Emanuel Nordstrom

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106206356/emanuel-nordstrom

Part of Chapter 15 from the book - The Nordstrom Saga by Martin Nordstrom

Dad was born June 14, 1916 in Sprague, Manitoba. From birth to age 7 he lived in the homestead (formerly John Hebel property) and in their summer home on Reed River on Lake of the Woods. The family both farmed, cut wood for lumber and were commercial fishermen. After his mother's death when he was just about 8 years old he lived in Roseau, Minn. for several years with his uncle Pete Nelson, his mother's brother. These were very hard years for him, as they did not tell him his mother had passed until he was about 9. He was moved back to Sprague and lived with his Dad (Lars) and brother Louis. He continued in school and made many life long friends, most especially Albert Hanson and Chester Kittleson. Later in 1934 at age 18, he worked as a cook for the CPR in Reddit and Kenora, Ontario living with his brother Samuel. He became a pretty good cook. He loved hunting and fishing. After returning to Sprague, in the middle of the Great Depression times were very hard. Dad harvested a lot of "Government beef" over the course of several years and fed a lot of families and friends in Sprague, including a Forest Ranger who was ill and was suffering an iron deficiency. Dad faithfully delivered liver to the man's wife. She cooked the meat and he recovered. She never told him where the meat came from. He worked as a pipe fitter in the Red Lake Gold Mine during the construction of the mine. In 1941 he was part of a construction crew for the San Antonio Gold Mine in Bissett, Manitoba

The Canadian Forestry Corps Regimental Number H 94371 The Only Nordstrom to Serve in WWII

On the 6th of Jan. 1942, Dad, along with several friends, volunteered and joined the Canadian Army in Winnipeg. He achieved the rank of Private (Lance Corporal). Despite being an excellent marksman, his eyesight prevented him from becoming a front-line soldier and instead he found himself in the Canadian Forestry Corps, cutting large trees within sight of Balmoral Castle in Scotland. He was sent to England on a ship with 5000 other soldiers. He said that during the voyage many of the men were panicked by the possibility of being torpedoed by a German sub, some crying, others playing guitar and singing. Many were sea sick and the ship was a mess. Dad said he found a little spot on one of the decks that was clean and dry. He said he passed the time reading. He thought that as he had no control over the situation he was not going to worry about the "what ifs" of the circumstances. Needless to say, the ship arrived in England safety and without incident.

In camp, under the view of Balmoral, he quickly realized that eating Austrian mutton was going to get old fast. He noted that the fields were full of rabbits and deer. So he soon set up a system of snares on the paths and would set the snares down in the early mornings and then turn around and walk the other direction. After a rabbit was caught he would tip up that snare and go to the next. He said he usually had a couple of rabbits per trip and would sneak back into camp to his tent and cook rabbit for breakfast. He figured none of the officers would object after you invited them for some good food. He also shot a number of the Kings deer and would again invite his direct commanding officers to join his tent for the occasional deer steak supper.  He met and married a Scottish lady named Annie from Aberdeen on Dec. 10, 1943. When she refused to return to Canada with him the marriage was annulled. They lived at 128 West, North St. in Aberdeen, Scotland, less than a mile of the ocean. This happened to many soldiers.  At some point in his service overseas he was shovelling wood and coal into a big furnace / boiler when the Queen and her daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret stopped in on a unannounced tour. Dad said the Queen came over and commented on how hot that looked. When she bent over to look inside Dad stood in her way, briefly touching her arm and said that a back draft could happen anytime, and she could be in danger. She thanked him and continued the tour. Dad got in a bit of trouble but as the tour was unannounced, and he did protect the Queen, it was not reported.

Another incident occurred at the camp one of the commanding officers had a habit of putting people on report for guard duty issues. The soldiers were getting very angry but could not do anything about it. One of the soldier said he would take care of the situation. So, he volunteered for guard duty and when the officer showing up he said halt 3 times and when the officer took another step he shot him dead. When asked about what happened the camp commander asked him if he said halt 3 times, he said yes and was cleared. The soldier in question explained later to some of the other friend including dad that he did say halt 3 times, but not halt, halt, halt as they were trained to do. He said that SOB would never put anybody on report again.

Camp was a challenge and soon the war came to an end.

Back Home On Sept. 7, 1945, Dad returned to civilian life and came home to Sprague. He lived with his father and brother at Louis's home (John Hebel quarter) and worked in lumber camps around the area. He had a lot of trouble trying to get over his Scottish wife not coming over to Canada and alcohol got the better of him for a while.

In 1951, he met Elizabeth Praymayer (Major) at a dance in Sprague. They were not able to marry but lived together starting in 1952, along with Ed, Shirley and John. I (Martin) was born in 1956.

They leased the Hanson farm east of Sprague and farmed, trapped and planted huge gardens. Their neighbour was Mr. And Mrs. John Kettilson, the father of dad's good friend Chester. They became close friend and I have good memories of life on the Hanson farm and Grandpa and Grandma Kettilson next door.

INVENTIONS:

The Hay Loader

Dad was an inventive man and one of the machines he built was a hay bale loader. He used an electric motor; a bicycle wheel and a square chain drive from an old potato digger. He made wooden blocks to hold the bale as it went up the 20-foot conveyor. I remember dad trying to get the speed just right and the conveyor throwing a bale about 10 into the hayloft in the Hanson barn. When he got it set I remember getting a ride into the loft on top of and bale and Johnny and Ed helping me off at the top. I was 5. I do not know where he got the idea but that loader on wheels went everywhere.

The Water Pump

Another invention was a well pump using a bicycle wheel, an old washing machine engine and a wooden rod bolted to the end of the pump handle and the other end to the bicycle wheel. When the wheel turned the rod would move the pump handle up and down and you could have it do the work for watering the cattle or for the home. Dad assembled several of these water pumps for neighbours and friends. I know Uncle Johnny, his brother used one of these on his farm.

The New Farm

Mom and Dad had built a home on land formerly owned by his brother Sam. One of the jobs Dad had was working as the oiler man on a dragline during the construction of #12 highway. My brother, Ed joined the army in 1960 at the age of 16. We lived on the Hanson farm until 1962. Growing up on our farm was a great experience. The day we moved from Hanson's started out OK but by late afternoon there was a huge thunderstorm. Ed was home on leave and he was the one driving a tractor and the hay wagon on which was the hut in which 2 or 3 pigs rode. The storm was so strong that by the time they arrived, they had to secure the hut to the wagon for fear of it blowing off and killing the pigs. The cattle were moved to John and Lil Hebel's place as they had a barn and Dad, Johnny and Shirley could milk the cows. I still vividly remember the cattle drive. Our yard was a small clearing around the house and a clearing for the chicken coop. The well had been dug but was not complete and the driveway through the bush had not yet been cleared. You had to follow the edge of the south field and enter the yard from the south beside the power pole. At that time Sprague was seeing the construction of a chipboard manufacturing plant (Columbia Forest Products).

In 1964, Dad decided to become a Power Engineer at the plant. Once in the job he also encouraged his friend Albert Hanson to do the same. He wrote poems about some of those experiences at the plant sometime about men who had died at the plant. Dad was on shift the day Mr. Enns was killed and was the one that found him pinned in the machine. Dad was also one of the union representatives along with my uncle Frank Praymayer that negotiated wages in meeting with the then Premier Ed Schreyer.

Bears in the Yard During that first summer we often had bear in the yard, along with many wild creatures. One day, on a Monday after school I was outside the back porch playing about 20 feet from the door. I did not see the bear approach, but Mom saw it from the kitchen window. She came outside, spun me around and quickly walked to the house. The bear did not attack but we walked less than 10 feet from where it was. The dogs about 5 feet from us were still not aware of its presence. The bear came to the porch window at the back and looked into the house. It probably could smell the hamburgers Mom was cooking for supper. Dad and Johnny were working on machinery east of the yard and Mom ran out the front door and got them. Dad hurried back, got the gun and shot the bear as it was looking at the cattle in the yard from behind the chicken coop. The bear did not know what hit it. As it happened, the following Monday, Mom was cooking hamburgers for supper again when an even larger bear appeared at the window of the porch. This one then went to the pail of cream in the yard in front of the chicken coop and started eating. Dad was not yet home as I remember but when he arrived both he and Johnny grabbed the rifles and chased the bear away. Dad shot at it several times, returning home later in the evening.

During the following years the yard got a lot bigger, we raised pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks and beef. Dad built a pole barn out of upright 5-inch round spruce logs, with a tamarack pole flat roof, clad with waxed cardboard sheets on the outside. He grew oats the same year as the barn build and stooked and threshed using Grandpa Praymayer's old threshing machine. The chaff became the barn roof. When the barn was complete we had stables for milking, a corral, water trough, and room for pigs and chickens in the one end. The farm grew with a second moved in building for chickens and grain storage, a seasonal pig pen and hut behind the barn. I recall one summer when we were raising turkeys that one of them broke its leg. The turkey was too young to butcher, so Mom to decided to try cast the leg in hopes that it would heal. About three weeks later, when she removed the cast, I remember this turkey just jumping for joy freed from the weight of the cast with a completely healed leg. Did not know turkeys could express joy. Clucking hens were also a part of our household. One summer Mom had five nesting boxes in our porch and each morning open the door and instruct "ok ladies out you go". The hens would go out to feed returning half an hour later when she opened the door. The dogs allowed only these hens to come close to the house. As I recall, they never messed in the porch where they lived. Hunting was a big part of life on the farm. Dad said when he turned 50 he had taken as many deer as his age. Robert was born in 1969 and suddenly I was an older brother. I got my 22 rifle at 12 and a 410 shotgun at 13. At 14, I could legally hunt and 2nd cousin Darrell and I spent as much time out in the bush as we could. We shot hundreds of Ruffled Grouse and rabbits during the time between the ages of 13 and 16. Deer hunting at 14 was another experience. I remember well my first deer hunting with Dad. I was a good shot back then and could free hand hit a thumb tack at 25 yards with my 22 with open sights. Ed would keep we supplied with hundreds of 22 shells compliments of DND. I was not as good as Selma or Uncle Louis, they were the best in the local area. In the summer of 1969 Mom and Dad were married in the Sprague Baptist church. Chester and Hilda Kettilson were their witnesses. I was the photographer. Robert was born in Nov of 1969.

The Move to Steinbach

Dad continued to work at the plant until 1974 when the well being and future for Robert,outweighed the wish to stay in Sprague. I was finished school so there was nothing preventing leaving Sprague. He looked for and found a job as a maintenance man for Granny's Poultry in Steinbach. In 1977 or so, Mom and Dad soon moved the Sprague house to Steinbach, did a little renovation and moved back into their own home.

Dad had been a long-time smoker and often had used the time for a cup of coffee and a smoke to pause and think out solutions to a problem he was facing. In 1982 the habit caught up with him and he discovered he had lung cancer in one lobe of his lungs. He had a successful surgery in Winnipeg and made a remarkable recovery. Jeremy was the grandchild he thought he would never live to see and he and Jeremy formed a very special bond. Dad was his lazy bones grandfather.

Mom and Dad saw their Nordstrom grandchildren grow though the childhood years in Steinbach, until Lauretta and I, moved to Coaldale in 1989. In June of 1993, Mom, Dad and Robert moved to Coaldale as well. They loved Alberta but sadly Dad only lived until Sept. 6, 1993. In the 77 years of his life, he lived an adventuresome life, enjoyed the outdoors, fished, hunted, and had the reputation of being an honest, and trustworthy man. He was a carpenter, did plumbing, electrical work and was a power engineer as well. He trusted that a power far greater than himself was looking out for him and his family.

Mom passed away in 2008 and Robert lives in a group home with a friend, Ron. Ron and Robert continue to be part of the Rehoboth Christian Ministries facility in Coaldale where they go Monday through Friday each week. They both require 24/7 supervision, and both are in the hands of good people who see to it their needs are met.

Shirley Major (Lyle Kelly) lives in The Pas, Manitoba Braden Whiteworth (John Major) lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba Ed Major (Mary) lives in Russell, Manitoba Robert lives in a group home in Lethbridge

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106206356/emanuel-nordstrom

Emanuel interviewed a long time resident of Sprague and wrote "An Early History of Sprague, Manitoba" The link is https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v7EbRu2edABvoiqYqCIA7KIcS3XJkEv0/v...