OYEN BRIEFS: Shirley Clark looking for old family photos

By Diana Walker

This week, I received an email from Shirley Clark of Calgary.

Her grandparents Gustav Wessel Finstad and his wife Jennie homesteaded two miles west of Oyen, where Shirley’s mother, two sisters and brother were born. (Many Trails Crossed Here, page 105, shows Gustav, Sam and Jens owned land just south of Oyen.).

Her great uncle Jens Finstad and his wife also homesteaded near Oyen. Through email and Facebook, Shirley and a cousin in Norway discovered Andrew Oyen was Gustav's cousin.

In June, Shirley will travel to Norway to visit family from both sides of her grandparents. During the visit, her cousin will take her to Andrew Oyen’s birthplace. Her cousin is searching for pictures of the Oyen brothers when they lived in Oyen. Shirley’s mother and her siblings have passed, so the information trail is dwindling. Shirley’s mother and Mable Cordell were childhood friends. 

“I have been in touch with my cousins here and everyone is surprised to find out that the Finstads and Oyens were cousins,” writes Shirley.

Alona Petriieva, Oyen Town Office, sent Shirley photocopies of the Finstad and Oyen families found in Many Trails Crossed Here, Vol. 1.

Shirley welcomes information and/or pictures of the Oyen brothers, her grandparents or Uncle Jens. Email her at smdclark@shaw.ca

Oyen Echo contributor Bernie Krewski emailed Shirley saying the only photos of the Oyen brothers he knew of were at the Oyen & District Museum and Archives. There were few cameras available in those days. He encouraged her to search Peel's Prairie Provinces collection available online. Enter "Finstad" in quotation marks in The Oyen News brings 17 references. Doing the same for the full Peel newspaper collection produces 84 references - although many may not be relevant. The Hanna Herald is also searchable but is more difficult and time-consuming.  

Beth Holland Barnett celebrated her 104th birthday on May 13, 2024. Coming for the festivity were Beth’s sister, Margaret Beare, 97 years young, and her son Jim of Logan Lake, BC; Beth’s youngest sister Carol Cyr, age 86, and her husband Jim of Brooks; a family friend Peter Day of Lethbridge; and two of Beth’s daughters, Brenda of Oyen and Barb of Calgary. They celebrated with a delicious birthday cake surrounding mini cinnamon buns. Beth’s daughters said their Mom’s cinnamon buns were the best, especially when coming home from school to a house filled with the delicious aroma. 

After retiring from their farm in the Esther area, Beth lived in her home on the west side of Oyen until January 2021, when she moved to Oyen Extended Care.

Interesting 2023 Highlights in the Special Areas Spring Newsletter

Roads & Transportation Services

In 2023, Special Areas completed 34.0 km of road surfacing, 31.8 km of road construction, 30.8 km of road re-crowning and critical backtrail repairs. Over 590 km of local roads were gravelled. Major surfacing projects included base coursework on Hwy 561 (11.4 km) and Pollockville Road (12.8 km).

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