A grandfather leaves a lasting legacy

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

The memorial statue situated in Veterans Park in downtown Medicine Hat is a permanent reminder for Don Bamber of Oyen. Not only does the monument represent soldiers who died in WWI, but it was Don’s grandfather, Albert James Hart, who carved the cenotaph. It was erected in 1922. A great-granddaughter of Albert Hart, Carol (Bamber) Ritchie, collected much of the historical information about her famous relative.

At that time, Canadians in various communities wished to find some way to honour war heroes who had died overseas, so fundraising began. As a result, a war memorial committee was formed in Medicine Hat, which helped with the fundraising project, along with the Great War Veterans’ Association and the Great War Next of Kin Association. Over $4,000 was raised, which is equivalent to $59,400 in today’s currency, to be used to construct a permanent monument in Riverside Park. Everyone got involved in raising funds, including businesses, churches, service clubs, and even schoolchildren.

Don’s grandfather was given the task of constructing the monument. The Bamber grandkids recalled their grandfather coming to visit in Oyen in 1945, driving a 1939 Chrysler. Don’s brother Bob remembered taking a trip to the United States with his grandfather. He told the guard his occupation at the border crossing, and the guard asked if he had brought his tools. When his grandfather said he had his tools, the guard asked if he would carve a date on a grave marker in a nearby cemetery, which Hart willingly did. No job was too small or too insignificant for Albert Hart, even though he was a monument sculptor.

Hart had apprenticed and worked as a marble cutter after dropping out of high school to help support his widowed mother and siblings in Brandon, Manitoba. As an apprentice, he had created a life-size bust of Queen Victoria. Beginning in 1922, Hart started to advertise himself as a “monumental sculptor.” Later, in 1906, Hart and his wife and children moved to Calgary, where he started his own business.

In 1922, Hart imported slabs of granite and marble from Europe, which he used to create a 5’6” life-like statue of a soldier. The figure stood on a tapered red granite column on a grey granite base. The finished product was so successful that he was asked to build two more, one in Nanton and another in Lacombe. Those statues were similar, with the soldier being positioned in slightly different poses. Each sculpture was carved from Carrara Italian marble. These were said to be some of the Great War’s finest memorials to be found in Western Canada.

Names of soldiers who died in WWI, and succeeding wars, have their names etched into the granite of these cenotaphs. Albert Hart operated his business until 1953 and died at the age of 79 in 1957, and is buried in Calgary. Carved as his epitaph are the words “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.”

PHOTOS

Don Bamber stands beside his grandfather’s monument in Medicine Hat.

Amazing detail of the statue carved by Albert Hart.