Roy Parkinson (1914-1996), the son of Albert Parkinson (1870-1950) and Alice French (1871-1922), was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Due to what sounds like a very troubled family Roy was estranged from his family of origin and reconnected with his sister after 30 years. He was forced to begin paying rent as a teenager, left school to work and left the family home. Working for the bank he was sent to two or three communities in Saskatchewan, eventually ending in Broadview. There he was a border with the Kirby family and quite quickly married Ruth Kirby (1913-1993). Ruth was the daughter of Charles Kirby (1880-1944) and Elizabeth Helen Radley Slee (1883-1955). Roy and Ruth married in Regina due to bank policy which discouraged young men from marring, a policy which led to Roy being fired after one year.
(photo taken in 1935)
In late 1939 when war appeared to be certain Broadview became a collection point for recruits from the region and Roy was quickly made a supervisor (sergeant) in charge of recruiting and making arrangements for a substantial camp on the edge of town. This was the 110th Field Battery, part of the 15th Canadian Field Regiment. The troops left Broadview on July, 1941 to reposition in the Halifax area. They remained there until embarking for England in August 1942. Ruth took her two young children to Halifax to keep the family together and the photo below may have been taken there in late 1941 or 1942. Roy saw action in France, Holland and Germany for the last year of the war, serving as the quartermaster in the divisional office.
Roy returned from Europe in time to learn that a consolidation of school divisions had been made possible by legislation: he became the secretary/treasurer for the first of these large school district. Roy and Ruth died in Saskatoon where they had retired.
The Parkinson children, all born in Broadview, were:
- Douglas Roy Parkinson (1937-1998)
- Gary Parkinson (1940-). Married Shirley Simpson.
- Beverly Parkinson (1953-) Married Don Fry.
- Verdyne Parkinson (1955-). Never married.
Gary Parkinson married Shirley Simpson, also of Broadview, and her family is covered in many other posts, which finally brings the story of all these posts to a conclusion.