The Engels family homesteaded near Ardmore early in the 20th century. The farm was the centre of family life for Sena and Albert and their six surviving children—five sons and a daughter, Marguerite. (One son, Raymond, died as a toddler).
No one from the family lives there anymore; the farm was sold in 2011. But while none of the Engels family is still in Ardmore, Ardmore is still with descendants of the family.
Two daughters of Marguerite grew up in Edmonton and later in Calgary, but Ardmore and the farm were very much home to them. Stacey Schaub-Szabo and Cheryl Schaub light up when recalling their uncles and playing, exploring and quadding around the farm; and of course Friday nights playing pool at the Ardmore Hotel with their Uncle Ken.
Stacey and Cheryl have made a donation to the Ardmore Community Hall as a thank-you to the community and as a marker of the family’s years there. A memorial bench is now installed in front of the hall, and the sisters also donated some audio-visual equipment to the hall for the community’s use.
“The farm and that whole area was our playground as kids,” Cheryl says. “It was the best place.
“As soon as school would end, we would be heading up there. Sometimes it was grabbing the Red Arrow [bus]. There were times Mom didn’t go with us and the uncles would meet us on the quads. The Red Arrow would stop on Highway 28 and let us out right in front of the farm, we would run across Highway 28 and the uncles were there, and we’d just quad down the farm road.”
Stacey says it was important to the sisters that they give something to the community.
“We thought, the Engels clan is part of that community for so long, and Uncle Danny and everybody would be happy if we did something,” she said. “So we allocated some tangible items—a bench and some AV equipment that they can use. And maybe every time people are there and using it, they think of the Engels family.”
