Henry Derksen was born in 1925 in Newton Siding, Manitoba.
My parents were Henry Derksen born in Blumstein, Molotschna Colony, Russia in 1896, and Mary Wiens, born in Schönfeld, Russia in 1900. My parents were married in 1923 and came to Manitoba, Canada in 1924. Shortly after my birth, my parents and I moved from Manitoba to Elmira, Ontario. Dad got greenhouse work there for $20 weekly.
My first memory is of getting a doll from Grandma Wiens for Christmas. I didn’t like dolls so I took it to the outhouse and threw it down the hole.
When I was about five years old we moved to Ruthven, Ontario, near where the walking trail is in 2008. Mom and Dad and I lived in one house with Grandpa and Grandma Wiens, Great Grandmother Margaret Friesen, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Margaret, Aunt Anna (Annuschka) and Uncle Jake Wiens. We first sharecropped tobacco and later tomatoes. When my sister Edith was born there in 1929, Dr. Reid was paid 13 chickens for the delivery. The Reverend N.N. Driedger family lived there later. The house is still standing in 2008.
Dad, and others, took eggs and cream to the Ruthven store in trade for groceries. One day when Dad came in, the store keeper was laughing. Apparently a woman had come into the Ruthven store with a problem. She had set her cream in the basement and planned to make butter from it in the morning. During the night, a rat had fallen into the cream and drowned. She couldn’t bring herself to eat the butter made from that cream: would the storekeeper trade her some of his butter for hers? No problem. The storekeeper took her butter to the back room, changed the wrapper, and gave it back to her!
Our next move took us to Sunnybrook farm, north of Leamington, near where Edsel Hope later had a shop. Here we lived with Grandpa and Grandma Wiens. I went to Mount Carmel School on concession five. The school had two rooms and no electricity. There were no Mennonite children in my class; my teacher was Miss Scratch.
In 1931 we moved to Art Brown’s farm on Talbot Street West of Leamington. This house was later moved away and the Leamington Hospital was built there in 1950. We sharecropped tobacco and tomatoes. Art Brown also owned Brown’s Hotel at the corner of Princess and Talbot Streets where the empty lot is in 2008. During the winter months, Dad worked at the Imperial Tobacco factory on Oak Street where he earned $11 weekly. I attended Selkirk School with Rudy, Frank, John and Betty Bartel, Jake Dick (William’s son) and Peter and Nick Hamm. All Mennonite families were sharecroppers at that time.
In the early 1930s, our family rented a farm on concession four near the Albuna Townline. W.L. Clark owned it. My parents paid $150 a year in rent for the house and 21 acres. In 1936 my parents bought this farm. Here I attended SS #19 on the corner of concession six and the Albuna Townline. My teacher was Mr. Carder. It was a one-room school then with about 60 students. I had a two mile walk to school. When I got a bicycle, I gave sister Edith a ride to school each day. No one from my grade eight class went on to high school.
Norm Simpson installed electricity in our house on concession four in 1940. The bill was $45. My parents bought their first radio in 1942. When I was 14 years old, I got a job at neighbour Zundel’s. I helped unload their tobacco every morning. I worked from 4 a.m. until 6 a.m., my pay was 25 cents daily, and I could keep the money!
My first German School teacher was Isbrand Krueger. The church choir directors were Anna Hildebrand, then John Enns and Henry Krueger. Our church youth leader was Peter Epp who planned a trip to Pelee Island with the Leamington young people. I met my future wife, Liz Heinrichs, on that trip in 1946. Henry Epp, Anita’s brother, who lived on concession seven, got sick on the boat ride over. We toured the Island on the back of Jake Gossen’s truck. We brought our lunches with us and visited the flat rock area and other places there.
Liz and I were married in 1950 by Rev. N. N. Driedger in the Mennonite church on Oak Street of Leamington. The wedding invitation was handed around from house to house. The choir sang. The wedding meals at the time consisted of sandwiches and baked goods in the church basement. We drove to Florida for a two-week honeymoon; it cost us a total of $200, which was all we had.
We fixed up my parents garage on concession four and lived there for three years. Then we bought a farm on concession two in 1953 from Alf Wilson. Brackenbury’s lived next door. We grew greenhouse tomatoes, cabbage and lettuce. More greenhouses were built later.
Liz and I had two daughters and one son; our family did much travelling. We went to British Columbia, California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Florida and other places for one month annually. In August of 1969 we bought our own tent trailer.
In 1998 Liz and I moved to Alderton Street and in 2003 our daughter Judy died in a traffic accident. In 2006 we moved to Pickwick Drive in Leamington. Today we have two children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
AK 2008
