Remembering our roots ~ Dennis & Debbie Kiemeny

John Godsman
Times Contributor

 

The family name ‘Kiemeny’ originates in Holland, where Dennis’s grandfather Hubert Kiemeny was born in 1886, and his grandmother Adrianna was born in 1888.
They came to Canada in 1913, where his grandfather worked for the CPR, in and around Strathmore. Their farm, which was purchased from the CPR, was located four miles south, and one mile east of Nightingale. Grandmother Adrianna had a beautiful, productive garden admired by all. Hubert passed away in June 1947, and broken hearted, Adrianna passed away a month later.
Dennis’s father Andy was born in February on the farm in 1925. His mother, Irene Tonneson, was born in February 1931 in Bassano. Her father Larry, born in 1896, came to Canada from Iowa to Brooks to work for the CPR. He then moved to Conrich where he met and married Ruth Johnson in 1919. They then homesteaded in Chanceller and bought CPR land. New opportunities took them back to Conrich in 1937, which is where Andy and Irene met. They married in 1950 and resided on the Kiemeny farm.
Dennis was born Jan. 29, 1952 in Calgary, the first of five children. He attended school in Strathmore through Grade 10, and then attended the Composite High School in Drumheller for 18 months, where he took a course in Agricultural Mechanics. His first job was working on drilling rigs, but he went on to say that he became a ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None!’
For the past 37 years, he has worked his way up to construction supervisor with Western Irrigation District in Strathmore. Reflecting back over the years, he believes an incident around 1965, at the age of 13, was instrumental in him choosing this path for employment. His family was away and during an afternoon rainstorm, while doing his chores, he was suddenly faced with a deluge of water coming through the farmyard. After calling the WID Office, he made contact with the Water Master who came out to the farm to assist. In the dark using a homemade garden tractor, the WID guy stood on the back with a shovel, a flashlight, and gunny sacks in one hand and a tight grip on Dennis’s coat with the other. When they arrived at the canal, they found that a wooden structure had washed out in the storm. So, they filled the gunny sacks with dirt to temporarily block the water, and next day a WID crew arrived to replace the structure. That home-made garden tractor was quite the invention and deserves explaining – Dennis’s Dad had taken miscellaneous parts of metal, and made a narrow gauge wheel base, the back wheels were 15 inch tires from an old car, the steering mechanism was from a grain cart, and the front wheels were from a wheel barrow! A homemade dune buggy, that could go anywhere.
Debbie’s family name is ‘Merkel’ which originates from Germany. Her grandfather Ignasias (Ned) was born in Indiana in 1904, and came to Rockyford to become a farm laborer in 1928. Her grandmother Bertilla (Grammy) – a ‘Heinzlmeir’, was born in Iowa in 1912, and moved to Rockyford with her family in 1920. After Grandpa Ned and Grammy were married in 1923, they moved to the Bell Farm three miles northwest of Rockyford and purchased the dray business, which transported goods from the train to the various stores in town. Debbie’s father Art was born in Calgary in November 1931, the first of five children.
On her mother’s side, Grandpa Charles Hatton (Pop) born in England in 1904 immigrated to Canada in 1926, to Morrin, where he operated the Morrin Ferry that crossed the Red Deer River. Grandma May Ostrom, (Nanny) was born in Rosetown, Sask. in 1911. Charles and May married in 1931. In 1939 Pop joined the army and the family was stationed in different towns across Alberta and B.C. After leaving the army in 1943 they operated the Crown Lumber Yard in Gleichen. Debbie’s mother Constance was born in Drumheller in December 1934. Her Dad and Mom met at a dance at Meadowbrook Hall, and later were married in May of 1953 then resided in Rockyford
Debbie was born at Calgary General Hospital in 1957, a twin, the first half of number three out of six children! She spent her younger years before marriage, working with Al Oming, at the Alberta Game Farm in Edmonton, where her charges were two Siberian tigers ‘Hector and Tweetypie.’
She found she was in her element, and this was the best job she has ever experienced.
Dennis and Debbie met in the King Edward Hotel in Strathmore in spring 1976, and they were married in November that year. They have a son, two daughters, and six grandchildren.
In their younger years, both of them were very involved in work, and community activities, such as: Dennis enjoyed his horses, participated in pack horse racing, was a hockey and baseball coach, a member of the Strathmore Ag Society, Knights of Columbus, and is now semi-retired from WID.
Debbie has been a leader with Brownies, Girl Guides, a Dress Co-ordinator and Chaperone with the Calgary Roundup Showband and the Calgary Stetson Showband. She drove school bus for County of Wheatland (Lyalta run) for 20 years and drove feed truck for Cattleland for six years.
Now she is a grandmother to her ‘grandbabies’!
In reflecting for their search of their roots, they found many similarities such as working for and buying land from the CPR. It was a common denominator for many others.