pg 692 More Big Hill Country 2009
Our Dad, William (Curly) Rowan was born in 1919 at the Calgary General Hospital. His parents were William Rowan and Isabelle (Lawson) Rowan. Isabelle taught school in Springbank before she was married. Curly was raised in Calgary and attended school there. He quit in grade 10 to pursue a career. He worked full time and attended Southern Alberta Institute of Technology part-time to obtain his machinist ticket. He courted Lottie who lived in Glenbow by bicycling to see her. Lottie was the sister of Sam Scott who had married Curly’s sister Helen. Our Mom, Charlotte (Lottie) Scott was born in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1919. Her parents, William Scott and Adelaide (Spence) Scott, came to Canada in 1929 and, after living in Dalroy for
a couple of years, went to work for Eric Harvie in Glenbow. Our Mom worked on the farm at Glenbow until she was married in 1944. Lottie and her sisters Rose and Agnes were their Dad’s “she” crew who helped by looking after the cattle and haying.
Curly and Lottie were married February 4, 1944 and began their life together. They lived at the Calgary Power House across from Tom Bateman’s in Jumping Pound. Curly was working as a machinist for Barber Machine in Calgary. They then moved to Glenbow Ranch with Lottie’s parents. A few years were spent in Turner Valley while Curly worked as an operator at the Turner Valley gas plant. It was back to Glenbow when Curly worked for Fluor building the new Shell Jumping Pound Plant. During this time they built their home in Brushy Ridge on an acreage leased from Harry Edge, a local rancher.
In 1951 they moved into their new house as Curly was hired by Shell to work at their Jumping Pound Complex. All this time Mom was busy raising a brood of “holligans”: Jim, Eric, Janice Gary, Sam, and Donald. In the summer, Curly would load all the kids in the back of the Shell truck and go to the plant on Sundays. While Dad was working, us kids would swim at the pumphouse. We had great fun.
Through the many years in Brushy Ridge, Curly and Lottie were very involved in the Jumping Pound, Brushy Ridge, and Cochrane communities. Curly refereed hockey, coached flag football and was a big upporter of the Junior B Cochrane General . He was a major supporter of St. Andrews United Church, the Western Heritage Center, and helped gather information for the Chaps and Chinooks book
Lottie was always a great gardener and had beautiful flowers. She was a wonderful cook and butter tarts were her specialty. She belonged to the Rebekah’s Lodge and had great weekends at their bon piels with Ida Taylor, Ede Sibbald and Lila Edge.
Curly was always an avid community supporter and could be counted on to help with any project. After retirement in 1984, Curly became the neighbourhood handyman and walked miles around the countryside. Curly passed away suddenly in 2003 and Lottie moved to Calgary.
Their children have all grown and their stories follow.
Jim Rowan
Jim, eldest child of Curly and Lottie Rowan, started school in the one room Brushy Ridge School. This school was located on the SW comer of present day Highway #22 and Township Road 252. Here Jim has the distinction of getting the strap on the first day of school, in grade one, for climbing on Ted Callaway’s haystack after he was told not to.
Jim continues: I continued at Brushy Ridge through grade 6, then went to the old school in downtown Cochrane and up on the hill to the High School. I took my grade 12 at Mount Royal College in Calgary and then went to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology for electrical training and got my Journeyman Ticket.
I married Diana Newsome on May 13, 1967. Diana’s parents are Nonnan and Joyce (Watts) Newsome and her grandparents Frank and Hilda Newsome and Bob and Kathleen (Cornock) Watts. Diana’s Dad and Mom lived at Bearspaw where Norm farmed and hauled milk from Cochrane, Okotoks and points in between, to Calgary every day. Joyce worked as a “Domestic Engineer”. They sold the farm and moved to Cremona where they farmed until Norm retired.
Diana and I lived on the Newsome farm at Bearspaw then moved to Cremona for five years before buying land at Alder Flats, Alberta in 197 6. I worked in the oil patch for 43 years and have been farming for about 40 years. Diana went to school at Bearspaw then Glendale Silver Springs, Cochrane and Mount Royal. She took training as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. and has worked as an LPN while keeping me and “our hooligans” on the right path.
Diane and I have 3 boys. All the boys went to Alder Flats and Buck Lake Schools.
Scott married Shauna Mitchell and they have 2 girls: Chelsea and Cassandra. Scott works in Sales in Fort McMurray Tar Sands.
Duane went on to Mount Royal College, works as an operator in the oil patch and lives in Beaumont, Alberta. He married Nicole Ebbeson and they have one son, Turner.
Spencer took his electrical apprenticeship at Lethbridge. He works in the oil patch and lives in Alder Flats. In the days when we were growing up and lived at granny’s in Glenbow, Eric and I seemed to get lost some. Aunt Rose, I gather found us one day. When asked what we were doing, Eric told her that, “Just a touple of tharacters coming up the tooley”. (sic)
When our dear sister Janice came along she became our “crash test dummy” for things we weren’t sure would work!!! It is a wonder she survived.
Eric Rowan
Born May 6, 1947, the second child of Curly and Lottie Rowan.
I attended elementary school at Brushy Ridge and then on to Cochrane for high school.
After graduating I attended Southern Alberta Institute of Technology for 2 years taking Agriculture Mechanics. I then went to work for Home Oil in Carstairs, Alberta. Next I moved to Wardlow, Alberta and drove trucks. While at Wardlow, I met my wife Elaine and we were married in Julyl970. Elaine is the eldest daughter of Dan and Jewel Pierson.
We bought the General Store in Cayley, Alberta and Elaine was teaching in Cayley. One month after we were married the store burned down and we lost most of our possessions. We rebuilt the store. It burned again in October 1972.
At that time I moved to Brooks, Alberta and started to apprentice at Martin Chrysler as a mechanic. Elaine stayed in Cayley teaching and finished out the year. We bought an acreage at Patricia, Alberta where we lived until 1982 when we moved to Seven Persons, Alberta and I was employed as a mechanic for Dome Petroleum. I worked there for 25 years.
Elaine and I have 2 children: Danelle, born March 1976 and Reid born 1978.
Danelle married Jared Bonhet from Medicine Hat. They have four children: Quinn, Nyah, Peyton, and Kohen. Jared works for Flint Energy and Danelle works at Cornerstone Christian School in Medicine Hat.
Reid is a Journeyman B. Pressure Welder and lives with his wife Lacy whom he met while rodeoing in Texas. Lacy is from Cleveland, Texas.
Elaine and I now live in Medicine Hat where she continues to teach school and I have taken a position of Service Manager for Medicine Hat New Holland Dealership. “Isn’t it funny how my life made a full circle back to ag. mechanics so many years later.” “As for now, our family just keeps rolling along.”
Janice (Rowan) Sturm
Third child and only daughter of Curly and Lottie:
I was born in Calgary and while Mom and Dad were building their house in Brushy Ridge, Jim, Eric, and I were cared for by our grandparents, William and Adelaide Scott. They lived at Glenbow and Granddad worked for the Glenbow Ranch.
I attended Brushy Ridge School from grade 1 to grade 6. Jim, Eric, and I rode to school on our horse “Roxy” lent to us by David Edge. Jim, being the eldest, was in charge of the reins with me in the middle and Eric behind me. Many fights ensued resulting in Eric sliding off the back end of the horse.
Some days we walked to school and if our timing was right, our teacher Eddie Edge would give us a ride if we were at her gate when she was leaving for school.
At recess in winter we had great games of fox and geese. If it was really cold we were allowed to dance at noon with records brought by whoever had some. A big favourite was Eddy Arnold, brought by Ellis Edge.
We all had to take turns going out to the well to pump water to drink and wash our hands before lunch.
Preparing for the Annual Christmas Concert held at the Jumping Pound Community Hall was also great fun.
After Brushy Ridge School closed I went to Cochrane for grades 7 to 12. After only having one other person in my grade for 6 years it was quite a shock with the many classmates in Cochrane.
I married Robert Sturm in February 1969, a large animal veterinarian, and started nurse’s training at the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing in September 1969. I graduated with my R.N. in 1972 and worked for two years before our daughter Patricia was born. We moved to Chestermere Lake in 1976 and lived there until 1995 when Robert and I divorced and I moved to the Varsity area in Calgary, where I still live.
Patricia attended University of Calgary and is now a Communications Officer with the Calgary Police Service. She lives in Strathmore
I worked part-time while Patricia was growing up and now work full time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Foothills Medical Centre.
Gary Rowan
Fourth child and third son of Curly and Lottie Rowan
I was born on April 22, 1952 and attended Brushy Ridge School to grade 4. Then it was off to Cochrane for the remainder of my school years.
I worked on farms and ranches in the area and when I was 20 years old I went to work for Wayne and Donna Sibbald. I am still there 35 years later.
In August 1981, I married June Fullerton from Bragg Creek and on February 2, 1982 our son Christopher was born. Christopher is now a plumber.
I curled for a few years in the Men’s and Mixed Curling and played Fastball for Cochrane. After finishing fastball, I started to umpire Little League baseball having been doing it for 27-30 years. It is really interesting to do. I watched Chris become a great ball player and got to officiate many of his games.
In February 2007, June and I became grandparents as Chris and his wife Courtney had a son Sean William Rowan.
Sam Rowan
Fifth child and 4th son of Curly and Lottie was born on May 20, 1955. I started grade one at Brushy Ridge but after that year they closed the school and the rest of my education was in Cochrane.
I then went to the University of Calgary and then to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and graduated in 1976.
I married Linda Caine from Montreal and then Toronto, on October 27, 1979.
In 1979, I started to work with Barber Engineering which was also my father’s first job back in the 1940’s. I was fortunate to become one of the owners of Barber in 1998.
Linda has worked for various oil companies over the years in the land departments.
Linda and I have two lovely girls, Melissa, born September 24, 1982 and Katie born September 21, 1986. Melissa now has a child named Sophia who was born March 2, 2007 and Katie is studying lntemational Business as well as Political Science at the University of Calgary.
Linda and I have spent most of our lives together living in Calgary; however, we did have a farm in Strathmore from 2000 to 2004. After Dad died in 2003, we bought their house and moved back to the house on the hill in Brushy Ridge.
The original house that Mom and Dad built in 1951 was donated to the Girl Guide Camp in Cochrane by Mom and Dad, because of the widening and paving of Highway 22, in 1972.
They then built the house that we own just back of the original home. The original Windmill built in the early 1940’s which used to belong to Harry and Lila Edge still stands on the hill today.
Donald Rowan
Sixth child of Curly and Lottie Rowan
I am the sixth child of Curly and Lottie Rowan. I was born March 21, 1962 and grew up at the family home in Brushy Ridge. When I came along, most of my brothers and sister had already left home or were in the process of leaving home so I basically grew up with just Mom and Dad. I attended school in Cochrane and after graduating and doing different jobs, ranging from helping out the local farmers to landscaping, I attended Southern Alberta Institute of Technology for one year.
After Southern Alberta Institute of Technology I continued doing odd jobs because of economic conditions. Then in 1985 I followed in my father’s footsteps and joined Shell Canada in Sundre. I worked at their Burnt Timber Field and continued to work with Shell for the next 13 years.
In 1987 I married Adrienne Miller and in 1989 we had our first child Stephanie. Three years later in 1992, we had our second child, Carson.
In 1993 I was transferred to Swan Hills, Alberta with Shell Canada and worked at their House Mountain Facility. After five years I resigned from Shell to pursue other career endeavours.
After 3 years of contract operating, I went back to another major oil company in Rainbow Lake, Exxon Mobil. In 2005, after seven years in Rainbow Lake, I moved myself and family to Grande Prairie and got on with EnCana, where I currently am the Field Foreman of the Hythe Brainard Field.
Our daughter Stephanie has now graduated from High School and is planning to travel for a year. She wants to then go to college with the hope of getting into the police force. Our son Carson is starting High School with a promising career as an amateur wrestler.
