Issues, ethics, memory
We lost our dear brother Jackie Gruending to the ravages of multiple sclerosis in 2021 at age 57. This memorial booklet combines his personal history along with that of our family and community, with lots of photos.
This story involves love, generosity and a big black Underwood typewriter. My pleasant memory of that gleaming old monster was triggered recently when I saw an antique in a used bookstore in my city neighbourhood. Farmers in town I grew up in St. Benedict, Saskatchewan, a small prairie town with three wooden grain elevators and... Continue Reading →
I am thinking today of my father Rudy Gruending who would have been 96 years old on November 15. He was born on a farm in Saskatchewan in 1918 several years before the Canadian Pacific Railway built tracks nearby and a small, false-fronted village called St. Benedict was built beside them. My dad was to... Continue Reading →
I grew up in a small rural village in Saskatchewan called St. Benedict, which in the 1950s and early 60s would have had a population of 200 or more. There are now about 80 people living there. Twenty years ago, in August 1993, our village held a homecoming event. People who once lived in the area came... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 