Remembering our roots ~ George and Jewel Comstock

By John Godsman Times Contributor

The Comstock name originated in Devon, on the southwest coast of England, where there was a town called Culmstock. This name gradually evolved into Comstock. The first family members came to North America in 1635, to Connecticut.
George’s father Lester was born in 1886 at Norwalk, Conn. An uncle who was an optometrist advised Lester to “go west young man,” so Lester arrived in Rosebud in 1909. He bought land from the CPR around 1912, and raised almost every type of farm animal, including hogs, cattle, horses, chickens, in addition to breaking the land and becoming a grain farmer.
George’ s mother Margie Clark was born in 1897 in Tekoa, Wash., and came to Canada with her family in 1917.
Lester and Margie were married in 1929, and had three children: George born in 1930, Catherine and younger brother (Robert) Bob.
George attended a small country school called CX which was east of the Severn Dam, before moving to Grasswold School located five miles south of Rosebud on what is now Highway 840. For several years he rode his Shetland pony to and from school. When Grasswold School closed in 1944, students were bused Rosebud to complete their education. The Grasswold School building was moved to Rosebud where it is now a bed and breakfast. George enrolled at Olds College in 1948. In the 1920s to 1940s, most country schools were located eight miles apart so that no child had to travel more than four miles to get to school.
Jewel’s family originated in Ontario and moved to Lethbridge in the 1920s. Her parents, Gordon and Evelyn Marshall, established Marshall Auto Wreckers in Lethbridge in 1929, the largest auto wreckers in Canada at the time. Jewel was born in Lethbridge in 1930 and attended school through Grade 12. Following graduation, Jewel attended Olds College where she and George met. They were married in October 1950, had five daughters and a son, and now have 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
In the early 1970s, there was considerable discussion regarding installation of natural gas into the farms in the Rosebud area, and in 1972 George was involved in forming the Rosebud Natural Gas Co-op, followed by his appointment in 1973 as a Director for the Alberta Federation of Gas Co-ops. He was secretary-treasurer of the federation from 1974 to 1988. During the period 1974 to 1986, the office was located in their farm house, where Jewel took on the secretarial work in addition to farm duties.
All this time they were still farming. In 1986, the federation moved the office to Edmonton and George commuted there on a weekly basis until 1988.
In 1986, Jewel and her sister-in-law Rosemary Comstock started a shop in Rosebud called The Silver Thimble, selling fabrics and sewing supplies.
George served as manager of Rosebud Gas Co-op from September 1988 until 2000, when he retired. After retiring, he and Jewel read gas meters for the Rosebud Gas Co-op until modern technology made human meter readers unnecessary.
George is a charter member of the Rosebud Lions Club, a member of the Rockyford Masonic Lodge, and past chair of various community activities. Jewel was involved with 4-H and several Rosebud ladies’ groups. For many years, George and Jewel were active with the Rosebud Centennial Museum and the Rosebud Historical Society. Regretfully, Jewel passed away in July 2018. George still volunteers at the museum on occasion.
In 2013, their farm received the 100 Years of Farming Award.
The most significant changes in the last 50 years have been the introduction of no till farming which protects the soil, as a positive, and the loss of rail service to rural communities, as a negative.