Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Mary Wilson grew up in Jasper when bears tipped over garbage cans in the alleys, there were no TVs and young folks played outside most of the time.
She started her first year of school at a one-room school in Lucerne in 1955, where she lived with a family during the week and spent weekends with her mom and dad - Stephania and Ed Litowski - at the Yellowhead Train Station a few kilometres east.
Her dad was a section man for CN Railway. Their tiny house had no electricity or running water.
Mary got a gift at the Lucerne school around Christmas time that she remembers to this day: "A tiny little China set. I just remember being so excited," she said.
A few months later the family moved to Jasper. Their garden was huge.
"Mom would sell produce to local stores," Mary said, adding that she worked as a chambermaid too.
Her dad was known as Big Ed.
"He was a big guy, very strong,” she said. “There's this story I heard about him: two guys would pick up one end of a rail and he'd pick up the other."
In the 1950s and 60s, girls were required to wear dresses to school, although, Mary said, "...if it was below zero [degrees], we were allowed to wear pants."
Spiro's was the place to be in Jasper in those days. "It was a cafe. Spiro Paravantes used to make those sundaes, and at Christmas time he'd make candy canes," Mary said.
Mary had many adventures including tobogganing behind the Catholic Church.
She said, "There was a pony stable there, and corrals, so when we were tobogganing, when you came down the hill you had to duck to miss the corral."
Mary and her friends rode their bikes Lake Annette with inner tubes trapped to the handlebars for some fun in the water. They played kick the can for hours in the back alley.
That space was taken by four-legged visitors, mostly at night.
"Bears would come down the alleys and tip over garbage cans - 45 gallon metal drums," Mary said. "It was common to see bears. We saw them all the time."
She graduated from high school in 1967 and headed to McTavish Business College in Edmonton.
Her high school sweetheart, Neil Wilson, visited her occasionally.
With a diploma in secretarial work Mary got a job at the Bank of Nova Scotia when she returned to Jasper.
Neil, who graduated three years before Mary, kept busy at his job chasing wild horses in the Burnt Timber area in southern Alberta and then returned to Jasper to work for CN Rail.
He's a longtime Jasperite too: his grandmother moved from Lucerne in 1924 to Jasper. Her house was brought to town on a CN flat car and is still located on Patricia Street.
Mary and Neil got married in 1969. Neil worked for L&W Electric around that time.
The couple raised three children: Niki Wilson, who lives in Jasper with husband Geoff Skinner and son Dylan, Marni Wilson who lives in Quebec with her partner, Steph Cameron, and son Taggart Wilson with his partner, Swanny Pleister, who own and operate a small farm in Robson Valley.
Neil worked for the Municipality of Jasper from 1977 to 2010. He started as director of maintenance and later worked as a manager for environmental services and grounds. He also served as a volunteer firefighter for 18 years.
Mary worked at an insurance agency for many years, "for a great family, Don and Arlene Houston". She was the secretary at the Jasper Elementary School for 19 years, and retired in 2010.
Mary said after Niki, Marni and Taggart embarked on their own journeys, she and Neil travelled to a variety of places with family and friends.
Their offspring introduced Mary and Neil to backcountry adventures and that became a big love for Mary. She went on many treks with her buddy Grace Schmitke.
Mary recalled one trip with Grace when they stayed at a campsite in the Brazeau Lake area and took a packaged dinner, Kathmandu chili.
Mary said she had to get up in the middle of that night to go to the bathroom.
"I woke Grace up and told her to wait for ten minutes and if I wasn’t back to come look for me,” she said. “I donned a headlamp that swiveled around like Regan in the Exorcist and crept across the campground.
“I finally lurked back to our tent only to find Grace in a deep snoring slumber. So much for my backup plan."
Another time, about two years ago, Mary camped at Hidden Cove with Niki and her family.
"It was so exciting to see a cow moose meander across our campground to the reeds in the water on the other side," Mary said.
That evening folks settled down in their tents to relax before a good night's sleep.
"I was laying in my tent reading with a headlamp on," Mary said. Soon though, her focus changed.
"I heard a stomping noise, and heavy breathing outside my tent," Mary said. "I didn't know what it was… I was yelling quietly."
Then Niki, still outside, noticed the moose who had wandered through the campsite earlier in the day right beside Mary's tent, and chased her away.
Life in Jasper for the Wilsons has been, and continues to be, a rewarding experience.
"Over the years people have said, 'You could sell your house for a lot of money and move,'" Mary said. "Where would we go? It doesn’t get much better than this. It’s our family playground. It’s home."
Get to know some of Jasper’s beloved community members in our new feature, Jasper Treasures. Nominate a treasure for our next feature! Email [email protected].
