Hugo Gruending, a time to plant

I want you to meet Hugo Gruending, my father’s younger brother and always my favourite uncle. Unfortunately, neither he nor my dad is with us any longer. I came across this black and white photo of Hugo recently when I was rummaging through boxes in my basement, looking for family photos. I recall taking the photo but not the exact date – it would have been in the late 1970s or early 80s. It was in St. Benedict, Saskatchewan, the small farming village where I was born and where Hugo lived his entire life, other than one year as a conscript in the army in 1945. Hugo, like my dad, was a farmer by choice.  The Biblical book of Ecclesiastes says that there is a season for everything, including a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. In those years, Hugo and other farmers would be busy planting their crops in mid to late May. Now, with much larger farms, people tend to seed their crops earlier. My grandparents on either side were of peasant stock from Europe. Early in the 20th century they arrived in Saskatchewan as pioneers.  Farming was never easy and it was financially insecure. Hugo was always industrious and to make ends meet he drove a school bus, then he purchased a garage and later added an insurance franchise. Along with the garage, he purchased a bulk fuel dealership which meant that he supplied farmers with gas and diesel fuel for their vehicles and farm machinery. He worked out of a small office in town and it is there that I took the photo. We all learn in life that appearances can be deceiving, but not in this case. Hugo was  hard-working, wise, honest and warm – I believe this photo conveys all of those qualities. He died in 1990, and his much loved wife Magdalene a few years later. I still miss them.