Family Stories and

Anecdotes

Marcheta - Anecdote about Dad

When I was a child, and even today, and I'm going to be 82 in January (2026), I've always been very sensitive, very intuitive, very, one that's always been very understanding and caring. And I remember even as a little girl, I, you know, I loved both my parents very, very much. I remember being about 8 and worrying that what would happen to me if I lost my parents, because we were, of course, in Calgary, Alberta, and we had been there since I was 2 1/2, almost three. And I was worried when I was about 8. I kept thinking about this, what would happen to me, because we had left family behind in Toronto especially, and of course in Kingston and Montreal. And so I was so thankful that I was blessed with having my parents until I lost my dad when I was about 28. And I remember when I was about 5, my dad coming home from work with his old car in those days, that would have been about 1940, 49. And he worked out of town a lot. And I remember when he got out of his car, I ran to him and he bent down to pick me up as I jumped up to give him a hug. And we collided and his glasses fell to the ground. And to this day, and that day, I remember being so aware, so understanding that, we didn't have a lot of money. And my dad, our dad, needed glasses for his work and to drive. And so I was very sensitive about things like that growing up.

Marcheta - Fraser Brown Came to

Calgary

I remember Fraser coming to Calgary One of the times that he came, the first time he came, well, it wasn't Calgary. He came as far as Banff with his wife, Babs, and I believe their daughter, Kacy, at the time. And he didn't think Calgary was so close, so he didn't come to see us. But the second time when he was competing in barbershop quartet contests, It was a big affair in Calgary. He was coming for that specifically, along with other barber shoppers from all over, probably all over the world. But anyway, he came up from Arizona. And so it just so happened that Mom, his Auntie May, left the day before to go down east. I think she was visiting my brother, John, and his first wife at the time. And so I did take them, though. They were to mom's house, mom's little house in Killarney, to show them where mom lived. They were staying in a hotel, of course, that was arranged by the barber shoppers for them. But I was with Bronco at the time, and not with my first husband. And Branco and I took them around Calgary and BioCanada Olympic Park and that. And the next day, it was planned that we would all go to Heritage Park. So it was just so nice because Jeannine was still at home at the time and she was, I'm thinking she was maybe, I don't know, 11 maybe. And Kacy was a year or two older. Kacy was my cousin Fraser and his wife Bab's daughter, their only child, I believe. And Kacy was about a year or two older than Janine. But they hit it off and we went to Heritage Park and went all over. And that was a really great time to have them because I never saw him since. And he was, like I said before, he was just a little younger than myself. Anyway, okay, I guess that's all I have to say. it was nice seeing him and now the years have passed and we haven't been able to get a hold of even Babs or Kacy. I've tried myself and I know John and I have tried.

The Piano

John - We had this gorgeous Mason & Risch piano that Mom and Dad bought for Marcheta. Unfortunately, when Mom and I moved out of the house after Dad died, we couldn’t take it with us to the apartment so we sold it to the landlord for 3 months rent. He got a great deal. The sound was fanstastic. I first started taking playing piano lessons at Killarney School in grade 2, I believe, with Mr. Peters. The lessons were in the evening, so I had to walk down to the school from our place on 36th Steet. We didn’t have the piano yet, so I practised on a foldout cardboard piano. Later on, I took lessons from Joyce Hackett until I gave up when she made me keep playing Largo one week too many.

Marcheta - to write something about the piano and

maybe her lessons.

John - Current piano

Much later, in Montreal, I wanted a piano and purchased a used one. If I recall correctly, Suzanne’s guitar teacher put me in touch with a potential teacher and I told her about the new piano. She checked with her husband and he said to send it back as it was not a good one. I did so. The husband would look for a suitable piano. He found an old Huntington in need of maintenance and I purchased it. It’s big and heavy and the movers managed to get it in the basement - after removing the previous one. The husband took out the hammerboard and redid the hammers. He gave me instructions on cleaning and adjusting the touch of the keys so that there was no slack in pressing the keys to when the hammer started moving. He gave me a special shellac that I applied to the back of the piano after cleaning it. The result was excellent with a rich sound. I still have the piano but, unfortunately, in can’t be tuned properly anymore as the sound board will give out, or something. So, I took lessons from the woman, whose name escapes me, for a couple of years. Much later, after moving in with Nathalie, I took lessons for a few years with Richard Coursol. I still play, but don’t practice much.

Story about Mom and Auntie Emma by Marcheta

When Mom was 16, Auntie Emma hauled her down to work at Noma Electric to do soldering. She became adept at wiring lamps. Her boss was a Mr. Zel. She always thought that maybe that’s where Zeller’s name came from. But who knows? The working conditions were poor. There was a washroom with a curtain for the door. Granny, Mary Helen O’Neil, worked for Mecca Ointment company. (John - saw this when I was in Toronto in 1957). Granny also had worked as a waitress at a hotel. It could have been Auntie Bella. She said to not order soup because there were cockroaches, probably in the soup. Marcheta - to relate stories about Dad and his travels as an itinerant book-keeper. John - to relate story about going to the Cleveland’s farm (Lana Cleveland) with Dad, and coming home on the Dayliner alone. I was about 9. Marcheta - Megly’s Farm, outside of Trochu, 5 years old. Marcheta - Dad as policeman, that”s why he had a revolver. He patrolled the streets in downtown Toronto. He couldn’t sign up for the military because he had polio, which affected his feet. When he was 12, he was in a wheelchair. At that time, polio was called infantile paralysis. - When I was a child, I picked up Dad’s revolver… - Hardware store burned… - Jaquish - lived on 6th St. story… - Marcheta at 2 - at Uncle Jim’s place, remembers Browns gathered in the living room. Had excema, and Mom put a black ointment all over my face.