By Aileen Copithorne pg 378 More Big Hill Country 2009
John C. Copithorne’s parents were Charlotte and Claude Copithorne, and his grandparents were John and Susan Copithorne, and Richard and Martha Young.
My parents were Edgar and Ruth Davies, and my grandparents were Frank and Martha Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davies.
In 1978 John and I moved to the Lloyd Fenton place. The old farm on the hill was sold and is now the GlenEagles site. We built a new dairy barn and moved the herd up the hill. We carried on with Whirlwind Holsteins, which by now was known nationally and internationally. Son Lloyd built a new house on the Fenton place and continued to help with the running of the farm. John Jr. married Shannon Hart in 1987 and also stayed to run the farm. Eventually the boys took over the farm and John and I moved to a modular home on the farm. We were sometimes referred to as “the colony” as our daughter Sandra also lived on the farm.
My husband, John, died in 1998. He had lived his life entirely for his family and his dairy farm. He had been Chairman of the Dairy Committee at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede for 18 years and was eventually awarded a Lifetime Membership to the Stampede. In 1980 he was awarded the Holstein Association of Canada Master Breeder Award. He was an avid curler and was part of the group that constructed the curling rink that was located beside the United Church.
He was a great rider and had done much with horses including showing horses for the McConachies.
I trained as a Registered Nurse at the Calgary General Hospital and after my marriage, I helped on the farm. I abandoned my nursing career for country life.
I’ve been involved in the United Church all of my married life, first as a choir member, the organist for 17 years and finally choir leader which I am still doing today. Curling was a big part of our life and at one time the entire family curled. The two boys, Lloyd and John, have run the farm since their father’s death and have now added a cow calf operation (3J farms). Our daughter Sandy works for Alta Genetics Inc. and lives with me on the farm.
