Remembering our roots ~ Bob and Arlene Wahl

John Godsman
Times Contributor

 

Around the 18th Century, Bob’s forefathers lived in what is now part of Poland, although they were of German descent.
His father immigrated to Medicine Hat in 1929 at the age of 24 years, and managed to obtain work as a farm labourer in southeast Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan. Six years later, in 1935, he started working in greenhouses in Medicine Hat, and in 1939 he and a partner purchased two greenhouses in Redcliff. After the war ended they expanded this until they had over two acres under glass, and Bob’s father purchased what was originally known as the Harwood Dairy Farm, 5 km east of Strathmore, in 1951. He sponsored about 80 relatives and friends from Germany, brought them to Canada and was able to give some of them work, in family-owned businesses like the farm and greenhouses.
Bob was born in 1944, the youngest of three brothers, in Redcliff, where he attended school for nine years, before attending Medicine High School for three years. He remembers that in 1965 there was a really severe hailstorm that shattered all the greenhouses at Redcliff, and all the roofs had to be replaced.
Following high school, Bob attended Cal Poly College in California, where he graduated with a B.Sc. majoring in Ornamental Horticulture in 1967.
Arlene’s family on her mother’s side originated in Odessa, Russia and members of the family immigrated to North Dakota in the early 1900’s, before moving on to Saskatchewan. Her grandfather moved to Hilda, Alta. where her mother was born. Her father, John Weber, was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and when still a baby the family moved to California, before moving to Saskatchewan.
Arlene was born in Medicine Hat in 1945, the eldest of three children. She took all her education in Medicine Hat, then dental assistant courses at SAIT and NAIT. Bob and Arlene met in high school and were married in 1965 in California. They had three children and now have three grandchildren. Bob’s brother ran the farm until he became too sick, and it was rented out thru’ 1984. This is when Bob and Arlene moved in, and continued to run it as a cattle ranch, with up to 500 head. As a hobby, they started a market garden and built greenhouses, where they could grow bedding plants, with containers and hanging baskets, etc. Following retirement in 2006, they sold the ranch and moved to an acreage in Namaka, and spent some of their time between Parksville, B.C. and Namaka.
In the fall of 2013, they returned to Strathmore to be closer to their grandchildren, and now only spend a couple of months in the early fall in Parksville, before heading south to Yuma for the winter. Their grandchildren are now playing baseball and other sports and Bob and Arlene support them in every way they can, which includes travelling around the province.
Their community activities include being members of Strathmore United Church since 1984. Arlene has been a member of the Board for Victim Services and served on the Strathmore Hospital Board, with a term as chairman, and she works with the Christmas Hamper Society. Bob keeps busy cutting grass at the Namaka acreage and fixing things that always need attention.