VOL. 66 NO. 12
The Paper That ’s Going Places!
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013
A treasure of a life together
Bill and Winnie Skitch’s marriage was held together with diamonds of love, commitment, compromising and sharing common interests together. (Rosanne Fortier/Photo)
Rosanne Fortier Bill has an infectious laugh and Winnie seems to like that. But that is just one of the reasons that Bill and Winnie Skitch celebrated their 60th Diamond Wedding Anniversary on February 21, 2013. These years have been composed with the gems of love, adventures, common interests, family and commitment. “Bill was in the same grade as my two younger brothers in the Public School system in Lloydminster. So, he was friends with them and he
used to come and help out with the farming,” Winnie explained. Bill flashed a huge grin as he went on to say, “We hung out together for seven years. Winnie would follow me to my hockey games and stay the whole time. I used to wind up with a bunch of stitches from getting hit by the puck. So, Winnie was the brave one.” Winnie continued to chuckled as she replied, “Yeah, I put up with him.” “We had dates that included shows. Then there was skiing behind horses with a cart. Let’s say that
we were good friends and gradually, this turned into something very special. We met after school and I walked or rode my bike three miles to see her. I hunted her down a lot. All this practice and work for seven years before we got married really helped me to work on it afterwards,” Bill noted. Their life together began with both of Bill and Winnie moving away from Lloydminster and joining the workforce. Bill ventured out to Edmonton and Winnie went to Calgary. “In 1950, I moved to
Edmonton to join Alberta Government Telephones (AGT) and at that time, my uncle was General Manager of AGT and my mother took me to see him. Here I was sitting in a big office and wondering what was going on while the first thing he said to me was, ‘I’m your relative but don’t expect anything from me, you’re going to have to work for it,’” Bill explained. Winnie broke into tiny bursts of laughter as she recalled the story Bill just told. “He used to come and visit me in Calgary and it is over there that we got
engaged,” she added. Winnie continued to work as a secretary for Husky Oil until she was expecting her first son. “We had a well managed household because Winnie never worked after the kids were born,” Bill said Winnie’s cooking was one of the highlights of the household, Bill remembered. “I can’t cook and I’m capable of burning water. I was one day with my mother and the next, I was married. Therefore, it’s a good thing I found such a nice woman.” “Yes, there were always meals on the table. My son used to holler when he came home from high school, ‘Mom, what is there to eat?’ This was good because it took the pressure off of Bill having to do too much work with the children after a long day at work. I took the kids to doctor’s appointments, etc and Bill was able to spend the weekend with them,” Winnie said. “It’s a good thing she knew how to do this because I worked 35 years for AGT. I even spent a year in Quebec because I was on loan with Bell Telephone. During this time, Winnie lived in Lloydminster all by herself with the kids,” Bill went on to say. Winnie nodded. “The only reason he went up there was because my family was in Lloydminster so I
had people to help me out. He wouldn’t have gone if I had to take care of the household alone in a strange place. Hence, he boosted his career at the same time.” It was this family which consists of four children – Rea, Judi, Gina and Don that contributed to their happiness and bond. “Our children have grown up to be very good living people with good jobs and families. See Story............................ Page 8
Afternoon winter fun See page 3 for story
You Asked for it See page 6 for story
34th Wendy Brook Music Festival See page 12 for story