Material Type

Recording

Date Range

1983

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

WHO"S WHO IN ALBERTA p. 155 FISCHER; Julia; Self employed;born Igaztalva, Hungary Sept.30, 1911, daughter of Petnehazi and Koracs Imre. Came to Canada 1912 Educated at Galbraith School in Lethbridge then at Milk River school.1929 married Mr. Fischer. Children: Clayton, Freddie and Barbara. 1930 employed as a housekeeper in various peoples homes and cooked for highway and oil field crews. 19^-0 opened hardware and gift shop and owned B.A. Garage (Milk River).Served 6 years on the Council and3 years as the Chairman of the Cemetary Board.Served on the Water Board during the time the Sewage system was laid in Milk River. Sold the store to Mr. Willocks and the service station to Mr. Snowden and moved to Lethbridge.Opened Julia Fischer's Boarding and Julia's Steak House 1955-Cooked for 56 people, mostly refugees from Hungary who were employed in the sugar beet fields. Furnished public waiting room in the Lethbridge Hospital in memory of Clayton and Freddie Fischer ( sons who passed away age 8 yrs. and 21 yrs respectively). 1963 furnished public waiting room in th e Milk River

Acquisition Source

Fischer, Mrs. Julia

Scope and Content

2 60 minutes Sony Cassettes. Approximately 120 minutess. Interviewee: Mrs. Julia Fischer. Interviewer: Sheila Petherbridge, Carol Watkinson, Margaret Wheeler. Date: 3-17 February 1983. Tape 1 Side A (approx 30 min) - Biographical information: Born in Hungary to Mr & Mrs Jim Petnehozi in 1911. Family emigrated to Canada in 1912. Her father worked in various mines, until purchasing a farm in township 117 near Milk River. Julia attended Bankview School. The family purchased a number of farms before returning to Lethbridge. Julia's mother was an astute business woman and acquired numerous houses in Lethbridge. She assisted Dr. Galbraith during the flu epidemic. She worked alongside the men on the farm. She was always busy. - Julia met her husband Joe at a dance in Coutts. He migrated from Romania in 1927, but was Czechoslovakian. He was a cabinet maker by trade, but was working as a mechanic in Coutts for his cousin. They were married in Shelby, Montana. - Information about starting their own service station in Milk River, circa 1938. SideB - Continue with service station. Julia added a gift shop to the station. In addition to the business she took in boarders. While in Milk River she served on the town council and the cemetery board. Information about the upgrading and improvements to the Milk River cemetery. Information about the town council and the development of the town. - Information about Julia's family: son Fred died in 1950 at the age of 21 from cancer, son Clayton died at age 8 from spinal meningitis, Joe died in Sept 1982 from a ruptured spleen. Her daughter Barbara was married to Gordon Morrison. Their son drowned in the city pond. They later divorced and she married Gary Beatty. - The Fischer's sold their garage and moved into Lethbridge circa 1954. Julia opened a boarding house at 322 3rd Street South. She had 12-30 regular boarders at $60/month. When the Hungarian refugees were arriving the police and other organizations would bring them to Julia's. She had up to 80 people staying in the boarding house during this time. Information about the boarding house. Tape 2 Side A - Continue boarding house. Julia also opened a restaurant "Julia's Steak and Chicken House". A steak meal was $3.95 and a chicken meal was $2.95. Describes the portions and meal. Sold out to the city in 1978. - Her husband was running the New Dayton Hotel at this time. - Julia also owned the Monarch Hotel and would go there at nights to bartend. - She purchased 2 lots at Duck Lake, Mont for $4000 each. She put a mobile home on one which she added an addition to, and on the other she built a large house using the lumber from the old boarding house. Describes the houses. - Discussion about fishing in the summer and winter. SideB - Continue fishing. - In readying the site for Lethbridge Centre, the City sold off the houses in the area. Julia bought 6 houses for $10 to $75 each. She purchased 15 lots in Monarch for $50. each and had the houses moved out there at a cost of $1500 each. She rents them out for $275/mon. - She purchased the Monarch Hotel for $15000. She gave it to her daughter and son-in-law and after a few years they sold it. Rooms were rented for $3/night. The tavern only sold beer. - They bought the New Dayton Hotel for $20,000 and Joe ran it for 12 years. It did not have a restaurant, so when the New Dayton railroad station came up for sale Julia bought it with the intention of turning it into a restaurant, but Joe was more interested in retiring then expanding. - When Joe arrived in Canada he could speak 8 languages. The Customs office hired him to interpret, and he taught language courses. - General discussion about Julia's business acumen. - Discussion about the memorials in the in the Municipal and Milk River hospitals. - Julia was suffering from headaches so she went to the Mayo Clinic.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19921042000

Collection

Archive

Less detail