30 years later, memories still strong

Gerry Williscroft
For South Peace News

The children of Jack Green Williscroft wish to share with friends and family this month reminiscences of their father. They say he was a man of vision. On March 17, 1977 this father, husband and grandfather was taken suddenly from them by a tragic accident that took place on the ranch south of High Prairie. While working along the bank of the West Prairie River the D7 crawler he was operating slipped over the side and rolled. “Swede”, as his friends and family knew him by, was the kind of person who did not use the word “can’t”. He did not even consider not being able to complete any project or that any one of his children might not succeed. He was a man with a tremendous heart who loved family. When Gerry and Gary (the twins) were small he would place one on either side of him on the D7 17A crawler while out clearing land and gently work around them all day pulling levers. They say they usually ate most of the lunch that their mother sent along even though he did all the work. Swede was a natural leader. His family did not even consider going against him because he had a way about him of making you believe that his way was going to work and it always did. Everyone learned to work at a young age. There were chores for everyone as well as lots of time off from school to take positions as equipment operators in construction projects for the family and harvest leaves to get the crops off. In 1967 Swede purchased a large, two-storey home from Edmo Perry and against all odds and with the help of his friend, Bruce Parke, he moved that big old house from north of High Prairie all the way to the ranch south of town. Swede was a very hard working individual and worked himself into a heart attack in 1975. Then, just when he was starting his recovery process, the big farmhouse burned to the ground, taking with it all the families mementos and valuables, including a pile of wedding gifts belonging to daughter Tammy, that were stored in the downstairs. Today, the family still marvels at how the town and community rallied for them providing clothing for the younger children, etc. Swede loved horses. He was well-known in the area for his involvement with local rodeo. He provided cattle for wild cow milking and roping events at the High Prairie Rodeo and did his share of bronc riding at home and putting on a Roman standing act with brother Bob. There is no doubt that Swede would be one proud father if he could see what his children are doing today. Daughter Tammy Melnyk is operating Northwest Machine and Welding with her husband, Alan, which provides essential welding and machining service to the area. Tammy’s children are both successful business owners as well. Her daughter, Jennifer, owns and operates Flowers ‘n’ Things and son, Robert, owns and operates Blue Wing Enterprises providing portable welding service. Swede’s oldest son, Ron or R.J., along with wife Linda and family has built a large and successful trucking company, Emerald Trucking, which does fluid transfer in the oilfield. Their company is recognized from Calgary north for the quality of service they provide. Ron and Linda’s daughter, Jody, has a degree in business and works in the family business. Their sons, Darrell and Ryan, are currently attending university in Edmonton to complete degrees relating to the oilfield. Youngest sons Gary and Gerry are partners in Williscroft Bros. Construction Ltd. and Williscroft Bros. Ranch. They have expanded on what Swede started into a successful diverse ranch operation. There are a lot of pounds of beef produced each year along with grain and forage and even some good horses. They have built a 30-year reputation in the construction and logging industries supplying services to the oilfield and having a long running work relationship with Tolko Industries and Buchanan Lumber. Gary and JoAnn’s oldest daughter, Jenna, has completed her Bachelor of Education and currently teaches at High Prairie Elementary School while their son, Riley, has started his own business Triple Six Line Locating, which provides the service of line locations and CORE certification work as well as other safety related work. Second daughter, Stephanie, is graduating high school this year and youngest daughter, Karla, is not far behind. Gerry and Judy’s son, Christopher, graduates this year as well and is already an accomplished equipment operator. He loves to participate in roughstock events in rodeo and has just completed a successful year in midget hockey. Daughter Kylie is the youngest of all the children and is currently in Grade 9 in school. She is also involved with horses and rides both Western and English discipline. She also enjoys school sports. Swede’s wife, Emma, worked hand and hand with her husband through tough times and good, and has been a rock for her children. After Swede’s passing, she continued to be very active in the ranch operation, operating farm equipment, working cattle, doing parts runs and babysitting grandchildren. Emma tells stories to her grandchildren with pride of hard work and good times with “Grampa Swede”, and yet today she gets a great twinkle in her eyes when she speaks of the years she had with “the love of her life” (Swede). Emma lives today between Gerry and Gary at the ranch. From Gerry: “Dad’s vision of the future was that by moving to Banana Belt he could offer his family the opportunity to build a ranch without being limited to availability of land. The Blue Hills offered exactly that. Many times I remember when we were clearing land and farming small fields and river meadows Dad would say to us that he wanted to have a field you could hardly see the end of and have it dotted with cattle grazing. Dad always referred to Banana Belt with the Blue Hills surrounding it as ‘God’s Country’ and when we would be out riding through the hills and river meadows he would say, ‘This has to be just as pretty as heaven’.” Gerry maintains that a large part of whatever success our families have experienced can be attributed to the leadership from our parents. Our Mom and Dad were unified as a couple, which gave us the strength of both parents. When things weren’t going so well Dad always said “when the going gets tough, the tough get going!” Dad, even though it’s been 30 years since you’ve been gone it seems like yesterday. We are all just grateful we had you to lead us. It is hard to believe that on Gary and my next birthday we will be the same age you were when you left us. Thirty years of work, 30 years of life, 30 years without you.

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