More Big Hill Country 2009 pg 549
Barney came from a family of hardware merchants – his grandfather, father, and both brothers were in the hardware business. He was involved in Builders’ Hardware stores in several Alberta towns, including Two Hills, Blackfalds and Didsbury, before opening his own store in Cochrane in 1935.
He married Margaret Sastaunik, from Melville, Saskatchewan, in Herbert, Saskatchewan, in 1931. They lived in three different houses in Cochrane – first the Robinson house east of the school, the next at the bottom of the Cochrane hill in what would later be the Catholic manse (fortunately moving before a truck loaded with pipe lost its brakes and plowed through the house, narrowly missing the resident Catholic priest) then the Webster house north of Graeme Broatch’s garage. The backyard had a chicken coop, root cellar, large water cistern, and even a deluxe two-holer. Coal was delivered through the basement windows.
They were both active in community affairs. Margaret taught Sunday school and belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star. She always said that she was mainly involved with bringing up her two girls! She was very adept at all forms of handiwork – sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting and embroidery, and continued to be very active in this regard as a member of Hope Lutheran Church in Calgary.
Barney was on the United Church Board and belonged to the Masons and Oddfellows Lodges. He enjoyed fishing, duck hunting, played on the local men’s baseball team, and they both curled. Summer Sunday afternoons were occasions for drives or picnics, often to Jumping Pound or Kananaskis, before any paved roads. They were blessed with many wonderful friends in Cochrane and area and enjoyed bridge games.
Barney’s Sunday mornings at home were often disturbed by people requesting the purchase of fishing licenses. Besides selling hardware, he was very involved in the installation and repair of appliances, large and small. In fact, on October 27, 1944, when Dianne was born, he was down F.L. Gainer’s well repairing a water pump! He had a pipe-threading machine in the back of the store, and also cut lots of glass there, especially after the severe hailstorm in 1945 that broke many windows in town and the surrounding area.
Running the hardware store was a full time job until he hired Mr. Gogul, then Roy Downs, who eventually bought the store with Archie Kerfoot. Barney went to Calgary every Wednesday afternoon to do his buying
from the warehouses. On one such occasion, he Shirley for a dental appointment, then to Barbara Ann Scott win the Canadian Figure Skating Championship at the Crystal Rink.
He was hit in the eye during a baseball game, fortunately just breaking his glasses. Another time he was fishing in the Bow River when the Ghost Dam gates were opened and he had a hard time getting to shore from the slippery rocks. Another interesting experience was swimming in the Banff Hot Springs with Kirk Kirkerberg (RCMP) and Mary when Kirk stepped on someone’s glass eye and everyone had quite a bit of fun with that. Daughter Shirley witnessed all these events
Enid Gammon was very sick at one time so Barney being the same blood type, drove to the Calgary hospital and gave her a bedside blood transfusion.
Barney was Mayor of Cochrane from 1954-1957. To quote Gordon Hall in Gary Stevenson’s column of June 26, 2002 in the Cochrane Times, “Barney Klassen was mayor and was instrumental in getting natural gas installed in the Village. He also had water, sewer and seven fire hydrants put in place. Klassen and the council were successful in getting the first mechanized Fire Brigade organized.”
Following the sale of Klassen’s Hardware to Kerfoot Downs in 1958, Barney and Margaret moved to Calgary. They operated the Card and Candy Shop in North Hill Shopping Center for several years, then enjoying spending their winters in Mesa, Arizona.
They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on July 31.1991. Barney died in May 1993, followed by Margaret two days later. After a double funeral, their ashes were scattered in Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary.
