Esther (Hamblin) Creuzot was born in Bottineau, North Dakota in 1921; she had four sisters; Evelyn, Marion, Lucille, Ethel and two brothers; Virgil and Orville. She was only four years old when her parents moved to Canada to homestead property in LeRoy, Sask.
She has memories of that road trip north to Saskatchewan and said, "My mother and father had put a box across the bottom of the car, filled it full of goodies and then made our bed on top of the box. My three sisters and I (the rest of the family would be born later on) were able to sleep in the back while we traveled.
"We reached our destination and my father worked on our house while the family stayed at my grandparents' house."
Esther went to school in LeRoy, Sask. however she finished her grade 12 in Bottineau, North Dakota so that she could help her cousin with her new baby. That fall she started her nurse training at the Bottineau Hospital.
She loved the thought of being a nurse but she was very shy and quiet and found the sisters at the hospital to be very strict. She eventually decided that perhaps nursing was not what she really wanted to do and as fate would have it she decided to return to LeRoy and then travel with her sister Marion to Hamilton, Ontario.
To make a long story short, Esther's mother got sick while she was working in Hamilton and was taken to the hospital in Saskatoon. Esther took the bus home to LeRoy to help out at home and looked after her four younger brothers and sisters.
Esther smiled and said, "That decision changed my life completely and I am so glad that I made all those choices when I did. While I was at home, my sister Lucille and I decided to go a dance at our little town hall and that night I met Henry James Cruezot, my knight in shining armour and the love of my life.
"Henry was born in Sibbald, Alberta in 1919. He was training as a pilot in the Air Force and was stationed at Dafoe Air Force base which was only eight miles away. It was love at first sight for both of us.
"Henry was sent back to the Toronto air base and I went back to Hamilton. He used to hitch hike many miles back and forth from Toronto to visit me and in fact he had to hitch hike to Hamilton on our wedding day. We were married in 1943, borrowed a car and went to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon and the rest is history."
In 1946, Henry was stationed in Vancouver and it was like a dream come true for Esther because by this time both his parents and Esther's parents were living in Mission.
Henry eventually left the Air Force for health reasons and they moved to Kelowna for a short time. They returned to Mission and Henry built his first apartment building.
He went on to build more apartment buildings and many houses and mastered the art of plastering and stucco work.
When they moved to Prince George in 1951, they only intended to stay here for two years.
Esther said, "When we came to Prince George we arrived with literally nothing. Henry built a shack on Douglas Street with a chimney that extended out the window; we did not have running water so that meant and we did not have an indoor bathroom. Henry and I were young and in love and I was busy with our two preschool sons so none of this seemed to matter.
"Henry went into the construction business and built houses and apartment buildings and then our family home where I still live today."
Henry joined his father and brother in the construction industry; he was instrumental in founding the Prince George Construction Association and served as president for many years.
He later moved into the hospitality industry and in 1971 he built Grama's Inn, on Central Street, which remains family owned and operated. They had many long-term employees over the years and Esther loves it when she is greeted with a hug by many of the people she has met or worked with through the years.
In 1980, he built Esther's Inn and years later at Henry's suggestion they added the water slide which was the first hotel water slide and the only one of its kind in Prince George. Esther's Inn has been under new ownership since early 2001.
There have now been three generations of the Creuzot family involved in the construction industry here in Prince George.
Esther and Henry were married for 70 years when sadly he passed away in 2014.
They had two sons Gary James (Alice) and Roger Allen (Peggy) who in turn gave them seven grandchildren and numerous great and great-great grandchildren.
Esther concluded by saying, "My father was an honest man and if he said he would do something a hand shake was all that was necessary. That is how most prairie people operated their business. He also taught us respect and he always treated my mother with the utmost respect. I found all of these same qualities in Henry and together we applied those same principles to our own family.
"I will soon be 97 years old and I have a great family and wonderful friends. My love, my faith, my hope and zest for a wonderful life full of peace is my blessing and my gift from God."
