George Wesley Bass

Other Events:

• Military: WW1
• Name: Wes Bass
• Name: Wesley Baase
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-30078P
• Residence: 1891, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Residence: 1916, Strome, , Alberta

Notes:

Mom says he considered himself to be, even though he was never a church-going man. In addition, although grandma always referred to him as George, his neice Louise always called him Uncle Wes (Louisa Harris but known as Louise, was the daughter of Elizabeth Ann Bass and James Henry Harris - I remember her very well as she lived to be 102 years old and was of sound mind until the last few years!). So it does seem that he may have gone by George and by Wes (Wesley), as you have noted in your printout, at different times in his life or perhaps in different circumstances. He is listed as living in Household # 17 (the Carey family) but no relationship to the head of household is specified - the field was left blank.

He entered military service in 1916 and was a Private; his attestation papers are dated 31 January 1916 and he lists his home address as Strom, Alberta. Mom said that he came to Alberta about 1911 (brought some horses from Ontario with a group of men) and went up to the Peace River Country in northen Alberta for a while before going back down to Strom. He had a homestead in the Peace River County (at East Kleskun) and there is some uncertainty as to whether he got the land before or after entering the war - mom thinks before but I have not found the documentation yet. On the attestation papers he listed his next of kin as "Mrs. Harry Harris" of Yorkton, Saskatchewan (this is his oldest sister Elizabeth Ann, or Anne as I have seen both spellings - Mom says he always called her Lizzie). His occupation was listed as farmer. The papers also describe him as being 5' 81/2", dark complexion, brown eyes, brown hair.

He fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and came through unscathed, but then suffered a gunshot wound to his left side and arm on 23 May 1917 (I think on Pimple Hill, essentially at Vimy Ridge but a month after the battle itself). He was sent to a hospital in England for recuperation, and later met my grandmother while visiting the Harris family in England, who are also related to my grandmother, although grandma and grandpa are not related to each other. He was discharged from the army on 30 March 1918 "in accordance HQ having been placed Calgary CII as a result of sicknes" - this is a direct quote from his discharge papers.

Once he was back in Canada, he and grandma wrote to each other and in 1926 grandma (Florence Druce but always called Flo, DOB 20 July 1901, born in England - she had no middle name) came to Canada to marry him. On arrival in Canada she stayed with his sister Elizabeth in Yorkton Saskatchewan for a brief time, and then they were married on 09 Jun 1926 at "The Manse, Fourth Avenue, Yorkton, Saskatchewan"; this is from their marriage certificate. We also have, I guess what you would call a brochure, of the marriage ceremony. He was homesteading then, at East Kleskun in the Peace River Country, so this is where they lived (the Peace River Country is about a 600 square mile area in northern Alberta, mostly agricultural, that the Peace River winds its way through - it is referred to as the Peace River Country, or sometimes the Peace Country).

In 1938 they adopted my mother (Evelyn Mae Bass, born 27 Feb 1938 in Calgary, Alberta) as they never had any children of their own. She is their only child. They were still living on the farm at that time.

In 1943 they moved to Clairmont, Alberta which is a small town, and not all that far from the East Kleskun area. It's closest larger town was, and still is, Grande Prairie, which is about a 15 minute drive away (as a reference point, Grande Prairie is about a 6 hour drive north of Edmonton on today's highways).

When World War II started grandpa tried to enlist again. He was too old so he lied about his age, saying he was younger than he was. But he did not lie by enough years, and we have a letter where the military thanks him for offering to enlist, but declines him.

Grandpa died on 30 Jun 1960 at the Colonel Mewburn Veterans Hospital, in Edmonton, Alberta. According to mom, he had bowel cancer. He had surgery and then the bowel twisted, requiring a second surgery. Then he developed pneumonia and subsequently died. The death certificate says he died of Heart Failure. He was buried at the Emerson Trail Cemetary, Sexsmith, Alberta in Jul 1960. Although the cemetary address is Sexsmith, the cemetary is in the country, between the towns of Sexsmith and Clairmont (where they were still living) - the two towns are only 10 minutes apart from one another.

Grandma continued to live in Clairmont until about 1972, when she decided to move into the Heritage Lodge, in Grande Prairie, Alberta. In about 1992 she moved to a lodge in Gibbons, Alberta, just north of Edmonton and very close to Mom and Dad (and no more than an 45 minute drive from most of the rest of us). In 1996 or so she had a few strokes and finally had to go into a nursing home. Unfortunately, because of the way our provincial health care system worked then, she was placed in the first nursing home that had an available bed, which turned out to be in the town of Willingdon, Alberta, a 2-4 hour drive away from all of us (one-way!). We vigorously campaigned to have her moved to a nursing home that was 20 minutes from Mom and Dad, and several months later we succeeded. But then, the day before she was supposed to move, she died, on 22 Apr 1997 in the nursing home in Willingdon, Alberta. Her funeral service was held in Grande Prairie, Alberta on 26 Apr 1997 and she was buried, the same day, at the Emerson Trail Cemetary and next to Grandpa.

Edna Hutchings email 2009