Image: Grande Prairie City Flour Mill, built in 1912. Machinery for this mill was hauled in over the Edson Trail and its generator produced the first electrical power for Grande Prairie. Ca. 1915 (SPRA 1998.8.1)
Regiment: Edmonton Fusiliers
Ted Chambers, born in 1903 in Puslinch ON, was the only son of Mr and Mrs Daniel and Bertha (Cummins) Chambers. He moved to the Peace River country over the Edson Trail with his parents and sister Rhea in 1912. The family settled on a homestead in the Two Rivers district (Southeast of Beaverlodge AB). The children attended a makeshift school in the Halcourt church, and later went to school in Grande Prairie. In the early 1930’s Ted worked for Bob Kranz constructing the Flour Mill. He married Madeline Ada Tyrrell (daughter of Arthur and Marie Tyrrell) on April 21, 1934 in Wembley AB, and the couple farmed in Two Rivers. Ted and Madeline had two children: Joan and Dale. During the Second World War, Ted served with the Edmonton Fusiliers for 5 years. Having a hobby of finding fossils, Ted found a huge hip bone on the banks of the Beaver Lodge River, which was believed to be from a mammoth dinosaur, in September 1938. Ted was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was killed in an accident on the Wapiti bridge on July 5, 1965. Madeline died in December 1992 in Beaverlodge.
Source:
Beaverlodge to the Rockies pp. 549-550
Along the Wapiti – p. 412 (name)
p. 346
Northern Tribune April 26, 1934 p. 5 c. 3 (marries), and September 22, 1938 p. 1 c.2 (fossil)
Soldier Spotlight highlights veterans from the Archives’ online Soldiers’ Memorial. Each week, our volunteers select a remarkable individual to showcase in this blog series. The Soldiers’ Memorial commemorates more than 1,100 WWI veterans and 2,300 WWII veterans from our region. Three dedicated volunteers have contributed over 1,200 hours to this project by researching and writing biographies. Our goal is to have all South Peace soldiers acknowledged for their service. If you know of someone who lived in the South Peace and should be listed on the Memorial, or would like to get involved by researching a local veteran, please contact the Archives.