Marjorie "Marge" Hamel

Mom was born and raised in Lestock, Saskatchewan. She was the 2nd child of 7 to Helen & Joe Labas. Being the eldest daughter, she learned at an early age good housekeeping skills and excelled at ironing….. ironing everything. Starch was her best friend.

She was smart, organized, active and athletic. She took pride in everything she did & was especially meticulous about her appearance. She was never seen with a hair out of place.

During WWII she attempted to enlist in the Canadian Army but was rejected due to being underage. She went to Regina to take a secretarial course, then went with a friend to Manitoba to train as a psychiatric nurse. When her friend went back home, Mom left nursing and got a job with a furrier.

During one of her visits back home, she met Bob Hamel. After a whirlwind courtship they were married on November 19th, 1947. They settled in Duval, Saskatchewan, where they raised their 3 daughters & 1 son.

Being the only Catholic family in Duval she was still able to continue to practice her faith. Our family regularly attended mass in either Strasbourg or Govan where Mom was an active member of the Govan CWL. It wasn’t unusual for our family to say the rosary on those car trips between Grandma’s and home especially when driving in those Saskatchewan blizzards.

It was in Duval that she really shone. This is where she developed her amazing baking & cooking skills. She became an accomplished seamstress after a friend taught her to sew. She could sew anything, tailored suits, any type of clothing, do alterations & even sew drapes.

Being strongly community minded she put her talents to use by donating to bake sales, helping to organize & cook for fowl suppers, sewing for craft sales all to raise money for the community & for church projects. She even helped host curling bonspiels. Wherever she was needed, there she was…yet she always had time for us.

Mom played softball, broom ball & was in a bowling league but her real passion was curling. She curled in many Saskatchewan towns & cities either skipping or playing third. This left Dad to hold down the fort. After curling season her son would tease her when she returned home by saying, “Who are you?" or "Hey, who’s this strange woman in our house?”

Mom was always a huge Roughrider fan, loved hockey until Wayne Gretzky was traded to the LA Kings at which time she switched to baseball & the Blue Jays.

The only thing she didn’t master was swimming. She said she sank like a rock so the only water she wanted to be submerged in, was in the bathtub.

She loved to dance. She was very proud that she could jitterbug which she learned during the war. She also square-danced with Dad in the Duval Square-dancing Club. To watch Mom & Dad schottische or waltz was mesmerizing as they so elegantly glided across the dance floor.

Mom also loved to play games. She loved playing cards like bridge, whist and hand & foot canasta, which was frequently played into the wee hours of the morning. She also loved going to the casino & shutting it down when the sun was coming up.

She was fiercely protective when it came to her family & friends. She was a fair disciplinarian & wasn’t afraid to discipline anyone if she felt it was called for.

There was always a lot of laughter in our house. Mom’s sense of humour & quick wit remained with her even up to her passing.

Mom’s family was her greatest joy. She lovingly accepted her first born, a daughter who she thought she had lost. Thankfully she was reunited with Mom & for 20 years has been a treasured member of our family.

One thing that was true about our Mom, her door was always open and there was always room for more at the table.