AHOF Members archive

Ralph Jacob (Clint) Whetter was born June 20, 1919, in the R.M. of Winchester. He attended both public and high school in Dand. In 1938, Clint enrolled in Agriculture at the University of Manitoba. In 1942, following graduation, he enlisted and went overseas with the RCAF. In 1945, after flying 55 bombing missions, Clint returned home to Manitoba. Later that year he married Dorothy Keeler. Together they raised four children: Dale, Glen, Ellen and Bernie. The Whetter home, yard and farming operation reflected Clint’s progressive agricultural practices. He was particularly proud of, and known for, his excellent herd of purebred Herefords. Clint’s interest in researching and adopting new farming methods resulted in the Whetter farm always being on the forefront...

In 1892, a young woman in her early 20s, Mary Jane (Jennie) Watt, came west from Woodstock, Ontario, with her husband, David Watt, to settle on a farm eight miles from Birtle. Those who write of Watt tell of her courage, her loyalty, her gracious personality and of her record of devoted public service which places her among Canada’s most distinguished pioneer citizens. Watt was most active in the Women’s Institute movement. Started in 1910 as “Home Economics Societies” these groups were designed to act as channels through which the Agricultural College might reach the women of the province with lectures on various phases of homemaking. Birtle was one of the first to organize in 1910 with Watt as secretary....

Mr. and Mrs. Theodosy Wachna immigrated to Canada from Western Ukraine near the turn of the century. After settling on homesteads in the Stuartburn area, they met and married in the fall of 1897. Theodosy had learned English and was thus chosen by immigration officials to help 30 new immigrant families homestead there. This responsibility for the welfare of others became an outstanding feature of his life’s work. By 1898, with his assistance, a viable community of over 500 people lived in the vicinity. Mrs. Wachna was a remarkable asset to her family and friends. She had helped her father with the task of “homesteading” and after her marriage, she worked alongside her husband in order to make the farm...

Albert Vielfaure, the eldest of nine children, was born in La Broquerie, Manitoba on April 6, 1923. He attended primary school locally and completed grade eleven at the village school. He married Solange Desrosiers in 1951 and they have two daughters and three sons. After leaving school Albert went to work on the family farm. With his brother Aime, they took over management of the farm after the death of their father and operated it until 1946. The brothers bought La Broquerie Transfer in 1946. They hauled milk in cans to Winnipeg, brought back freight for merchants and area farmers, and hauled livestock, hay and wood. After selling the trucking business, Albert returned to farming with his brother raising dairy...

William (Bill) Vaags was born in 1934 in the Netherlands and came to Canada with his family in 1948. Bill started his lifelong commitment to agriculture when his parents rented a dairy farm near Dugald. In 1959, Bill and his wife Bertha started their own dairy, switching to hog production in 1961. In 1974, the family took over a 300-sow farrow-to-finish operation, doubling its size within five years. Bill was a leader in the use of artificial insemination and environmentally sustainable farming practices. Bill has been a director of Manitoba Pork since 1974, and served as chairman from 1979 to 1989. He served as a director of the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) from 1981 until 2005. While president, he was...

Ed Tyrchniewicz was born on January 20, 1941, and grew up on a farm at Prairie Grove, just outside of Winnipeg. He attended a one-room, one-teacher school up to grade eight. Following high school at Provencher Collegiate in St. Boniface, Ed attended the University of Manitoba from which he obtained a degree in agricultural economics in 1962. Ed’s love of agriculture and his interest in policy was stimulated by professors such as Clay Gilson and Art Wood. This led him to pursue post graduate training in agricultural economics at Purdue University. Here he was given both the Outstanding MSc Thesis Award and the Outstanding PhD Thesis Award by the American Agricultural Economics Association in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Ed’s career...

Yoshikazu (Joe) Tsukamoto was born on September 12, 1925, in New Westminster, British Columbia. He attended school in Japan, graduating from Nagahama Agricultural School. Returning to Canada in 1941, Joe, as a Japanese-Canadian, lost his freedom through internment. He spent the war years working in the sugar beet fields of southern Alberta, growing richer in experience and stronger in determination. Following the war, he attended Olds School of Agriculture and Home Economics, graduating in 1949. He later attended McGill University where he received both his B.Sc. (1954) and M.Sc. (1962) degrees in Agriculture. Joe married Susan Hitchcock in 1963. They have a daughter, Suyoko. Joe’s career with Agriculture Canada commenced as a summer assistant at the Research Stations at Lacombe,...

Eric Thompson Trotter was born in Masham, Yorkshire, England in 1905 and emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1908 to a farm at Little Souris, Manitoba. In 1917 the family moved to a farm at Alonsa, Manitoba where Eric completed his schooling. He took the Diploma Course in Agriculture at the University of Manitoba from 1929-1931, graduating with the Governor General’s medal and the James D. MacGregor gold watch for highest grade in animal husbandry. Eric was employed as a division manager at the Selkirk Mental Hospital farm from 1932-1942. In 1938 he married Margaret Goodbrand, a psychiatric nurse at the hospital. They moved to Belmont, Manitoba in 1943 with their infant son, Brian. Annetta (Nelson) and Patricia (Austin)...