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It worked! Thank you Lucille (Hurlen) and Jenise for sharing past information with your mothers. Correspondence from Marg and Rosa has been helpful. Thank you as well to Rose, Pam and Don (Murray) for your remarks.
Don wondered about the present source of water to the house at the farm. Reg and Nick confirmed that a pipe buried a few feet north from the house and directed westward to the new well at the shed near the barn, brings in the water. That would mean that the line leading from the old well to the house (where John was partially buried by caving sand during the digging) is not being used and the old well is retired.
In this installment I will quote part of Marg’s letter (re #2 issue on the ‘Bidulock Name Change’).
Quote from Marg’s letter:
“I have Dan’s birth certificate and Change of Name act documents.
Birth Certificate:
Name of child – Dmetro Biduliak
25th October – 1918
Ispas, Alberta
Change of Name:
Dmetro Biduliak known
Dmetro Biduleak
Changed to:
Daniel Albert Bidulock (October 31, 1945)
Daniel got his discharge from the RCAF on July 11, 1945 (before his name change)”.
The name ‘Dmetro’ sounds a bit Greek. I think it is the Romanian version of the more common name, Metro. I like it! Except for the occasional time (when Mother was in the ‘Romanian mode’) we always called him Dan.
Over the years Rosa and I have been exchanging family history and upgrading records of births, marriages and deaths. In a recent telephone conversation she mentioned information that she received from my cousin Pearl (Cucheran) Maxnuik in the 1970s. I was surprised that Rosa knew my cousin. She could not remember how they met but I believe it may have been when Pearl came to Alberta to be present at Maria’s (my mother’s) funeral.
Pearl Maxnuik’s mother, Helen, and Maria were sisters. She married Mike Cucheran and resided north of the river (in Glendon, I think). However because of Helen’s poor health the family moved to Vernon hoping that the warmer climate would help. At that time Pearl was a little girl.
Aunt Helen battled with tuberculosis and lost. At that time her daughter Pearl was only a teenager.
More than twenty years later I saw my cousin again. Now an adult, she traveled to Ontario to work; helping to produce goods for the war effort. After the war ended she informed us that on her way back to Vernon, she would change trains in Edmonton and wished to see her aunt (Maria). She had not seen her for many years. We met with her in Edmonton. At one point in our conversation she turned to my mother and asked, “Aunt Mary, why did all my brothers and sisters die?” My eyes misted as I heard my mother tell her that some of her siblings died in childbirth, some of unknown causes when infants and others of diseases. I think the family totaled eight children and Pearl was the only survivor.
After her return to Vernon Pearl married Paul Maxnuik and they had three sons.
In 1978 when Pearl came to Alberta, she asked Steve to take her to the graves of her siblings. I went along. As I recall, Steve drove north of the Desjarlais Ferry. We walked through woods and came to an area that hardly resembled a cemetery. Remnants of wooden crosses were discovered among tall grasses and lofty trees. Names on the crosses were not discernable. Although it was sad that the burial spot was forgotten, it felt wonderfully peaceful in the natural setting.
Pearl was a beautiful person. She welcomed our rare visits with open arms. We were her family. She and I exchanged annual Christmas greetings until a few years ago when she succumbed to heart problems. She lived beyond her 80th birthday.
I think that some of the family history that she imparted to Rosa may have come from Harry Nikiforuk, a cousin to Maria, Helen and their three brothers, John, Nick and George Seminovich. Harry’s life was a most unusual one. God willing, information on his family and several others of Maria’s cousins will come in the next installment.
God bless. All my love. - Pearl
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