Robert and Jeanann McKay, a longtime Calgary couple, moved to Ontario last month to be closer to their immediate family. "Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jeanann.
Photograph by : Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
The Calgarians embarked on yet another adventure when they left the city on Jan. 17 -- this time for good -- to live out their remaining days near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. As many elderly people do, the McKays are moving to be closer to their immediate family; most of their grown children live in the East.
"Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jan, a bit wistfully.
Their departure marks the end of an era, as the couple is the last of one branch of a pioneer family that's been in Calgary for nearly 130 years.
"As my siblings and I have worked with them over the last few months to help them get ready for the move, we have learned about their deep love for this city," their daughter Lynne McKay of Queenston, Ont., wrote in an e-mail to the Herald.
"We have heard many of the old stories of Calgary and the family, and come to realize the city will be losing a piece of living history."
Intrigued, we met with the McKays a few days before they packed up their memory-filled home. Over tea, Bob and Jan, neither of whom needs glasses or hearing aids, relished telling their story to a visiting reporter and photographer.
A Founding Family
The story begins with Bob's grandfather, Alfred S. McKay, a surveyor with the Canadian Pacific Railway who came to Calgary in 1880 -- four years before the town was incorporated.
Continue reading about Bob and Jan...
© The Calgary Herald 2009
February 2, 2009
CANADA: End of era as couple leaves Calgary - Pioneer family arrived in 1880
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CALGARY, Alberta / Calgary Herald / February 2, 2009
By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary Herald
They could be characters from a romantic novel or movie.
A dashing Royal Air Force pilot and his beloved bride -- childhood sweethearts -- leave their dusty Prairie town and go adventuring in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Along the way, they raise four well-travelled children and, when the time is right, return to age gracefully in their hometown.
But Robert and Jeanann McKay, 88 and 87, respectively, are real-life characters.
Robert and Jeanann McKay, a longtime Calgary couple, moved to Ontario last month to be closer to their immediate family. "Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jeanann.
Photograph by : Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
The Calgarians embarked on yet another adventure when they left the city on Jan. 17 -- this time for good -- to live out their remaining days near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. As many elderly people do, the McKays are moving to be closer to their immediate family; most of their grown children live in the East.
"Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jan, a bit wistfully.
Their departure marks the end of an era, as the couple is the last of one branch of a pioneer family that's been in Calgary for nearly 130 years.
"As my siblings and I have worked with them over the last few months to help them get ready for the move, we have learned about their deep love for this city," their daughter Lynne McKay of Queenston, Ont., wrote in an e-mail to the Herald.
"We have heard many of the old stories of Calgary and the family, and come to realize the city will be losing a piece of living history."
Intrigued, we met with the McKays a few days before they packed up their memory-filled home. Over tea, Bob and Jan, neither of whom needs glasses or hearing aids, relished telling their story to a visiting reporter and photographer.
A Founding Family
The story begins with Bob's grandfather, Alfred S. McKay, a surveyor with the Canadian Pacific Railway who came to Calgary in 1880 -- four years before the town was incorporated.
Continue reading about Bob and Jan...
© The Calgary Herald 2009
Robert and Jeanann McKay, a longtime Calgary couple, moved to Ontario last month to be closer to their immediate family. "Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jeanann.
Photograph by : Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
The Calgarians embarked on yet another adventure when they left the city on Jan. 17 -- this time for good -- to live out their remaining days near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. As many elderly people do, the McKays are moving to be closer to their immediate family; most of their grown children live in the East.
"Calgary has been an integral part of our lives," says Jan, a bit wistfully.
Their departure marks the end of an era, as the couple is the last of one branch of a pioneer family that's been in Calgary for nearly 130 years.
"As my siblings and I have worked with them over the last few months to help them get ready for the move, we have learned about their deep love for this city," their daughter Lynne McKay of Queenston, Ont., wrote in an e-mail to the Herald.
"We have heard many of the old stories of Calgary and the family, and come to realize the city will be losing a piece of living history."
Intrigued, we met with the McKays a few days before they packed up their memory-filled home. Over tea, Bob and Jan, neither of whom needs glasses or hearing aids, relished telling their story to a visiting reporter and photographer.
A Founding Family
The story begins with Bob's grandfather, Alfred S. McKay, a surveyor with the Canadian Pacific Railway who came to Calgary in 1880 -- four years before the town was incorporated.
Continue reading about Bob and Jan...
© The Calgary Herald 2009
