Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
A job transfer brought the Rolin family to Jasper in 1961 from Blue River.
For the next two decades, Enid and Urb, their daughter Diane and son Bruce made the most of this mountain town.
There are interesting synchronicities in Enid's and Urb's lives. Enid was born in Ridgedale, SK, on Oct. 1, 1931 to Irene and Ernest Stewart. She joined Gerald, Lloyd, Wilma, Wilbert and Ross. Brother Earl was born after her. The Stewart family moved to Salmon Arm, B.C. when Enid was about three years old.
Urb (short for Urban) was born in Saskatchewan too, in Lashburn, to Margaret and Louis. He was the oldest of four boys: Lefty, Ken and Garry. The Rolins pulled up stakes in 1943 and moved to - you guessed it - Salmon Arm.
Enid and Urb became high school sweethearts in the late 1940s and were married in 1953.
After graduating from high school in 1948, Enid attended the University of Victoria where she got a teaching degree. Urb graduated in 1949 and five years later, he started his long career with Trans Mountain Pipeline.
When they moved to Jasper, "It was like we had died and gone to heaven," said Urb, about how awesome both the scenery and the people are in Jasper.
When he transferred to Jasper, Urb became the pipeline maintenance supervisor, overseeing a crew of men from Valemount to Edson.
The family lived in Patricia Circle, on the north side of town.
Enid and Urb said bears would come in through the gate of the white fence that surrounds the site and crash through it when dogs would chase them out.
After a few repairs, Trans Mountain said enough of that and left a hole for the bears to exit through.
Urb chuckled, "There was a sign, 'For Trans Mountain bears only' by the hole.”
A nearby skating rink was used every night.
Enid kept busy at home with Diane and Bruce, who were seven and five respectively, when they moved to Jasper. The whole Rolin family got into skiing.
Enid joined the United Church Women (UCW). She had a lot of friends in Jasper and they had all kinds of fun together.
Urb served as board chairman of the United Church for about five years. He was also part of the local Kiwanis Club.
"They had 12 Santa Claus suits, and (we) would visit every house in Jasper," Urb recalled.
The Santas were assigned a specific section of town and a helper would phone each residence in that section to get names of who lived there, so Santa could walk in and know who he'd be speaking with.
Urb chaired a recreation board, run by volunteers.
"In later years, we hired a recreation director, Jim McCormick, and he helped get various programs going," Urb said.
Enid started substitute teaching at the Jasper Junior/Senior High School a few years after the family moved to Jasper, and worked quite a few shifts over the years. Sometimes it was for a month at a time, other times it was "a day here and a day there, sometimes for a week". She recalled the principal in the late 60s, Dean Tweedle.
Enid also worked at Rowed and Oneill, a gift shop on Connaught Drive, a couple of doors down from the Chaba Theatre. She enjoyed meeting tourists during her eight years there.
Diane graduated from high school in 1970 and got into the nursing program at the University of Alberta. After a couple of years she switched majors, becoming a teacher and working in Edmonton for the duration of her career.
After completing Grade 11 in Jasper, Bruce moved to Bellingham, Washington, to join the Junior A Hockey Club there. He graduated from high school a year later and joined the New Westminster Bruins, close to Vancouver.
From there, Bruce attended the University of Alberta, playing with the Golden Bears Hockey Club. The team won three Canadian championships and a world title in Spain during his time with the club.
When Urb got word he was being transferred to Edmonton in 1982, he and Enid were very sad about leaving Jasper. They lived there until 1986, when Urb was transferred to Kamloops and he worked as a superintendent until he retired in 1988. That move was easier. Both Enid's and Urb's families lived in Salmon Arm, relatively close by.
Diane passed away on Oct. 1, 2019, after a long teaching career in Edmonton.
Bruce moved to Australia in 1984 where he and his wife Helen raised Courtney and Michael.
Two years and nine months ago, Enid, 89 and Urb, 90, moved into the Berwick Seniors Residence in Kamloops. They enjoy life there but have fond memories of the 21 years they lived in Jasper, including dancing in the Jasper Park Lodge ballroom to a live orchestra. The Rolins were given a warm send-off when they moved away.
"It was a wonderful place," Enid said. "There was lots to do and it's very beautiful all times of the year, not just summer."
"It was the best place to raise our family," Urb said.
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