1 audio

History / Biographical: Jack Fenton Naismith was born on June 9, 1908 in Heward, SK. When he was three months old his famiy moved to Wawanesa and the Northfield district. Jack began farming the family farm in 1932, but successive crop failures convinced him to move to Edmonton, AB where he began working in the life insurance business. While in Edmonton, Jack married Erica "Erie" Hugo (1913-2000) on January 7, 1939 and together they had two daughters, Dell and Arlie. In 1950, the family moved to the West Coast where he entered the general insurance and real estate business. For many years the family farm was rented to Jack Mooney; Mooney bought the farm in 1964 and married Dell Naismith two years later. For a time after retiring, Jack and Erie spent their winters in Victoria, BC and their summers on the family farm in Manitoba. At some point after 1988, the couple returned to Wawanesa for good. Jack Naismith died on March 24, 2008 in Wawanesa, MB. He is buried at Wawanesa Cemetery.

Custodial History: As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.

Scope and Content: Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Jack Naismith about his life experience in the Northfield District. The interviewer is John Moore.

Notes: History/bio information from the records, the Wawanesa local history "Sipiweske: Light through the trees" and Naismith's obituary. Description by Christy Henry.