Showing 114 results

Authority record
Chevigny, Octave
MHM · Person · 4 May 1938 - 24 Mar. 2014

The Chevigny family is one of the pioneer families of St. Albert. Octave Chevigny was born 4 May 1938 to Octave Chevigny Sr. and Dellamen Plamondon. He married Claire Plamondon.

Octave Chevigny Sr. married Julie Froment and had Prosper, Godfrey, Doree, Marie-Ange, and Cheri Chevigny. After Julie Froment's death, Octave Chevigny Sr. married Dellamen Plamondon, the widow of his brother Albert Chevigny, and had two sons Octave and George Chevigny.

Chartrand, Dorothy
MHM · Person · 15 Aug. 1918 - 6 Sept. 2013

Dorothy Chartrand (née Bellerose) was born on August 15, 1918 on the Bellerose family farm near St. Albert. Her parents were Pierre and Justine Bellerose. Chartrand grew up on Sturgeon River Lot #38 with her twelve siblings. After graduating from high school, Chartrand worked for the Alberta Government, Department of Trade and Industry. In 1941, she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps and was deployed to London, England, in late 1944 to work as an administrator in London’s Canada House. Chartrand met her first husband, Canadian Sergeant Robert Atcheson, while in London. They were married on July 26, 1945 and had four children: Anita, Joyce, Tom and Theresa. Robert Atcheson passed away in Edmonton in 1958, and Chartrand remarried in 1963 to Eli Chartrand (d. 1991). Chartrand conducted genealogical and historical research and contributed greatly to the St. Albert history book, The Black Robe’s Vision. On Nov. 11, 2011, Chartrand became the third person to receive the Aboriginal Veterans Society of Alberta Patron’s Award in recognition of her heroism. Chartrand passed away in Edmonton on September 6, 2013.

Bracko, Len
MHM · Person · 2 Dec 1943 - 19 Aug 2017

Leonard (Len) Bracko was born in 1943 in St. Albert, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education and a graduate diploma in Education administration. Bracko began teaching junior and senior high in St. Albert Catholic school in 1979. In 1989, Bracko ran for MLA in the provincial election with the Alberta Liberal party. However, he came in second to Progressive Conservative Richard (Dick) Fowler, former mayor of St. Albert. Later in that same year, Bracko ran for St. Albert City Council and was elected as alderman. He served as alderman from 1989-1992 before running again and winning a seat as MLA in the 1993 provincial election. Bracko served as MLA with the Liberal official opposition caucus from 1993-1997, when he lost his seat to Mary O’Neill. He returned to teaching and retired in 1997. After his retirement, Bracko ran for and was elected again to the City Council of St. Albert, and he served as alderman from 2001-2013, having been reelected three times (2004, 2007, and 2010). Bracko and his wife Barb were active with Habitat for Humanity and international development. Bracko passed away on 19 Aug 2017.

Vaugeois, Pauline
MHM · Person

Pauline Vaugeois moved to St. Albert with her parents, Maurice and Bernadette, in 1950. It was shortly afterwards that she began to work in the Girl Guide movement, a commitment that continued for over 50 years. Vaugeois was the Edmonton Area Girl Guides District Commissioner from 1969 to 1975. Her duties in this role included attending meetings, partaking in decision-making, liaising with the national and international Girl Guides organization, and organizing and attending events. Vaugeois was also a member of the Circle Francophone, and Secretary of C.U.P.E. in addition to being a student of psychology at the University of Alberta. She was named Citizen of the Year of St. Albert in 1977. She has also been a prominent member of the First Tamarac Area Council as well as the local level.

Ratchinsky, Anita
MHM · Person · fl. 1986-1998

Anita Ratchinsky was the chairwoman of the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce in 1985 and 1986. In 1986, Ratchinsky ran for city council and was elected as alderman. She then ran as mayor and was elected for three consecutive terms from 1989-1998. Ratchinsky was St. Albert's first full-time mayor and first female mayor.

Macpherson, Elizabeth
MHM · Person · 4 Oct 1937 - 2001

Elizabeth Macpherson was born on October 4, 1937 in Budapest, Hungary. Her parents Reginald and Leah (Lonia) Menzer fled Hungary when Elizabeth was a child. Her family settled in the Westmount neighborhood in Montréal. Elizabeth had a degree in biology from McGill University. She married Andrew Macpherson and together they conducted Arctic field studies. The couple later moved to Ottawa where Elizabeth worked at the National Museum of Natural Sciences. She published The Marine Molluscs of Arctic Canada in 1971. In 1970 the family moved to Edmonton where she worked for the Provincial Museum of Alberta and in 1988 she became the assistant curator of the Musée Héritage Museum. While at the Musée Héritage Museum, she created a database on Métis genealogy as well as published The Sun Traveller, a history of the Callihoo family. She retired in 1998 and published Murder of a Horse Thief, a fictitious book about a murder mystery in St. Albert, posthumously in 2001. Elizabeth Macpherson died in 2001 of leukemia.

Goed, Mabel
MHM · Person · 30 Jan 1928 - 27 Feb 2016

Mabel Goed (nee Saffin) was born on Jan 30, 1928 to parents Mark Saffin and Albertine L'Hirondelle in Morinville, Alberta. She attended Tellier School and graduated high school from Notre Dame Convent and she attended McTavish Business College. Mabel Saffin married John Goed on May 26, 1955.

Champagne, Juliette
MHM · Person

Juliette Champagne is an historian and heritage consultant specializing in Western Canadian history, especially related to Alberta's francophone communities and peoples. She has served as a board member with heritage organizations such as La Société Généalogique du Nord-Ouest. Champagne has several publications, "De la Bretagne aux plaines de l'Ouest canadien, lettres d'un défricheur franco-albertain, Alexandre Mahé (1880-1968)" which is about French-Canadian community building in northeastern Alberta. Champagne has also annotated and published the memoirs of the Oblate Joseph Le Treste, who worked in Northern Alberta between 1884 to 1955, "Souvenirs d'un missionnaire breton dans le Nord-Ouest canadien", now out of print.

Plain, Margaret
MHM · Person · 30 Jun. 1941 - 30 Sept. 2021

Margaret Plain played a very significant role in the community of St. Albert where she lived since 1972. Plain helped found St. Albert Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF). She also served on the boards of various agencies and organizations including the St. Albert Historical Society, the Museum and Heritage Sites Board, Sturgeon General Hospital Board, and Capital Health Authority Health Board. Plain was also involved in the organization of many community events such as Celebrate 125, Homecoming 88, 1994 Alberta Winter Games, and Rendezvous 2011. She served on St. Albert City Council for 5 terms: 1986-1989 with Mayor Richard Fowler, 1989-1992 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, 1992-1995 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, 1995-1998 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, and 1998-2001 with Mayor Paul Chalifoux. In 2010, Plain was named St. Albert Volunteer Citizen of the Decade. Margaret Plain was married to Richard Plain.

Musée Héritage Museum
Musée Héritage Museum · Corporate body · 1984 -

The Musée Héritage Museum is the first civic museum in St. Albert. It opened on May 31, 1984 in St. Albert Place with the mission of preserving the history of St. Albert and area. It opened its permanent exhibit in 1988. The collections were originally artifacts from the St. Albert Historical Society, but the Museum has continued to collect both artifacts and archival material. Services include exhibits on St. Albert history, especially Métis history, travelling exhibits, guided tours, education programs, special events, information and reference services, publications, and lending travelling exhibits and kits. The Musée Héritage Museum also functions as the St. Albert archives. In addition to artifacts and archives, the Museum also manages historic sites: the Little White School, the St. Albert Grain Elevators, and the Father Lacombe Chapel. The Museum is funded by the City of St. Albert under the Arts and Heritage Foundation of St. Albert, and it is managed by an independent board. The Museum's first Curator was Michael Tymchuk, followed by Acting Curator Peggy Fortier, then James Tirrul-Jones as Director, followed by Karen Korchinki, Alexandra Hatcher, and Ann Ramsden. The current Director of the Museum is Shari Strachan.