Dear Editor,
Last Friday I had the pleasure of having a conversation with long-time residents of the Fort Assiniboine area Roy &Marg Thompson. We were downstairs at the Fort Legion during wing night and Roy began to tell me one of his stories. To their knowledge Roy &Marg are the oldest surviving couple of the Fort as they both turned 85 last October and they have been married for 64 years. Roy was telling me that he has the distinction of being the only man he knows of to have first slept with his wife when he was only four days old; Roy and Marg were both born in the Barrhead Hospital and they were together in the same hospital and they were together in the same nursery. Roy and Marg lived as neighbours until they were two years old and then Marg’s parents moved to the Peace River area. They moved back to the Barrhead area when Marg was eight and where she attended school. While walking home from school on day who should come along but Roy. It took a bit of convincing but finally Marg accepted Roy’s offer of hitching a ride on Roy’s pony. Marg got on the horse just fine but the pony did not appreciate the double load and before they knew it, they were both bucked off with Roy partially laying over Marg and Roy says they have been in love ever since. Roy and Marg were married when they were 19 and proceeded to start raising their family. For the first few years Roy worked in the seismic industry where he moved from town to town with Marg beside him. They then proceeded to farm two quarters of rented land until both of them received homestead rights on two additional quarters which they farmed until their retirement. Everyone who knows Roy appreciates the twinkle in his eye and his many stories while Marg is best known for her fantastic pies and fresh buns. Both Marg and Roy have been members of the Legion for many years and are still active volunteers in the community. They are truly an inspiration for us all.
Rob Svandrlik
