AHOF Members archive

Frances Gwendolyn (Gwen) Parker and her twin brother, Hartley were born in 1927 to Tom and Nellie Wilson on their farm northeast of Deloraine. Her education to Grade 8 was obtained in a one-room country school and Grade 9 by correspondence courses. She continued her education in Winnipeg, graduating from Grade 12 at Kelvin High School in 1944. She received her Bachelor of Science (H.Ec.) degree in 1948 from the Faculty of Agriculture and Home Economics at the University of Manitoba. Her first job was as an Extension Home Economist with the Ontario Department of Agriculture. This began a lifelong career of working with women and their families. Gwen married Lorne Parker of Sanford in 1949. They moved to the...

The walls of Mr. James Parker’s study are lined with awards, plaques and certificates. There is a bookshelf of literary material of different topics, and photographs in great abundance. This may not seem too strange, until you know that he never received any formal schooling in his entire life. Nevertheless, he has made significant contributions to science and community. Mr. Parker proves that the way to learn history is not only from a book. He has experienced history in the making, and vividly remembers the sights and sounds of the earlier days: the building of the railway between Gilbert Plains and Grandview, the first car a 1917 Model T, the Depression of the 1930s, and even the quota problems of...

Robert (Bob) Gilmore Roehle grew up on a grain and dairy farm at Blackdale, Manitoba. Following his education at Irwinton, West St. Paul and Stonewall Collegiate, he attended the University of Manitoba where he earned a BSA in 1968 and a MSc. in Agricultural Economics in 1971. In 1968, he married Judith McKillop, a business education teacher; she has been his constant support and advisor. They raised their children, Candace and Kenton, in St Norbert where they have resided since 1971. They have five grandchildren. Bob worked for the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) in market analysis and development and public relations for 29 years, including two years in Japan developing Asian markets. He was seconded to the Grain Marketing Office...

The youngest of eight children, Roslyn Morris Deveson was born in Neepawa, Manitoba, on February 1, 1933. He was raised on a mixed farm at Arden and attended Inkerman elementary school. Following high school in Neepawa, Morris attended the University of Manitoba from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) in 1956. In 1958 he married Joyce Adams, with whom he raised three children: a daughter, Arlie, who became a nurse like her mother, and two sons, Grant and Ross, both of whom have BSAs, like their father, from the University of Manitoba. Morris and Joyce have three granddaughters and one grandson. Morris’ involvement in 4-H as a youth was the beginning of his life-long appreciation...