52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 23 Prompt - Wedding

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 23

Prompt – Wedding

I interviewed Bill's mother, Clara Hoffart, on March 16, 2008 and again in August 28, 2017.  I was trying to piece together Clara and Tony's story and in particular how they met, their courtship and their wedding.

She sets the scene.

Tony's first job was pumping gas at the "Katepwa Service Station".  Katepwa is about 95 kilometers NE of Regina. 

For some time after his first job he worked on a very large farm run by the Novak Family which was south of Regina.  He helped with their harvest.

In the fall of 1944 or 1945 Tony and 3 buddies went to St Catharine's, Ontario to do some factory work.  Clara did not know the specifics of his type of work.  She did know that he really hated it because the job was so repetitive. 

Tony and 3 Buddies somewhere in Ontario. Tony is 2nd From The Left

Sometime after his factory work he returned to Regina and worked as an apprentice in Litz Electric Shop owned by Clara's cousin, Art Jahnke (not her father). Thus Tony knew a Jahnke before he met Clara Jahnke.  In the fall of 1945 Tony came to Killaly to work at Zaleski's Garage. 

Adam Zaleski opened a combined garage, dealership for Ford and Massey Ferguson.  Mr. Zaleski heard about Tony and offered him a job.

Clara said she met him at a dance.  I asked her whether she knew of him before the dance. She laughed and said; "you saw Killaly, if someone new came into town everyone knew!"

Killaly had dances most every Saturday night. There would be no dances from November 25 till Christmas and no dances during lent. Clara said the bands were four to five piece orchestras. Some were local and others were from afar.

Clara said, Tony and her relationship was on again and off again over the next 6 years. In fact she gave her ring back to Tony once.

Religion played a big part in this tension.   Clara was Lutheran and Tony was Catholic or as Clara said a "staunch Catholic" and Tony's family were “devout Catholics”. 

Plans for their wedding were begun and at least one big decision had to be made and that was where to have their wedding.  

Clara was told since she was not Catholic they could not marry at the altar of the Catholic Church but Priest Schneider said he could marry them in the narthex.  For those who may not know, a narthex is the entrance way or lobby space just before the entrance to a church.  After that comment, Clara did not want to marry in the Catholic Church and in fact she refused to be married there.  However if Tony got married in a Lutheran Church, he would be excommunicated and in the end he was.  Clara said at that point she knew that Tony was serious about their relationship when he was willing to part from the Catholic church and thus his family.

They set the date for October 6, 1952 in the Killaly St.John's Lutheran Church. 

Tony's parents, Rochus and Marian Hoffart and his siblings and family were not happy about the wedding being held in the Lutheran church.  In fact months after the wedding, Clara was told by her wedding singer who was a Catholic what the priest said in the Catholic church service the day before their wedding.  Priest Schneider announced in church that "it would be a 'mortal sin' to attend that wedding".   As a result most of Tony's family did not come to the wedding ceremony however some did come to the party afterwards.  Sadly, Tony's parents, and his oldest sister, husband and family were not their for either ceremony or party.

Further Clara remembers that this also affected the choice of their orchestra that her parents wanted for the wedding dance.  That orchestra refused to play for them.  One of the band members was a cousin of the Zaletski Garage workers.  Mrs Zaletski did not approve of this Catholic - Lutheran union and forbade them to play at the wedding.

Reverend Riekert was the Lutheran pastor who married them.

The wedding did go forward and no one died in its wake.  However Tony's relationship with his parents and some siblings would never be the same. 

 

As I mentioned before, the wedding was on October 6, 1952 which was a Monday.   I asked Clara why they chose to get married on a Monday.

Clara said that Tony was working in Saskatoon already and had to work until Saturday evening.  The drive to Killaly was quite far from Saskatoon.  Besides if the wedding was on Saturday, the party after the wedding would end right at midnight because it would be Sunday and liquor laws were strictly enforced at that time.

According to the newspaper write up, their wedding dance was attended by about 400 people.  That is one heck of a lot of guests. Tony and Clara met on the dance floor and started their married life dancing. 

Tony and Clara Leading to The First Dance.

Wendy