Remembering our roots ~ Rene Betts

Times Contributor

 

Rene’s mother’s family (Boyd) originated from Renfrewshire, Scotland and immigrated to Montreal in 1820. Seven children were born there between 1896 and 1911, and all moved to Edmonton in 1914.

Her father’s family (Ramsay) came from Ayrshire, Scotland and also moved to Montreal with their seven children all born in Scotland, arriving in 1912, before moving on to Edmonton.

Rene was born in Edmonton in 1931, the eldest of a family of four, having three brothers. When she was five years old, she went to live with an aunt and uncle, and was eventually adopted by them. With her adopted family she had a sister and another brother.

She took all her schooling in Edmonton, first at McDougall Elementary and then McDougall Commercial High School, which merged with Victoria Composite High School in 1949, where she graduated from Grade 12 as a member of the first-ever Grad Class at this school in 1950. This meant she didn’t get to graduate from the school she had attended for almost all her school life. The Principal at McDougall Commercial High School was J.Percy Page, who was also the coach of their world famous basketball team in the 1930’s and 1940’s. They won all the cups, and in doing so only lost seven out of about 700 games! They were very proud of their school, especially after Mr Page became the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. In 1949 while in Grade 11, Rene played on her high school team, when they won the city championship by going undefeated. This was also the last year before the merger. Her early memories of school life were of the many outdoor games she and her friends played, like marbles (she was very good at this game), ring toss, kick the can, red light, baseball and “alli – i – over,” which involved tossing a ball over the roof to the team on the other side. If someone caught the ball, then that person could run around the end of the building and tag a member of the opposing team, and that person would then be eliminated from the game! She was very competitive academically, and in sports. She remembers that homework and chores came before play. They used to play outdoors until the street lights came on, then would move indoors. 

She bought a second-hand bike when she was in Grade 8, and paid for half of it with the money she had earned babysitting at 10 cents an hour!

A lot of her social activities while she was growing up involved the church. She started Sunday School at First Presbyterian Church at age five, and remembers the whole family walking the eight blocks each way, rain or shine, to Central United Church because they didn’t have a car. 

She became a member of this church at age 13 and sang in both the junior and senior choirs, attended CGIT, Sunday School, and participated in activities with the Young People’s group, who had Friday night dances, a Saturday bowling league, a square dance club, and ice skating. Rene loved skating and competitive sports. She says they were a proud Canadian family, and always displayed a large Union Jack flag across the front of their house on Victoria Day and Dominion Day.  In the 1940’s and 1950’s children were more self-reliant, and it was safer for them to go out on their own. She attended Saturday afternoon matinees on her own with friends, to see such epics as Tarzan and Gene Autry. In those days, it cost 5 cents each way on the streetcar for children, 5 cents for a candy bar, and 10 cents for the movie. Where can one do this today for 25 cents? 

She remembers ice cream was delivered to the door, 5 cents a scoop, dropped into a large bowl! In some areas bread, milk and vegetables were also delivered to the house.

Rene was married in 1956, and lived in England for seven months before moving back to Canada. They had two sons and a daughter, and she now has three grand-daughters. She worked for the Gas Company in Edmonton for 8.5 years from 1950-1959. She moved to Calgary with her husband in 1962, where they built a new house near the new University of Calgary. She remembers that in later years, McMahon Stadium was built there. She attended St David’s United Church, and her children took Sunday School there. She worked 8.5 years for Alta Gas Trunk Line, which later became Nova, then 8.5 years for Environment Canada in the Harry Hays Building, before retiring in 1998.

Rene’s faith helped her through challenging years with her three teenagers, and following her divorce after 31 years of marriage. In 1982, she transferred her church membership to Renfrew United, where she met two ladies who were going to have a big input on her life – Barbara Davison and Wanda Hartall, who are now both long time members of Strathmore United Church. It was at Renfrew United that Rene became a member of the United Church Women (UCW), a relationship she continues to this day. 

She says she enjoys the camaraderie of working with many women on church projects, socials, fundraisers, etc. She has served as Unit Leader many times. She became involved in the Calgary Presbyterial Outreach program and in 1987/88 served as Co-President with Darlene Sharman. These two ladies introduced “Adopt an Agency” throughout Calgary Presbyterial, so that all agencies of outreach would be covered. This way one got to know what they were about, and what their needs were, and, how the church could assist through UCW.

She moved to Strathmore Christmas 2008, to be near her only daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters. She joined The Happy Gang, transferred her church membership to Strathmore United, and has made many friends here.