Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Whatever she does, Dorothy Peterson does it with focus, simplicity and humour.
Peterson was born to Constance and Melvin Peterson on July 10, 1936 in Chilliwack, B.C.
Her older sibling, Tom, passed away on Feb. 2 this year in Hinton at the age of 91. The third born, Mary, is 81 years old and lives on Vancouver Island.
“We lived in the Popkum area, not far from Chilliwack,” Peterson said. “We were in the only house there. A creek went by our place. My dad’s parents lived there previously.”
Melvin was a conductor for Canadian National Railway (CNR).
“He worked in the Jasper area for three weeks at a time, came home for a week, returned to Jasper,” Peterson said.
That connection with Jasper led to the family moving to town in March 1941 when Peterson was five years old.
“I can remember the first day or so,” Peterson said. “There was a low stone fence around the place. Deer and bears could jump the fence easily. We were exploring the yard and I came running in the house with a handful of beans and said, ‘Look, mom. I found some beans outside.’”
Turns out they were the deer bean variety.
After living in a house on the east end of town that had been constructed years before by CN, the Petersons moved to a house along Bonhomme Street when “there were still pony barns across the street and against the hill.”
Peterson started school in the fall of 1942. She was “a good all-round student.” Those were the days when girls had to wear skirts to school and in the winter time, long johns came in handy.
Throughout the school years, there were from 12-to-20 students in her class. Peterson graduated from high school in 1954 and started working soon after. That was the year before folks had the luxury of telephones in their homes.
“For a year and a half, I delivered telegrams for CN Telegrams,” she said. “I’d peddle myself around town on a bike and deliver telegrams to people.”
All the while, Peterson had a plan.
“I figured when you finish school you’re supposed to leave home,” she said. “I needed to get my typing speed up (to prepare for another position), so that’s why I delivered telegrams here.”
At the end of 1955, Peterson moved to Edmonton to work at the CN telegraph office.
“I took telegram messages over the phone and typed them as the person spoke,” she said. “Then they were zipped to the teletype operators and they got them (sent) away.”
Peterson worked there all through 1956. Toward the end of the year, a conversation led to another move for Peterson.
“I was talking to a friend in the ticket office in Jasper,” Peterson said. “She asked if I knew anybody interested in her job because she was leaving.”
Peterson wasn’t interested but her friend encouraged her to think about it.
“In January of 1957, I came back home,” Peterson said. “The job was there and it was a good job. It paid the same for a female as a male and that was unusual at that time. I had talked to my parents first and the fellow who was going to be my boss. I already knew him from delivering telegrams and so the rest is history.”
Peterson lived with her parents for a while after starting the job.
“When I moved out, into the Yellowhead Apartments in 1972, I paid $135 a month for a one bedroom suite,” she said.
In 1978, Peterson purchased a mobile home and moved into the trailer court, which had opened four years earlier.
“I was the first one to pay $30,000. Before that it was less. I was the first one to pay that high of a price,” Peterson said. “Since then, supply and demand has changed. The value of money has changed.”
Peterson worked all kinds of hours in the ticket office depending on the train schedule.
“I had regular hours but if the train came in late I’d stay there until it got there or until the next shift came,” she said. “I remember one time the trains were late; we’d been working 12 hours.”
In addition to selling tickets, Peterson worked as a stenographer one day a week. It was a long-running career, just over four decades. Peterson retired in 1995.
“Times were different then,” she said. “You would work only one career in a lifetime so it wasn’t unusual to have one job for many years. That’s the way it was done.”
Considering Peterson is “not good at saying goodbye,” her last day on the job worked out well.
“All the crews - I knew them for so many years - it would have been so hard saying goodbye,” she said. “They get to be part of your life. It was VIA Rail by that time. They took over the passenger side of things. I knew roughly when I was going - the month - but about my last day, they changed their mind three times. I was glad I didn’t know it was my last day, until that very day.”
There wasn’t time for an emotional crest.
“I faded into the distance,” Peterson joked, but added there was a farewell party for her another day.
After she retired, Peterson joined a hiking group.
“We went on Mondays,” she said. “Sometimes I went on hikes for three, four days with the Thursday girls past Banff, Waterton Lakes sometimes too.”
The scenery is breathtaking, but at the same time, Peterson said, “When you’re out in the bush you keep your eyes open. There were a couple of times we were closer to a grizzly than I wanted to be. We got out of its way and it passed by. It’s not sensible to go out for hikes by yourself. With two sets of eyes… you’re more inclined to be talking or making some noise.”
Peterson kept limber at yoga classes twice a week and tai chi once a week.
“I led that class, not as an instructor, but I kept us together,” she said. “I kind of miss it. You’ve gotta keep moving or else you’ll seize up.”
Peterson does yoga these days with a DVD as a guide.
“Every little bit helps,” she said, recalling a line from a Leonard Cohen song that comes to mind now and then: “I hurt in the places I used to play.”
Kidding aside, Peterson said she’s grateful for her health.
“I eat properly. I set my alarm so I get up in time to make sure I have three meals a day, and have time to snooze in the afternoon.”
Peterson has an abundance of time for Chico, an orange tabby cat who’s been sharing space with her for a couple of years.
“He makes me so mad,” she said. “But he’s so loving. He has a good personality.”
Chico’s good demeanour is a contrast to cats Peterson had before.
“My other three were calicos,” she said. “They loved me and I loved them but they weren’t friendly to other people.”
Peterson loves to spend time outside in her yard tending to the flowers and vegetables she has purchased over the years at the United Church plant sale.
“They do such a wonderful job putting them out for sale,” she said. “(It’s) a good fundraiser.”
Some friendships span a lifetime. To this day, a classmate calls her on her birthday and at Christmas time with the greeting, “Class of ’54 speaking.”
Peterson likes going for walks and she’ll get into it again when the season changes.
About living in Jasper, Peterson said, “I think I’ll stay. It’s home. It’s a great community. We’ve got lovely people looking after it.”
