Remembering our roots ~ Wayne and Marilyn Risdon

John Godsman
Times Contributor

 

Wayne’s grandfather Walter ‘Harold’ Risdon was born in England on Oct. 28, 1874 and died May 21, 1950. He had married Frances Uttermire of Drayton, England who died on Mar. 16, 1950. They moved to Canada in 1909 and homesteaded just south of Strathmore.
Wayne’s father, Eric ‘Edward’ Risdon, was born here on Oct. 14, 1916 and married Hazel Stoodley of Nightingale in 1941.
Wayne was born in 1942, the first of three children. He has two younger sisters. He attended Samuel Crowther Old School, then worked for the County Road Crew and Superior Feeds, Strathmore, before starting farming with his father Ed, in the 1960s.
Marilyn’s family originated in Ukraine, where her grandmother Mary Wowchuck was born in 1895. The family moved to Stuartburn, Man. in 1900, where Mary met and married Yakim Broadway in 1914. After moving to Brooksby, Sask., Yakim died at the young age of 24, in the 1918 flu epidemic. Mary then married Nicholas Loshny, and they had 11 children, of which Marilyn’s mother (Katherine) Kay was the fourth born. Her paternal grandparents, Ana and Martin Fusick, immigrated from Poland to the United States through Ellis Island in April 1923, where Martin became a window washer on the skyscrapers.
Her father Walter, was born in Manhattan, New York in 1914, one of three children. They moved to Alticane, Sask. where they pioneered, living in their newly built log home. An uncle farmed with them. Walter went on to become an auto mechanic in Brooksby, Sask. and after meeting Kay Loshny, they were married in November of 1942 at the Loshny Farm in Brooksby. Marilyn was born in Star City, Sask. and her first school was a one-room school in Gronlid. After the family moved to Melfort, she attended the Old Broadway School Annex until a New Brunswick School was completed. The family then moved to Saskatoon, and she attended Bedford Road Collegiate through graduation. After attending Saskatoon Tech Collegiate, she obtained employment at Federated Co-op head office in Saskatoon, and attended night school, as well as taking a business course at the University of Saskatchewan. All this education paid off, as she was then given the opportunity to be transferred to Strathmore Co-op, where she worked as an accounting technician until their family started arriving.
Through friends in Saskatoon, she knew of Bonnie Risdon (Seitz), whom she found working at the Royal Bank in Strathmore, located in what is now the Standard Shoe Store building.
Through Bonnie, Marilyn met her husband-to-be Wayne Risdon, a farmer in the Cairnhill district south of town. They were married in 1968, and moved into a little old house located on their current property, where Wayne farmed with his father Ed. Six months later Ed was injured in a farm accident, and Wayne and Marilyn took over the farm. They have built up their farming operation to a well-known hay supplier and also have a few head of cattle. In 1973, they completed the building of their house, and soon after their daughter Tara (Innes) followed by Kelie (Risdon Hall) arrived. They now have four wonderful granddaughters.
Wayne has played hockey with the Royals, and served a few terms on the WID Board. Nowadays, he spends his occasional spare time restoring early two-cylinder John Deere tractors. Marilyn has been very involved with the Cairnhill Community Association, and will soon be the recipient of her 50-year recognition with Beta Sigma Phi Ladies Club. They are both involved with their family’s activities, and enjoy travelling as time permits.
The main difference that affected their lives, was the paving of Hwy 817. It used to be a rough gravel and dirt road, and is now a main artery. The town population has grown from 1,500 in 1968, to over 13,000 in 2016.