Helen (Bourque) Dery was born on a farm in Saint-Front, Saskatchewan in 1929. Helen met her husband Fern Dery in the summer of 1949. Apparently Fern was casually dating Helen's best friend. Helen and Fern had a dance or two at one of the community hall dances so they had met one another on a previous occasion. The plan was for Fern to meet up with the other girl on a particular Sunday at church; Helen was also in church that same day. Helen recalls, "We made eye contact in church and that did it! The rest is history. He had to make a one-way one hour drive in order to come and visit me. He explained it all so nicely when he asked me to marry him. He said it was such a long drive back and forth to visit me and winter was coming. He explained that he didn't like the idea of the drive in winter so he just wanted to marry me and take me back home with him. That was 65 years ago but sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday."
The young couple got married, started a family and tried to make a living on the Saskatchewan farm.
Two children and seven years later they left the farm and started a most interesting trip to Prince George. They packed up the kids and all their belongings into a one ton truck and headed north to get out west. Here is how it all came about: Friends of their neighbors had moved to Prince George and had returned home to Saskatchewan for a visit. They told stories about sawmills and about how big money could be made in Prince George if you were willing to work.
Since there was no money in farming the couple made the tough decision to leave their large family network and the world they knew for a strange and far off land full of strangers. Fern assured Helen that they had each other and their two children. He said that they would be ok and their journey started.
The trip took five days of driving on unpaved roads; they took the only route that was available back in those days. They drove from Saskatoon to Edmonton and then north on to Slave Lake where they headed west and then south to Prince George.
The young family arrived in Prince George in 1956 and started work for the Rustad planner mill in the Cache. They stayed at the home of their very good friends Romeo and Aline Lupien for two weeks until they could get other accommodations.
Word went out that there was an even better job at a saw mill in Salmon Valley. Fern operated a cat in the bush and Helen worked as the camp cook for ten men and raised her children at the same time. The move to Salmon Valley turned out to be a bad move because the owner of the saw mill left town owing many hard working people, including them, their wages.
Helen and Fern had many interesting work related experiences over the years but they survived it all. Eventually they moved into town and built a home at 1160 Cuddie Crescent and later moved to Hamilton Street in 1979.
In the end the move to Prince George was a great decision. It is here that together Helen and Fern raised their six children: Diana, Hugh, Lou, Elaine, Julie and Michel who in turn netted them 14 grand children and eight great grand children - with one more on the way in January.
Fern worked as a carpenter for Thompson Construction before he lost the battle with cancer and passed away in 1995 at the age of 70.
Over the years Helen worked at the Bay restaurant, Little Ollie's and at Sears. She is currently an active member of the Catholic Women's League and recently received her 60 year pin. Helen proudly displays her 35 year plaque from the blood donor clinic.
For the past 19 years Helen has proudly managed two Relay for Life teams. The two teams are Fern's Team and Fern's Dream; they are in honour of her late husband and other family members who have battled cancer.
Helen's passion, besides her family, is her knitting and home grown products that she sells at local craft fairs. She does four craft fairs each fall and usually sells everything that is on the tables at her booth. You can find Helen in her booth at the Elder Citizens Recreation Centres' Craft Fair on Saturday, November 15th between 10 am and 4 pm. This is the perfect place to do some of your Christmas shopping.
The last day to order the delicious and easy to use homemade frozen cookie dough and pastry dough from the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre is November 12th. Just call 250-561-9381 for all the details and to place your order for this popular product.
