Emma Marie White came into the world on October 13, 1915. Born at home and oldest of three children of Peter and Mary White, there was also a sister Margaret and a brother Michael, now deceased.

The original surname was Wasylyszyn, but it was changed to Wozyslyn and then to White.

Emma’s father was a miner and the family lived in Michel where her father’s job was working with the horses that brought coal out of the mine.

For the past hundred years the men in this family have worked within the coal industry, it began with her father, then her husband John, her son-in-law Michael and her grandson Jason. Her son Allan also worked at the mine briefly during summer months.

Emma’s daughter, Lois Halko, said that at one time her grandparents had moved back to the Ukraine Ukraine with their children but they returned to Natal after a few years. This capability shows amazing strength of character at a very young age and something obviously passed down.

About ten years ago I interviewed Emma for a history project. I realized straightaway that she was very reserved in regards to her private life and although I pressed I got very little but I do recall that she spoke about being raised in a log house without running water or bathroom facilities although it did have electricity. She also remembered enjoying playing with a doll purchased from the Eaton’s catalogue and cycling around the yard and skating. She did say that back then children didn’t have toys like they do now, fun was made climbing hills, picking flowers and enjoying an ice cream cone when the wagon came around.

Her family say that Emma attended school in Natal until grade eight which was the accepted norm at the time and at age 16 went to work as a waitress at the Michel and Alexandra Hotels.

She married John Chala, who was a neighbour in 1935 and they built their first home on the outskirts of Natal also known as “Little Chicago.” Their two children, Lois and Allan were born at home.

John came from a family of 15 children; his father had died young leaving his mother to raise the large family on her own, an amazing feat for anyone today imagine how difficult it must have been during that time period when there was no government assistance of any kind.

Emma loved accompanying her husband fishing and spent many days doing so. She also loved picnics but family was what has always mattered most in her life. She was delighted with the arrival of grandchildren, Jason, Jennifer and Mark and when they were older welcomed their spouses Karen, Cory and Stacy. The highpoint of her life now is her great grandchildren, Madeline, Emma, Charlotte, John, Paul, Adam and Callie. Emma looks forward to their visits to Sparwood and in the past two months has travelled to Calgary and Lethbridge to visit with them.

Church and Faith is also a big part of her life and until not too long ago she was still active with the Catholic Women’s League.

Her family says that “Emma was the ultimate homemaker. She cooked delicious meals, often entertaining friends and family over a home- made dinner. She later taught family members to make Ukrainian and Slovak favorites such as perogies and borscht, She loved to share recipes with others. She baked often, excelling in sweetbreads. She sewed clothing for herself and her daughter. She was an immaculate house cleaner although keeping a clean house in a coal mining town was a challenge, especially in the 1960’s. She is a great example of women who worked in the home raising children, supporting their husband, working within their church and community, enjoying the life of a small mining town with all of its struggles but also with the contentment that comes with knowing who you are and knowing your place in this world. It was about our immediate family”.

Emma and John and their children moved to Sparwood in 1969 and in the seventies when young women began going to the gym for workouts Emma was amazed by this “foolishness” saying that “any woman who cleans her house as it should be has no need to go to a gym.”

Through the many tributes paid to Emma, it stood out that she has many great qualities , including being a peace keeper, having a calming influence, being soft spoken, a helper, always there when needed, compassionate, loving social get togethers and card parties with friends. She has always lived within her means, isn’t extravagant, loved reading novels and recipe books and even now at 100 years of age keeps current with local, Canadian and world news. And with the exception of moving to the Ukraine for five years with her family in the early 1920’s has lived in this one community all of her life.

To put into perspective how much Emma has seen in her lifetime grandson Jason presented a chronology of “some of the more interesting items of change and things that didn’t even exist when Grandma was born”. Jason began by saying that “It’s rare to meet on such a special occasion, it’s even morerare to have someone so special be part of your life. Grandma’s number one mission in life has been to take care of everyone around her.” Jason went on to say that to this day when he goes to visit she still insists on making meals for him.

He said that in 1915 the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the 12th World Series, in 1919 the pop up toaster was invented, 1928 had sliced bread come on the scene along with bubble gum and penicillin, 1935 had canned beer, 1938 the ball point pen, 1946 the microwave oven, 1948 Frisbee and Velcro, 1949 cake mix, 1954 first non-stick Teflon pan, 1969 first artificial heart, 1971 pocket calculator, 1990 world wide web, 1995 dvd’s.

Emma had the radio to listen to and books to read, she used arithmetic to figure out calculations, baked everything from scratch and canned what she could and used a stove not a microwave. As with most of us who couldn’t have foreseen that man would walk on the moon, go into space or that all this smart technology would abound in such a short time, it’s an amazing number of changes that this lovely lady has seen in her life but one thing has been constant in hers, her love of family, friends and community, her integrity and gratitude for life in general. And this definitely makes her special not only to her family but also to all of us that have the pleasure of knowing her a little.
Congratulations Emma, Happy 100th Birthday, may this year be as wonderful to you as you are to everyone.