Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

ALLIED VICTORY MEDAL, WWI

Date Range From

1914

Date Range To

1919

Materials

BRONZE, COPPER PLATE, RIBBON

No. Pieces

1

Height

0.3

Length

14.5

Width

3.9

Diameter

3.6

Description

GREAT WAR VICTORY MEDAL. ROUND COPPER-PLATED BRONZE MEDAL ATTACHED TO WATERED RIBBON IN RAINBOW COLOURS, BEGINNING WITH VIOLET ON THE OUTSIDE EDGES AND MEETING WITH RED AT THE CENTER. THE OBVERSE OF THE MEDAL HAS AN EMBOSSED IMAGE OF WINGED FEMALE FIGURE OF VICTORY WITH LEFT ARM RAISED AND SHE IS HOLDING A PALM BRANCH IN HER RIGHT HAND. WREATH EMBOSSED ON CIRCUMFERENCE OF REVERSE, WITH TEXT READING "THE GREAT WAR FOR CIVILISATION 1914-1919" ENGRAVED AT CENTRE. EDGE ENGRAVED WITH TEXT READING “228409 PTE. T. OKUTAKE. P. P. C. L. I.” BOTH ENDS OF THE RIBBON ARE FRAYING WITH WHITE THREADS VISIBLY COMING LOOSE. SLIGHT LOSS OF SHAPE TO SHORTER SIDE OF THE RIBBON AND WRINKLING OVERALL. SLIGHT SCUFFING AND LOSS OF FINISH OF THE MEDAL.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

THE MEDALS' DONOR PATRICIA "PAT" SASSA’S FATHER, OKINAWAN TOMOMI OKUTAKE, WAS ONE OF 222 JAPANESE CANADIANS TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN 1916, SERVING IN THE INFANTRY. LANDING IN CANADA VIA VANCOUVER IN 1907, OKUTAKE WORKED FOR THE CPR BEFORE MIGRATING WEST TO LETHBRIDGE TO WORK AT THE NO. 6 MINE, WHERE HE SETTLED IN HARDIEVILLE IN 1911 – CONNECTING WITH OTHER OKINAWANS ALREADY ESTABLISHED IN THE COMMUNITY. FROM THERE, HE MADE THE DECISION TO SUPPORT HIS NEW COUNTRY, CANADA, IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR. IN 1919, OKUTAKE RETURNED FROM TO HARDIEVILLE TO CONTINUE HIS WORK IN THE MINES AFTER THE WAR – RIGHT UP UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT. OF THE JAPANESE CANADIANS WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE CEF, 55 WERE KILLED DURING WW1. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS COMPILED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES, WHICH ALL PROVIDE GREATER DETAIL ABOUT THE LIFE OF TOMOMI OKUTAKE. ON 13 OCTOBER 1976, TOMOMI OKUTAKE’S WIFE – TSURU OKUTAKE (NEE GENKA) – WAS INTERVIEWED BY TOMIO WAKAYAMA. THE INTERVIEW IS HELD BY SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW, WHICH WAS TRANSLATED FOR THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES BY TOMOKO GREENSHIELDS: OF THE FAMILY’S IMMIGRATION TO CANADA, MRS. OKUTAKE EXPLAINED THAT HER HUSBAND CAME FROM SHURI, OKINAWA. “[TOMOMI] CAME [TO CANADA] IN 1907. I CAME HERE IN 1930… HE CAME TO WORK FOR A TRAIN COMPANY (THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY). WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE REASON FOR HER HUSBAND’S IMMIGRATION TO CANADA, MRS. OKUTAKE STATED, “WELL, JAPAN HAD A WAR WITH CHINA… THE SHINO-JAPANESE WAR. HE WAS TAUGHT THAT OKINAWA OWED CHINA… SO HE DID NOT WANT TO FIGHT WITH CHINA… HIS UNCLE WENT TO HAWAII LONG BEFORE, [SO] HE WANTED TO GO TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY [AS WELL]…" CONTINUING WITH THE DISCUSSION OF MR. OKUTAKE’S IMMIGRATION, MRS. OKUTAKE MENTIONED, "HE STAYED IN VANCOUVER [UPON HIS ARRIVAL IN CANADA]. [THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE BEFORE JAPANESE PEOPLE CAME] WERE AGAINST THE JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS…” MRS. OKUTAKE SPECULATES THAT MR. OKUTAKE MOVED TO ALBERTA AROUND 1911. SHE SAYS, “[HE WORKED AT] THE COAL MINE NUMBER 6… UNTIL HE RETIRED. THE NUMBER 6... SHUT DOWN, SO HE WORKED AT THE NUMBER 8 UNTIL HE WAS 65, 64.” THIS SPECULATION IS CONFIRMED IN A FAMILY HISTORY WRITTEN BY PAT SASSA FOR A HISTORY BOOK ABOUT THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA JAPANESE-CANADIAN COMMUNITY TITLED NISHIKI: NIKKEI TAPESTRY (PUBLISHED IN 2001). THIS HISTORY STATES THAT OKUTAKE ARRIVED IN HARDIEVILLE IN 1911. IN THE 1976 INTERVIEW, MRS. OKUTAKE CONTINUES ABOUT HER HUSBAND’S EXPERIENCE WORKING ABOVE GROUND FOR THE MINES, “I THINK [HIS JOB WAS HARD]. MY HUSBAND’S JOB WAS TO LOAD COAL UP ON A CART… OTHER PEOPLE TRIED BUT THEY COULD NOT [DO IT LIKE HE COULD]… HE WAS A MAN WHO COULD ENDURE SO MUCH… HE WORKED AT A COAL MINE DURING THE WINTER AND WORKED AT A FARM DURING THE SUMMER.” MRS. OKUTAKE SAID HER HUSBAND HAD RECEIVED HIS CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP IN EITHER 1914 OR 1915. A CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION HOUSED AT THE NIKKEI NATIONAL MUSEUM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA STATES THAT TOMOMI OKUTAKE WAS NATURALIZED ON JANUARY 25, 1915. ACCORDING TO HIS ATTESTATION PAPERS, MR. OKUTAKE ENLISTED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR ON 26 MAY 1916 IN CALGARY. THESE PAPERS LIST HIM AS BEING BORN ON 21 NOVEMBER 1889. THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE BIRTH YEAR LISTED IN THE SERVICE RECORDS AND THAT IN FAMILIAL DOCUMENTS, WHICH RECORD 1888. IN AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY GALT COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN THAT TOOK PLACE ON 16 JANUARY 2017 WITH OKUTAKE’S DAUGHTER, PATRICIA SASSA, SHE EXPLAINED THE DIFFERING RECORDS: “… [IT’S] NOT TYPO, BUT A LOT OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE WOULD PUT THEIR JAPANESE AGE DOWN, BECAUSE WHEN THEY’RE BORN THEY’RE ALREADY A YEAR OLD. SO THAT MIGHT BE THE REASON.” IN THE 1976 INTERVIEW, OKUTAKE’S WIFE DESCRIBED HIS ENLISTMENT: “HE STUDIED THE HAN CHINESE IN JAPAN WHEN HE WAS LITTLE. IN CONFUCIANISM, THEY SAY THAT WHEN PEOPLE MOVE TO A NEW PLACE THEY SHOULD ACT AS PEOPLE DO IN THAT PLACE. HE LIVED IN CANADA, SO HE TRIED TO FULFILL HIS OBLIGATION AS A CANADIAN… HE AND MR. KANDA WENT TO [AN] ALBERTA CITY HALL TO TELL THEM THAT THEY WANTED TO GO TO THE WAR. IT WAS IN THE NEWSPAPER… IT SAID THAT TWO SCARY-LOOKING JAPANESE MEN APPLY TO GO TO THE WAR (LAUGHED). SCARY FACE OR SOMETHING. I FORGOT. THEY COULD NOT MIX ONLY ONE OR TWO JAPANESE SOLDIERS WITH WHITE SOLDIERS, SO THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS WERE PUT TOGETHER WITH JAPANESE SOLDIERS. I CANNOT REMEMBER WHERE THEY WERE ASKED TO GO SOMEWHERE. I WOULD ASSUME THEY WENT TO VANCOUVER.” ACCORDING TO HIS SERVICE RECORDS, TOMOMI OKUTAKE BEGAN HIS MILITARY CAREER WITH THE 13TH REGIMENT CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES (C.M.R.), WHERE HE WAS TAKEN ON SERVICE FROM CALGARY ON 26 MAY 1916. HE WAS ASSIGNED THE SERVICE NUMBER 228409. HE ARRIVED IN ENGLAND ON 6 JULY 1916 BY THE S. S. OLYMPIC. HIS NAME APPEARS ON THE NOMINAL ROLL FOR THE PRINCESS PATRICIA’S CANADIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (P.P.C.L.I.), WHICH STATES HE JOINED THE P.P.C.L.I. IN FIELD ON 21 SEPTEMBER 1916. ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION STATES THAT HIS DATE OF SERVICE WITH THE INFANTRY BEGAN ON 27 AUGUST 1916 AND THE THEATRE OF WAR WAS FRANCE. HE WAS STRUCK OFF STRENGTH FROM THE P.P.C.L.I. TO THE 52ND BATTALION ON 4 OCTOBER 1916. RECORDS FROM THE CANADIAN GREAT WAR PROJECT STATE HE RANKED A TROOPER WITH THE 13TH REGIMENT AND A PRIVATE IN BOTH THE P.P.C.L.I. AND THE 52ND BATTALION. WHEN ASKED ABOUT WHO FROM THE JAPANESE COMMUNITY IN LETHBRIDGE JOINED THE WAR, MRS. OKUTAKE ANSWERED, “… ONLY MY HUSBAND. OH, [AND] MR. SHINBASHI… MY HUSBAND FOUGHT IN THE FRONT LINE. THERE WERE GERMAN SOLDIERS IN FRONT OF THEM. THEY THREW A GRENADE AT EACH OTHER. [THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS] WERE IN A TRENCH WHICH THE GERMANS MADE [AND THE GERMANS] THREW GRENADES STRAIGHT AT THEM. HE WAS SCARED… THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH FOOD, SO THE SOLDIERS FOUGHT OVER A PIECE OF BREAD LIKE HUNGRY GHOST[S]. HE SAID THAT THAT WAS WAR.” OKUTAKE’S STATEMENT OF SERVICE RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA STATES THAT HIS THEATRES OF SERVICE WERE CANADA, BRITAIN, AND FRANCE. FOR HIS SERVICE, HE RECEIVED THE BRITISH WAR MEDAL AND VICTORY MEDAL, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE BEEN DONATED TO THE GALT MUSEUM BY SASSA. RESEARCH SHOWS THE 52ND BATTALION, WHICH OKUTAKE WAS A PART OF, FOUGHT AS PART OF THE 9TH INFANTRY BRIGADE RESERVE AT THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION FROM THE VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF CANADA, “FEBRUARY 1917 SAW THE 52ND TRAINING AND PREPARING FOR THE VIMY RIDGE OFFENSIVE. THE BATTALION PLAYED AN ACTIVE ROLE CONDUCTING LARGE SCALE TRENCH RAIDS IN THE LEAD UP TO THE ATTACK ON APRIL 9. THESE EFFORTS LEFT THE UNIT DRAINED AND WHEN THE ATTACK WENT FORWARD, THE 52ND PLAYED A SUPPORTING ROLE AS THE 9TH BRIGADE RESERVE.” THE 52ND BATTALION WAS ATTACHED TO THE LAKE SUPERIOR SCOTTISH REGIMENT. WHILE WITH THE 52ND BATTALION, HE REPORTED SICK ON 30 OCTOBER 1916 AND UNDERWENT MULTIPLE AMBULANCE AND HOSPITAL TRANSFERS THROUGH FRANCE, AND EVENTUALLY TO ENGLAND, AS A RESULT OF A HERNIA. HE UNDERWENT AN OPERATION IN NOVEMBER 1917. AFTER RECOVERY, HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE WHARNCLIFFE WAR HOSPITAL, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND ON 30 JANUARY 1917 AND WAS TAKEN ON STRENGTH FROM THE CANADIAN CASUALTY ATTACHMENT CENTRE TO THE COMMANDING CANADIAN GARRISON DUTY DEPOT. HE WAS THEN STRUCK OFF STRENGTH TO THE MANITOBA REGIMENT DEPOT ON 13 MARCH 1917 AND ATTACHED TO THE 1ST C.C.D. (SPECULATED ABBREVIATION FOR CAVALRY COMMAND DEPOT) AND THEN RECEIVED BY THE 18TH RESERVE BATTALION SHORTLY ON 13 SEPTEMBER 1917. THE PLACES OF SERVICE FOLLOWING HIS DISCHARGE FROM THE HOSPITAL WERE IN ENGLAND. ON 9 DECEMBER 1918, HE WAS PUT ON TRANSFER DUTY TO CANADA. OKUTAKE’S DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE STATES HE WAS “DISCHARGED FROM THE SERVICE [ON 10 MAY 1919] BY REASON OF DEMOBILIZATION. WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS MORE HIGHLY RESPECTED BY HIS COMMUNITY UPON HIS RETURN TO CANADA AFTER THE WAR. MRS. OKUTAKE EXPLAINED IN 1976 THAT THIS WAS NOT SO: “[NO], GOING TO THE WAR DID NOT REALLY DO ANYTHING. HE WAS PROUD [OF HIS SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY].” LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES FROM MAY 1916 STATE UNREST IN THE LETHBRIDGE COLLIERIES – WHERE OKUTAKE WAS EMPLOYED PRIOR TO HIS ENLISTMENT – BECAUSE OF THE INCREASE OF JAPANESE LABOUR IN THE MINES DUE TO WAR-TIME LABOUR SHORTAGES. THE REACTION AGAINST JAPANESE LABOR WITHIN MINING UNIONS ESCALATED BY 1918. ON 6 DECEMBER 1918, THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD REPORTS, “THE MINERS OF THIS DISTRICT, ACCORDING TO LOCAL OFFICIALS, ARE DETERMINED TO ENFORCE THEIR DEMANDS THAT NO MORE JAPANESE LABOR BE EMPLOYED IN THE MINES HERE. THERE ARE AT PRESENT ONLY TWO JAPANESE MINERS EMPLOYED HERE, AND THEY ARE AT NO. 6 MINE OF THE GALT COLLIERIES. THIS MATTER OF ORIENTAL LABOR HAS BEEN HANGING FIRE FOR A LONG TIME, BUT THE NOTICE OF A STRIKE CAME YESTERDAY WITH SUDDENNESS AND CONSIDERABLE SURPRISE AMONG LOCAL MINING CIRCLES. [THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE MINE] IS CREDITED WITH HAVING PRECIPITATED THE ULTIMATUM IN THE ABSENCE OF PRESIDENT BIGGS… IF THE JAPANESE [MINERS] WHO ARE AT NO. 6 ARE STILL AT WORK ON MONDAY MORNING, THERE WILL BE NO OTHER MINERS TO WORK WITH THEM. IF THE COMPANY STILL PERSISTS IN RETAINING THEIR SERVICE, THEN THE ENTIRE DISTRICT WILL BE CALLED OUT, ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIALS… AT THE PRESENT TIME THERE ARE ABOUT 15 JAPANESE [MINERS] WORKING AT THE GALT COLLIERIES, ALL OF WHOM ARE ABOVE GROUND ON PICKING JOBS OR OTHER WORK OF THIS NATURE. NONE ARE IN THE PIT. MANY OF THESE [WORKERS] HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED BY THE COMPANY SINCE THE TIME NO. 6 MINE WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION MORE THAN 10 YEARS AGO. OF THE JAPANESE COLONY IN THE MINING CAMP THREE OR FOUR WENT TO VANCOUVER WHEN THE WAR BROKE OUT AND THERE ENLISTED WITH THE JAPANESE BATTALION OF THE CANADIAN ARMY… LEWIS STOCKETT, HEAD OF THE MINES BRANCH OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, WHEN SEEN BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HERALD THIS MORNING, STOUTLY DENIED THAT ANY JAPANESE [WORKERS] WERE EMPLOYED AT THE GALT COAL MINES AT LETHBRIDGE, OR, AS A MATTER OF FACT, AT ANY OF THEIR MINES…” WHILE HIS RETURN FROM SERVICE FOR HIS COUNTRY DID NOT GARNER OKUTAKE INCREASED RESPECT AMONG THE CAUCASIAN POPULATION IN LETHBRIDGE, HE WAS A RESPECTED LEADER WITHIN THE JAPANESE-CANADIAN COMMUNITY. MRS. OKUTAKE EXPLAINS, “[AT NUMBER 6], HE CAME AS A LEADER [AMONG THE OTHER JAPANESE PEOPLE]. MANY PEOPLE DID NOT UNDERSTAND JAPANESE BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE COUNTRY SIDE FROM OKINAWA, SO THEY NEEDED A LEADER… PEOPLE WHO WERE MY HUSBAND’S AGE HAD AN EDUCATION.” THE OKINAWAN IMMIGRANTS THE AGE OF MR. TOMOMI OKUTAKE COULD SPEAK JAPANESE, BUT THE OLDER OKINAWAN IMMIGRANTS COULD ONLY SPEAK THE OKINAWAN DIALECT. ACCORDING TO DONOR PAT SASSA’S FAMILY HISTORY IN NIKKEI TAPESTRY, BECAUSE OF HER FATHER’S ABILITY TO SPEAK JAPANESE, THE OKINAWAN DIALECT, AND ENGLISH “HE WAS APPOINTED AS SPOKESPERSON FOR MANY OF THE SETTLER AND CHURCH GROUPS, THE MOST FREQUENT BEING THE LOCAL BUDDHIST TEMPLES AND THE OKINAWA CULTURE SOCIETY…” THE FAMILY HISTORY STATES, “MRS. TSURU OKUTAKE WAS BORN TO CHYOTATSU AND MAKATO GENKA ON DECEMBER 18, 1904 IN OKINAWA, JAPAN… SHE MARRIED TOMOMI CHOJITSU OKUTAKE IN APRIL 1930. HE WAS BORN ON NOVEMBER 21, 1888 AT SHURI CITY, OKINAWA, JAPAN… TOMOMI RETURNED TO OKINAWA [TWELVE YEARS AFTER THE WAR] AND LATER MARRIED TSURU GENKA IN APRIL 1930. THEY MADE THEIR FIRST HOME IN THE READYMADE DISTRICT AND TRIED FARMING, BUT SOON RETURNED TO HARDIEVILLE TO BE EMPLOYED WITH THE COLLIERS (NO. 6 MINES). THE SITE (NO. 8) WAS MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE SHORTLY AFTER, AND HE CONTINUED AS A MINER UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1953. HE WAS UNABLE TO BENEFIT FROM BOTH PENSIONS, SO HE CHOSE TO RETIRE AS A WAR VETERAN.” A CANADIAN IMMIGRATION SERVICE RECORD DATED 10 MAY 1930 LISTS THAT MR. OKUTAKE MADE A RETURN TO CANADA FROM A PORT IN MANILA, PHILIPPINES ON THE S. S. EMPRESS OF CANADA - BRINGING HIS NEW WIFE WITH HIM. THESE RECORDS STATE THAT MR. OKUTAKE’S NATIONALITY WAS CANADIAN FROM THE YEARS 1907-1929, LISTING HARDIEVILLE, ALBERTA AS HIS ADDRESS. DURING HER INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN IN 2017, SASSA COMMENTED: “…HE WAS A LEARNED, SELF-EDUCATED MAN, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT HE WAS STUDYING HIS ENGLISH PRIOR TO ENLISTING BECAUSE HE, YOU KNOW, WORKED ACROSS CANADA YOU KNOW, WITH THE RAILWAY WITH THE CPR, SO I THINK THAT HE PICKED UP THE LANGUAGE VERY QUICKLY… HE SPENT A LOT OF QUIET TIME IN HIS ROCKING CHAIR. HIS HEAD WAS ALWAYS DOWN, ALWAYS QUIETLY THINKING AND WHEN I LOOK BACK NOW I REALLY DO THINK HE MAY HAVE SUFFERED SOME YOU KNOW, POST TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES… BUT ANYWAYS, HE WAS ALWAYS IN DEEP THOUGHT AND I DO BELIEVE HE WAS RE-LIVING THE WARS NOW THAT I THINK BACK. HE WAS CONSERVATIVE. I THINK HE SPOKE ONLY WHEN HE WAS ASKED SOMETHING…” SASSA STATED IN HER FAMILY HISTORY, “TOMOMI DID NOT TALK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE WAR, AND I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT I WAS NOT THE PERSISTENT, CURIOUS CHILD WHO ASKED MANY QUESTIONS; THEREFORE, MUCH OF HIS PERSONAL MEMORIES GO UNSHARED…” IN THE INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN, SASSA ELABORATED, “I DO REMEMBER HIM IN DISCUSSION WITH SOME ADULTS TALKING ABOUT HIS HOW HE WAS LICE INFESTED, AND THAT’S ALL I CAN REMEMBER THAT HE TALKED ABOUT…” SHE CONTINUED, “I REMEMBER HE NEVER MISSED A REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE AT THE CENOTAPH, WHICH WAS THEN AT THE GALT GARDENS. NEVER EVER MISSED. IF IT WAS SUB-ZERO, I DON’T REMEMBER EVEN GETTING IN HIS CAR IN THOSE DAYS. HE WALKED FROM HARDIEVILLE. IF IT WAS WINTER HE STILL WALKED. ALWAYS WORE A SUIT AND TIE WHEN HE WENT UP TOWN, AND ALWAYS DRESSED LIKE A GENTLEMAN WITH A CAP ON, YOU KNOW, WHEN HE WENT TO THE CEREMONIES.” IN HER INTERVIEW, SASSA EXPLAINED HOW SHE ACQUIRED THE ARTIFACTS: “... IT WAS AT THE TIME OF THE MOVE WHEN MY FATHER PASSED AWAY. THAT WOULD BE IN 1971, AND I WAS AWARE THAT HE HAD THESE TREASURES INSIDE OF AN ATTACHÉ… [AND] IN THAT WERE THESE MEDALS… I ACQUIRED THESE I THINK AFTER MARRIAGE, BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE THEM IN MY POSSESSION UNTIL ROY AND I WERE MARRIED, SO I MUST HAVE... TAKEN THEM AT THAT TIME AND SO, BUT AT THAT TIME THEY WERE ALREADY IN LETHBRIDGE, SO MY MOTHER HAD THEM… SHE NEEDED SOMEBODY TO LOOK AFTER THEM... MY SISTER [ESTHER AYUKAWA] TOOK [THE VICTORY MEDAL] AND HOW IT WAS RETURNED TO ME WAS... SHE FELT THAT BECAUSE HIS HOME WAS HERE IN LETHBRIDGE AND HE IS BURIED IN THE VETERAN’S PLOTS HERE IN LETHBRIDGE, SHE FELT IT BELONGED HERE. SO SHE BROUGHT THEM BACK AND THEN WE DISCUSSED THE IDEA THAT PERHAPS IT WOULD HAVE A MORE HISTORICAL VALUE IF WE DONATED THEM TO THE MUSEUM.” SPEAKING OF HER FATHER’S PASSING, SASSA REMEMBERS, “HE HAD [A STROKE] AT HOME…AND SO MY MOTHER’S FRIEND CALLED THE AMBULANCE AND HE WAS ADMITTED AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT WAS ARMISTICE DAY. AND ROY AND I WERE IN TABER ATTENDING THE CENOTAPH… HE HAD A SECOND STROKE AND PASSED AWAY ON [NOVEMBER] 23RD, [1971].” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, SERVICE RECORDS, COPIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS, AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES.

Catalogue Number

P20170001001

Acquisition Date

2017-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail