Huish Family including Baby Ruth in front of family home.

1934

Frank & The Reader Rock Garden

It was the great depression, and Frank Huish was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was only getting two days of work per week as were many other CPR employees. Like many other Calgarians, Frank was forced to go on relief. There was no such thing as welfare or food stamps. When you were on relief you had to work for the City of Calgary, and Frank was sent to work at the Reader Rock Gardens and the Union cemetery as a gravedigger.

While he was working in the cemetery and the Reader Rock Gardens he was still employed by the CPR and had to be available whenever needed. So it was, that on November 28^th, 1934 a call boy was sent on his bicycle to the Huish home in Parkhill to call Frank to work. Frank was not home as he was working in the cemetery. His wife, May, was told that Mr. Huish had to be down at the CPR freight sheds in time to leave on the train, which was departing at 15:00 hours. His job was to travel to Vancouver and escort the Christmas Japanese oranges back to Calgary. The freight cars were not thermostatically heated in those days and it was imperative that an employee travel with the oranges keeping the freight car at just the right temperature. The freight cars were equipped with coal burning heaters.

May packed enough food and clothing for Frank’s three-day trip and set off down the hill to the Union cemetery. Upon receipt of the orders, food and clothing Frank walked to the C.P.R. freight sheds on 9^th Ave, boarded the west bound train and began his journey to Vancouver.

May, meanwhile, walked back up the hill to their residence in Parkhill. It was the end of November but luckily it was a nice day with a high of 2.8 C. This distance is not a bad little walk, but this was not just an ordinary day, for the very next day May gave birth to a full term healthy baby girl who they named Ruthie.

Now you might think that is the end of the story, but not quite. Many years later that baby girl became a Union cemetery tour guide for Calgary Parks and Recreation. When giving tours she always includes this story and becomes so connected to the cemetery that her mind is only on the tour. One day a guest asked Ruthie if she was born here and she replied “well almost,” and then she realized that the guest meant was she born in Calgary not the Union Cemetery.

Ruth had grown up with cemetery stories from her Dad and she knew that he loved his time spent in the cemetery and especially the Reader Rock Garden. Frank was always an avid gardener, which may have been the result of the time he spent under the guidance of Mr. Reader. Every year he grew enough vegetables to keep his family well fed throughout the winter. Following his retirement from the CPR he and May moved to the west coast and Frank grew prize gladiolas while working as the caretaker and gardener for the White Rock Baptist Church. Frank and May returned to Calgary when they needed their family near. They are both buried in the Burnsland Cemetery. Ruthie is still a Union Cemetery tour guide and she is very happy to part of the Friends of the Reader Rock Garden Society.