MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Antonio (Tony) Pavan was born on September 20, 1896
The newly married couple moved to Wigan in 1919
To accommodate their customers, the Pavans sent
For some reason the delivery horses, Bill
In summer, when the mine was idle and there
Mr. Pavan was a Councillor for the Village of
Mr and Mrs. Pavan operated their store until 1938
The Pavans loved their home on Main Street (where
Mr. Pavan died in March of 1957.
in Breda di Piave, Treviso, Italy, and came to Canada
in 1914. He settled in Lethbridge where he worked as
a boiler washer at the #3 mine and as a part time
waiter at the Silver Grill (which was located in the
Woodward's comer of 4th Avenue and 5th Street).
Isabella (Tokar) Pavan, born February 8, 1896 in
Komena, Bucovina, Cemanvitz, Romania (at that
time part of Austria), came to Canada in 1912 when
she was 16 years of age all by herself. Initially she
lived with a brother in Winnipeg before travelling
by train to Lethbridge to live with a brother here.
She worked as a waitress at the White Lunch
Restaurant (where Capital Furniture now stands).
The Pavans were married at St. Patrick's Church
on May 28, 1919.
and ran a small store there. Then in 1920, they
moved to Coalhurst and built a General Store
(groceries, dry goods and meat market) on Main
Street. The store was open miner's hours: 9 to 6
every day except 9 to I on Wednesdays and 9 to 9
on Saturdays. They also had an abattoir located on
their small farm I mile east and 1/2 mile north of
Coalhurst. It was here, on Wednesday afternoons,
that Mr. Pavan did all of his own slaughtering and
butchering.
out grocery deliveries twice daily and once on
Wednesdays. Some of the drivers that made
the trips were Bill and Nick Myckityck, George
Tokar, Steve and Matt Swedish, Pete Smith,
Davie Adamson and Bill Mogus. Inez (Cattoi)
Baker also worked for Pavans - Mr. Pavan
taught her the trade and she was an excellent
butcher.
and Barney, were often tired on Monday
mornings. Johnny Walker now reveals the
reason for this. It seems that the horses
were pastured near Pavan's slaughter house
and it was considered great Sunday afternoon
sport for "the gang" to ride Bill and Barney all
around the fields!
were no pay checks coming in, Pavans gave
credit to the miners and farmers until they
started to work again . They also took meat,
eggs, butter and vegetables in trade for groceries.
Tony always had his pockets full of candy which
he generously passed out to all the children.
However, not all of the kids wanted candy.
One day Harry Gordon went into Pavan's
store for groceries. No one was around at
the time so Harry decided to help himself to
a delicious green onion. When Mr. Pavan
came to serve Harry, he said nothing and
gave him his order. On pay day, when the
miners came in to pay their bills, they were
always given some candy for their children.
When Mr. Gordon paid his bill, he got candy
for the kids, but Mr. Pavan also gave him a nice
green onion especially for Harry, "since he
knew how much Harry liked them"!
Coalhurst, served on the board of trustees of
the Lethbridge School Division, and as
chairman of the West Lethbridge Committee
in the Community and War Services Drive.
He was a member of the Elks and Lions Clubs,
and a founding member of the Italian-Canadian
Club. The Pavans were active members of St.
Joseph's Parish.
when, because of a heart condition, Mr. Pavan
was forced to retire. The store was sold to Mr.
Sabey from Magrath. The Pavans stayed in
Coalhurst for another ten years.
the school yard is now), and kept a beautiful garden
and yard. When they moved to Lethbridge, they
brought their love and skill of gardening to the
yards and boulevards of their new home on
6th Avenue South. Their house in Coalhurst was
moved to Barons, where it still stands today.
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