FRED BABENEK
by Fred Babenek
I, Fred Babenek, was born February 22, 1904 in the Ukraine. Seeking a new life style I made my move to Canada, arriving in Saskatoon in July of 1928.
My first job was digging ditches at forty-five cents an hour (which was good at that time) and I worked there for a year. Because of the depression about 300 men got laid off and then I came to Alberta in 1930.1 looked for a new job and finally got one in Primula, around Elk Point, brushing thirty acres of land for fifty cents a day. When I finished this job, I asked for my wage and when the farmer wanted to pay me the lady of the house deducted some amount because she fed me and washed my clothes. I got left with seven dollars.
After packing my clothes I walked twenty-eight miles which took me to the district of Stoney Lake. That was in 1931. I started doing all kinds of carpentry for all the neighbors in this district until 1936. Finally I found a girl around the Derwent district, Nancy Mudryk, whom I married in October of 1936. One year later we bought a farm near Stoney Lake where we raised a family of six. Retiring in 1966, we bought a home in Elk Point.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Babenek with children, Richard, Bill,
Edward and Rosalind, at their farm, Stoney Lake, 1954.
Marriage of Ed Nazarchuk and Rose Babenek, August 11, 1962, Elk Point
Fortieth wedding anniversary, Fred and Nancy Babenek, Elk Point Elks Hall, 1974.
