in Medicine Hat, she became a pharmacist’s assistant for the next 14 years.
She then opened Tranquility Bay Enterprises in Winnipeg Beach, Man., which manufactured auto air fresheners, barbecue starters, etc. Her new ‘manufactured products’ territory covered Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. So, Winnipeg Beach was a central point for this area.
At the same time she obtained her dealer’s licence, which permitted her to sell all types of autos. She also took flying lessons at St Andrews Airport Flight School, near Winnipeg. She met her husband, a penitentiary officer, in Medicine Hat in 1963, and they were married in 1964.
They had one daughter, Wendy, born in Medicine Hat in 1966. Judy and Wendy moved to Strathmore in the early 1980’s where Wendy graduated from Samuel Crowther High School in 1984.
That same year, Judy and Wendy opened Golden West Jewelry on Third Avenue in Strathmore, and moved Tranquility Bay Enterprises head office to the same location. Golden West Jewelry is a retail outlet, which sells giftware, gold and silver jewelry, watches, and offers repairs of these items, as well as family heirlooms. This year they celebrate 30 years in business, at this location. Wendy worked there for its first year of operation, then went to England as a manager for ‘Journey For Lives,’ a cancer research organization. On returning to Canada, she obtained her production accountant certification, and joined a C.A. firm in 1988, got married and has two lovely daughters, one attending Mount Royal University, and the other still in grade school. In 1999, she entered the Oil, Gas and Mining industry as an accountant and manager. As a co-owner of Golden West she regularly visits Strathmore. Apart from working and looking after her family, she is an avid tournament level squash player, and plays about 7.5 hours per week!
Judy has been a two-term member of the Strathmore Chamber of Commerce, and was involved in attempting to get the Town Council to revitalize downtown.
Both Judy and Wendy are very pleased to have chosen Strathmore to locate Golden West Jewelry. They have gained many customers and friends over the years, and would like to offer a big thank-you to the building owners and management, for the past 30 years of service.