When you’re reading something, have you ever come across a single point that you cannot get out of your head? It could be something mundane or something extraordinary.
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The subject of this week’s column, Mary “Molly” Fox, did just that for me.
She was born in 1920, shortly after her Scottish-born parents Peter and Mary Sutherland settled in Canada.
The family homestead was located just west of Lloyd in Blackfoot. After finishing Grade 8, she would attend boarding school at Lakeland College in Vermilion. She took carpentry, learning to make 2×2 and 2x4s, a skill that would come in handy later.
A certain fox would catch her eye when he stopped to ask for directions while planting trees. That would be Jonathan Fox III, and the tree she planted grew to be strong and tall, a direct mirror of the pair’s life together.
The two would get married and move onto the Fox farm just outside of Lloydminster.
Her mom moved to the house and it became affectionately known as granny’s house. Molly kept busy feeding the people of the farm and managing a large yard and garden. Of note, keeping track of Jonathan could’ve been a full-time job for her. In 1941, they welcomed son Lyal into the world, followed by Charlie Bob. She raised some rambunctious boys.
It would be a big year for Molly and the farm in 1957, when they hosted their first production sale, aptly named Sale of the Year. It also served as an event in cattle fraternity, Molly and family organized a meet-and-greet party, complete with a live band and dancing.
She later recounted the comments made by a local shoemaker about how business jumped following the Justamere dance. Bobby Hull attended their dance, a polled Hereford breeder himself.
Tragedy would strike the family as Charlie Bob died in 1971. He was struck by another vehicle while changing a tire on a trailer. Jay, their youngest grandson, was also killed in a farming accident.
In the 1980s, Molly and Jonathan moved to Heffley Creek, B.C., to raise Morgan and Fjord horses, along with Norwegian Elkhounds. The younger generation had taken over management of Justamere farms, allowing the pair some time away. They wouldn’t stay away for long, eventually returning to Lloydminster to be with the family.
Jonathan died in 2008 at the age of 89 and Molly would live to be nearly 94. She died in 2014 at the Lloydminster hospital.
In her later years, Molly kept good watch over her grandchildren and great-grandchildren from granny’s house. She even kept up her love of sewing, making her signature hats. She said store-bought hats never fit as well as hers, so she always had to make her own.
This simple fact about hats captured my mind for the last two weeks since reading up on Molly.
Every time I put on my tuque, I think, ‘Oh, I have too much hair, that’s why this doesn’t fit nicely.’ I’m sure Molly’s hats would have fit me perfectly, just as they fit her, just the way she liked.
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