Elvira Nagel likes to keep busy

By Joan Janzen

Elvira Nagel is one of the first residents who moved into Caleb Village after it was first constructed. Having just celebrated her 91st birthday, she enjoys her independence - cooking her own meals, driving downtown to purchase groceries and helping out at Caleb. She enjoys communicating with her family and playing word games on her iPad, as well as watching ball games and curling on television.

Elvira Nagel enjoys a busy life at Caleb Village in Kindersley. Photo by Joan Janzen

“My sister lives here, and we do many activities together,” Elvira explained. “She motivates me, and I hope I motivate her.” The two ladies organize bingo, Kaiser tournaments and work on the library of large print books they receive from the Kindersley library every two weeks.

“For many years, we were involved in buying, planting and watering plants around here, but now younger people have volunteered, so our workload is less,” she said. “I’ve always loved gardening, especially flowers.” Her outdoor patio is lined with planters, which she jokingly calls horse troughs.

Elvira grew up on a farm north of Laporte, along with her brother, sister and parents. Her parents immigrated from Germany in 1930, leaving all of their family behind. Their neighbours on the farm were old acquaintances from Germany, so the two families spent Easter and Christmas holidays together since their grandparents, aunts, and uncles were living in Germany.

She attended a one-room school two and a half miles from their farm. “I didn’t speak a word of English when I started school,” she explained. Yet somehow, her young English-speaking teacher managed to put her through both grades 1 and 2 in one year.

Elvira learned to speak English at school, but it was a different story at the church she attended. At confirmation classes, her pastor required the children to read and write German, as well as learn the 10 commandments and the Lord’s Prayer in German.

When Elvira turned 16, her dad went to town and bought her a driver’s licence; no driver’s exam was required. “Then he put me in a grain truck and told me to take a load of grain to Mantario,” she added.

A highlight for Elvira and her siblings was going to Eatonia on Saturday nights, watching a movie for 25 cents, going to the drugstore for a sundae or eating Boston cream pie at the restaurant.

Another highlight in her childhood occurred when her parents decided to take a month-long family vacation in California to visit her uncle, who had moved there from Germany. Throughout the long drive, they saw all the sites, including Yellowstone Park and the giant redwood trees.

Grades 9 and 10 were taken by correspondence at the country school, after which Elvira attended Luther College in Regina for the remaining two years of high school. After graduation, she returned to Kindersley and took a secretarial course while staying in the school’s dorms. “Then I went to Regina to work as an invoice clerk at Robinsons Machinery,” she said. “But city life wasn’t my cup of tea, and I soon moved back to Kindersley.”

In 1952, Elvira married Ed Nagel, and they lived on a farm two and a half miles northwest of Eatonia. “Ed and I had four children: three girls - Karen, Pam and Bev and a boy, Trevor. We lost our oldest daughter, Karen, to cancer when she was only 45. That was very, very sad,” Elvira said.

Along with grain farming, the family raised cattle, pigs and chickens. “It was a good way of life,” she recalled. “We vacationed at Greg Lake for many years in our motor home, went on a salmon fishing trip to the coast with friends and took our two youngest kids on a bus trip to Disneyland,” she said. She also enjoyed bowling, curling, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School and catering church suppers.

Ed and Elvira sold their farm after enjoying 54 years of farming and moved into Caleb Village. After living at Caleb for a number of years, Ed passed away in August 2016. They had been married for 64 years and have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Elvira enjoys regular visits from her kids and grandkids and likes to keep busy. “Every morning, I have a reason to get up, take one day at a time and make the best of it,” she said.