Showing 987 results

Bill Largent lived from 1920 to 1951 in the Yellowknife and Hay River area. Bill's parents were Charles Largent and Estelle [maiden name unknown]. In the summer, they travelled north and traded furs. In winter, they ran a trading post, the location of which is unknown to the donor.

Growing up in the north, Bill learned to speak a multitude of Aboriginal and Inuit languages, and often assisted the RCMP with translations. As a teenager he had his own dog team and worked a trap line. As an adult, he owned and operated a gravel truck out of Hay River. Here he met his wife, Judy Rabchak Geyer. In 1951, Bill and Judy sold the gravel truck and moved to Vancouver Island to be closer to family. They visited Yellowknife again in 1970, but resided in British Columbia for the rest of their days. Bill passed away in Nanaimo on July 25th, 1981.

Mr. Laycock was born in Ponoka, Alberta on September 5, 1928. After he graduated high school he spent 10 years as an employee of Chevron Standard Limited. In 1956 he formed his own company, Pawnee Petroleum Ltd. In the early 1960s he established Calgary Exploration Services (Calex) with his wife Georgina Laycock and his business partner Ronald Schmitke. In the winter of 1962/63, under contract with Canadian National Telecommunications, Calex cleared a right-of-way for a telegraph line along the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Inuvik. During the winter of 1963/64, Calex again used the right-of-way constructed the previous year to push through the first winter road from Fort Providence to Inuvik. This road was operated as a toll road by Calex. Calex continued to operate winter roads until Mr. Laycock's death in December 1969.

Miriam Leith was employed as Supervisor of Home Management Programs in the Keewatin between 1960s-1970s. In the 1960s, she worked for the federal government delivering home economic courses in the eastern arctic. In 1967, she was hired by the Northern Administration Branch to work in their Adult Education Housing Education Program. Following the construction of new houses, Miriam Leith worked in Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay) assisting the local Inuit to learn new home making skills such as house cleaning, cooking with electric appliances, and sewing skills. She also counselled them on dietary needs and how to shop for food.

Ms. Leith died in [1974-1975].

Chester John Lengyel was born November 27, 1923, in Lethbridge, Alberta, to James Lengyel and Bertha Lengyel (nee Horvath). Lengyel had five sisters and six brothers: Bertha, Margaret, Anne (Annie), Katie, Helen, Jim, John, Joe, George, Bill, and Andrew (Andy). He married Eva Bertha Taylor (October 15, 1915 – August 4, 1978). He later married Evelyn McCallum. Chester Lengyel had at least one daughter, Pam.

In the mid- to late 1940s, Chester worked with his older brother John J Lengyel on the construction of the tugboat ‘Thunder River’ in Edmonton. He probably also worked on the boat transporting items salvaged from the Canol Project, likely in the summer of 1949.

Chester also lived and worked in Hay River for several years, where he started and ran the Hay River Telephone Service. This began with the purchase of Horace Argue’s expediting business with Lengyel’s first partner Emil Krysco (until 1953) and continued with William Napier until the Hay River Telephone Service was purchased by Canadian National Telecommunications (CNT) in 1961.

Lengyel moved south and settled on Salt Spring Island, BC, where he ran a mink farm.

Chester Lengyel died August 9, 1996, on Salt Spring Island, BC.

John J Lengyel was born on September 13, 1911, in Naugatuck, Connecticut, to James Lengyel and Bertha Lengyel (nee Horvath). In 1913, the family moved to Lethbridge, Alberta. Lengyel had five sisters and six brothers: Bertha, Margaret, Anne (Annie), Katie, Helen, Jim, Joe, George, Bill, Chester, and Andrew (Andy).

In 1938, Lengyel moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and married Ellen Martin. They had two children: Joan (b. 1942) and J. George Lengyel (1943-1960).

Lengyel was a “Jack of all trades” and worked many different jobs over the years, including as a butcher, roofer, and siding installer.

In the mid- to late 1940s, Lengyel worked as a fisherman for the first commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake. During the same period, Lengyel and some friends, including his brother Chester, “wanted a challenge” and they built the tugboat ‘Thunder River’ in Edmonton, then travelled north on the boat. Lengyel worked on the boat transporting items salvaged from the Canol Project, likely in the summer of 1949.

In 1951, John J Lengyel and his family moved to Stavely, Alberta, and settled on a farm East of Stavely.

John J Lengyel died June 11, 1976.

Sam Lennie was born on August 29, 1928 at Horton River, NT and Margaret Lennie was born on November 25, 1930 at Coppermine (Kugluktuk), NT. They currently reside in Inuvik, NT.

John K. Leslie worked at the Tuktoyaktuk DEW Line site as civilian personnel from 1958 to 1961.

Echo Lidster was born in 1916 in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1942, she graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in Agriculture. From 1942 until 1957, she worked for the federal Department of Agriculture in British Columbia. In 1957, she attended Cornell University and obtained an M.A. in Community Education and Sociology. She was awarded a Ph.D. in Adult Education in 1963. In August 1967, the Federal Government, with funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC), appointed Miss Lidster as their Housing Education Officer for the Western Arctic. Her duties entailed locating and training indigenous northerners to deliver federally designed programmes to people in the communities. These programmes related to the building of southern-style housing in the north, the upkeep and maintenance of the housing and domestic programmes designed to improve health and personal hygiene. From 1967 until 1970, Miss Lidster lived in Hay River. In 1970, she was promoted and given responsibility for delivering the Housing Education Programme throughout the Northwest Territories. In 1971, the grant from CMHC ran out; Miss Lidster was appointed Supervisor of Adult Education Programmes in the Northwest Territories and was given the responsibility for developing Adult Education Programmes in the north. Her duties entailed establishing community colleges, developing adult literacy programmes and hiring instructors to teach in the communities. She wrote a number of reports on adult education in the north and published a report "Some Aspects of Community Adult Education 1967-1985." In 1975, Miss Lidster left the north for an extended vacation. In 1976, she returned to Hay River where she worked as an Adult Educator until 1980. While living in Hay River, she was very active in community activities and helped establish the first community radio station there. In 1980, she moved to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory where she worked as an Adult Educator until 1981, at which point she retired and moved to Vancouver.

Ole Lindberg moved to Canada from Sweden in 1910 and traveled west across Canada by working on the railway. He moved north from Edmonton in search of gold. Ole met Anna in 1921 and spent one winter living with her family. Eventually Ole and Anna married and had four children. Ole did some prospecting with men such as Dick Turner and Albert Faille, however he was primarily a trapper. In the 1940s, Ole began operating a barge to haul freight on the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers. Edwin Lindberg was born on June 16, 1929 near Blackstone. The family was forced to leave the Nahanni region in 1950 because of the tuberculosis epidemic. Ole and one of Edwin's brothers died during the epidemic and Edwin spent eight years in hospital in Edmonton. Following his release from hospital Edwin worked briefly at a power plant in Fort Simpson. He soon left that job and returned to the work of hauling freight on the Mackenzie River. In 1963, Edwin married Susan, a nurse in Fort Simpson and they lived on a tugboat until 1970. Edwin continued to run the freight business until 1978, when he and Susan returned to the Liard River and Nahanni Butte region. They were visited by many people and decided to turn their home into a lodge for tourists.

In October of 1966 Terrence (Terry) Lines moved his family from Athabasca, Alberta to Yellowknife to begin work with the Territorial Government as a Game Officer with the Fish and Wildlife Service. His office was in Old Town. He was also involved with the Young Campers Association and taught youth how to set traps, set camps and construct shelters in the wilderness.

In 1968 Terry Lines was sent to Hay River with his family to perform Game Officer duties. He was employed here for only one year.

In 1969 Terry Lines was promoted to Region Superintendent of Fish and Widlife and moved his family to Fort Smith. During this time he was responsible for the high Arctic area. Terry flew up to the northern communities on a regular basis and enjoyed the time spent interacting with the Inuit culture and their way of life.

During Terry's seven years in Fort Smith he received many awared and plaques from the Government, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the RCMP for his services. He retired in the autumn of 1976 at the age of 47.

Edward Lloyd was born in 1874 in Kenley England. He grew up at Bosherston and educated at Bedford. In 1897, he left a job in England to live in Canada. He travelled extensively across the country including a trip (ca. 1897-1899) from Edmonton, to Hay River via the Peace and Hay Rivers, down the Mackenzie River through communities such as Wrigley and Fort Good Hope to Fort McPherson, across the Yukon to Old Crow and on to Alaska. He eventually settled at Courtney, B.C. He was married and had at least one son. Edward Lloyd died in 1956.

Paul Lloyd was born in England on July 28, 1886, and came to Canada in 1906. He homesteaded near Vermilion, Alberta until 1929 when he became a homestead inspector, tax collector, and assessor for Provincial Municipal Affairs in Edmonton. Upon receiving a request for a 'loan' of an assessor, Mr. Lloyd travelled to the Northwest Territories in 1949, to assess property in Yellowknife.

E.T. “Ted” Lonergan and his wife Vera arrived in Yellowknife from Box Mine in Goldfields, Saskatchewan. Prior to working at Box Mine, Ted worked in the oil sands. He was a carpenter by trade and had his own construction company. In Yellowknife, he was a miner and shift worker at Con Mine.

The Lonergans remained in Yellowknife until 1943, when Ted joined the Royal Canadian Navy. After the war, he returned to Yellowknife and went to work at Giant Mine. He left Yellowknife in the early 1950s.

In the mid-1980s, he was living in Vancouver and working as a Project Supervisor and Coordinator at Placer Development Limited.

Laura (McLeod) Loutitt was born March 2, 1904 in Fort Nelson. She was the oldest child to parents Fred and Margaret (Firth) McLeod, and the oldest of 12 siblings. She attended the Hay River Anglican Mission for 8 years before moving briefly to Fort Providence, and then to Fort Smith for work. She married Colin Loutitt of Fort Chipewyan on September 26, 1926, with whom she had 10 children: Elmer, Ernest (Ernie), Mavis, Shirley, John, Sandy, Freddy, Roy, Allan, and Jack.

In her earlier years, she worked aboard the HBC ship Distributor. Upon her marriage in 1926, she moved to Fort Chipewyan for four years, before returning to Fort Smith in 1930. She worked as cook for the NTCL Company, working seasonally aboard the boats for about 10 years, including the Radium King, Porphyry, Diesel 8, and the Richard E. She also worked for the RCMP as cook for 31 years overall, beginning early in her career, and then resuming again in 1960 for 17 years. In between, she cooked for pilots and passengers for the PWA.

Loutitt raised her children in between and during these jobs. In the off season, she worked as cook at local hotels, and later running her own café. She died in May 1990.