Remembering our roots ~ Mary and Gerry Risseeuw

By John Godsman Times Contributor

Mary’s family name is Nicholson and originated in Lancashire, England. Her parents were Harold and Harriet. Harold served in WW1 and was wounded at the Battle of Ypres. Three of Harold’s brothers had already moved to Canada, so in 1927, Harold and Harriet came and joined them. They originally lived in Albert Park, at that time a suburb of Calgary. They lived in a small holding which permitted them to have some livestock. In 1938, they moved to Strathmore, where they purchased a mixed farm south of town. Mary was born in October 1932, and had an older brother Henry now deceased.
Gerry’s father was Dutch and his mother was Norwegian. Little is known of when or why they came to Canada, but they were married here, and had four children, of which Gerry was one. He was born in Strathmore in 1929, and had two older brothers, one younger sister.
Mary attended Orange Valley School which was located at the intersection of Glenmore Trail and Hwy 817, before moving on to Samuel Crowther High School. When she was age 17, The Strathmore Standard approached the principal, and asked if he could recommend two girls who had some capacity in grammar and spelling. Mary and her friend Evelyn Russell were hired by the Standard, and Mary spent the next two years typesetting. Her first job, which she still remembers today. Typesetting can now be seen at Heritage Park.
While she was attending high school, Mary befriended Rachel Risseeuw, Gerry’s sister, who introduced her to Gerry, and they were married at The Anglican Church in Strathmore in 1957. This marriage produced two sons and two daughters, and Mary now has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, with two more great-grandchildren soon to be born.
Gerry and Mary purchased a half section of land, two miles west, and 3.5 miles south of Standard Corner. At that time land was $55 per acre! Here, they raised laying chickens, and supplied hatching eggs to the Lethbridge Hatchery. They purchased more land as required, but rarely at the price they paid originally. Regretfully, Gerry suffered a heart attack in 1968, at the age of 39, and was hospitalized for quite some time.
With the aid of the neighbours, Mary continued with the chickens until Gerry came home, when they decided to try to reduce the workload, so switched to broiler chickens. Over an eight-week period, they would raise 27,000 chickens, then ship them to the processing plant. This was followed by days of cleaning and disinfecting the Broiler Barns, in preparation for a new batch of day-old chickens!
Gerry recovered from his heart attack, and really lived a good life until he passed in 2015 at the age of 86. The farm is now operated by their son. Mary and Gerry travelled to many places around the world including Costa Rica, New Zealand, and visited Alaska three times.
Mary was a 4-H Leader, life time member of ACW – Anglican Church Women, and was a member of both the Strathmore Hospital Auxiliary and a Life Member of the Provincial Auxiliary Association.
The main changes she has seen are the new technologies available to agriculture, and the growth of the Town of Strathmore.