Fondo 0149 - Russell Burgess family fonds

Clarence Russell was born June 4, 1905, in Lion's Head (Bruce County), Ontario. In 1909, he came west to High River, Alberta, with his parents, Alexander and Jennie (Cameron) Burgess. In 1928, he came to Grande Prairie, followed by Pearl Munkholm, also of High River. They were married March 29, 1929. They had three children, Robert, Kenneth and Kathleen. Russell originally planned on homesteading in the Fort St. John area but it seemed too far away from everything so he came back to Grande Prairie. By this time he was broke so went to work for a meal ticket for Mr. Wong who owned the Windsor Café. He also worked making ice for the rink and then worked for the town, first as a town policeman and then as works foreman. In 1934 he went to work for the provincial government on bridge building crews all over the province. He then worked for Union Tractor for two years, became ill and took up lock smithing as a hobby. He also became a licensed electrician and went to work for Cookshaw Electric where he stayed until 1965. In his retirement he maintained a large stamp collection and a woodworking shop. He died in 1991.