MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Alex Veres left his native Hungary in 1924, leaving his family to
In July, 1926 my mother and I joined him in Coalhurst. My
As their family increased in size, they bought a home and
After the mine explosion in 1935, most of the residents of the
During the depression he and Marv raised practically all their
I have vivid recollections of the coal mine explosion in December
I remember the shaft being closed, and gradually the structures
Our family consisted of eight children; four boys and four girls.
Mrs. Mary Veres died in 1968, and Alex passed away in 1977.
join him after he had established a home for them in Canada.
He settled in Saskatchewan for a while, working as a farm
laborer. With the aid of a kind farmer, he struggled with the
new language. Apparently the whole family joined forces to
help him. Here he learned that there were coal mines in Alberta
that would afford him work for all seasons. Thus, he made
his way to Coalhurst in 1925.
mother set about creating a home for us, in a land that was
so different from the one she had left. Not only were customs
different, but she was among a mixture of many nationalities.
dreamed of someday being able to own a farm. However, this
did not prove to be possible, as the depression made it difficult
to support a large family, and to save money for such an investment.
They stressed work and education to all their children. They felt
this was the only way to progress and success in their new
homeland.
company owned houses moved to other areas. Alex saw his
opportunity to own some land, as the homes were sold and
moved to other locations. He purchased the land which included
the huge slag pile - a Coalhurst landmark-. He laboriously filled
the cellar holes, levelled off the land, and prepared it for planting
grain. This did not prove to be very worthwhile, and so he
turned it into grazing land. He tried small scale farming. He
continued living in Coalhurst, and working at Shaughnessy and
No. 8 mine. until he retired.
own food in such abundance. then were able to give away
their surplus. I remember canning vegetables, curing meats
and sausages. and having a cellar filled with supplies for the
winter. He created his own root cellar, and here they stored
their potatoes and other root vegetables. They were capable
of surviving and feeding their growing family during these lean
years.
1935. For the first time in my life, I came home to an empty
house. My mother had gathered her little ones, and had
joined other families awaiting news of the conditions in the mine.
We did not learn until early morning that many families were
left fatherless. I remember my parents being impressed by the
support and contributions that came to our small village to
assist these unfortunate families.
were removed, and after a few years most of the traces of the
mine were gone. I remember our small community hospital,
where Dr. W. W. Inkrote and his wife took care of our community.
Margaret (now deceased), worked in Calgary prior to her
marriage. Joe (now deceased) managed Canadian Freightways
in Lethbridge.
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