Johns, Olive
Continuing the history from the Crandall Chronicles book of 1971 of Wilbur and Helen (Nellie) Johns and their family, they took up residence in the Crandall district in 1911, where they farmed until Wilbur's death in 1944. Helen passed away very suddenly in 1949, soon after moving to Crandall.
Their eldest daughter, Mamie, was born in 1911 and died in 1922.
Their eldest son, Alvin, married Laura Colbeck of Hamiota, Manitoba. After serving the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders during World War II, they lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba where Alvin worked for the Grain Exchange. They later moved to Port Moody, British Columbia where he served as Post Master until his health failed. Alvin passed away in 1969 and Laura died in 1989. They had two sons, Larry (deceased) and Wayne, now living in British Columbia.
Wilbur and Helen's son Elmer married Helen Anderson, of Shoal Lake, Manitoba. They farmed at Lavinia, Manitoba until due to Elmer's ill health they moved to Hamiota in 1991. Elmer passed away in 1992. Helen still resides in Hamiota. They had five children Joyce, Darlene, Beverley, Murray and Dallas.
Daughter, Margaret, married Stan Lelond of Arrow River, Manitoba where they farmed before moving to Haywood, Manitoba and later retired to Treherne, Manitoba. Stan passed away in 1986 and Margaret in 1991. They had a family of four, Donnie (deceased in 1988), Sharon, Ross and Ralph.
Son Lyle married Olive Rockley of Lavinia. They farmed the "Johns" family farm at Crandall. They moved to Decker in 1975 and Lyle passed away in 1983. Olive moved to Rivers, Manitoba where she now resides. They have four children Heather, Elaine, Beth and Robbi.

Johnson, Morgan and Myrtle
Continuing the Johnson saga from 1971.
Myrtle moved from Park Residence in Hamiota, Manitoba to Heritage Lodge in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she lived until she passed away in December 1975.
Daughter, Shirley Sanford and husband, Fred still live in Chatham, Ontario and enjoy travelling. Their son, Douglas is a Musical Director of the Toronto East Symphony Orchestra as well as of the Okanagan Symphony out of Kelowna, British Columbia. He commutes between the two cities.
Son, Garth was killed in a plane crash in Scotland in 1944. His wife, June Marie died in Kanata, Ontario in 1997. His son Garth Laycock, retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force, and is working now for the R.C.M.P. in Nelson, British Columbia. He and his wife, Roni live in Castlegar, British Columbia. Their son Garth Craig lives in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife, Brenda, son Cody Garth and daughter Kacy June.
Son, Morgan and wife Eleanor, retired in Winnipeg and built a lovely home on the eighth hole of the golf course at Sandy Hook, Manitoba where they spend their summers. For many years they have spent their winters in Arizona. Their family consists of two boys and two girls. Brian and wife, Shyrl, live in California. Their sons Jeffery and Jason live in Santa Barbara, California and Princeton, New Jersey. Son, Greg and his wife Betty live in Cranbrook, British Columbia with their daughter Kelly Ann (16). Their son, Kurtis, (22) lives in Kamloops, British Columbia. Daughter Karen and Murray live in Barrie, Ontario with her daughter Lindy (15). Her other daughter, Dana (19) lives in Orangeville, Ontario. Daughter, Kim and husband Mark Woods live in Transcona, Manitoba with their children, Jesse (12) and twins Carly Morgan and Jamie (10).
Son Stuart and wife Donna lived and taught in Winnipeg. Since their retirement from the teaching profession, they have enjoyed many trips to Great Britain, continental Europe, Mexico, South America, New Zealand and Australia. Three winter months have been spent each year in Arizona, USA.

Johnston, Alice V. (nee Smith)
Alice is retired and enjoying family and friends in Brandon, Manitoba.

Johnston, Brian
I was born in 1943 at Deloraine, Manitoba. I was a curiosity, as I was born with a tooth.
In 1948, after living the first five years of my life at Dand, Manitoba, I moved with my parents, Herbert V. and Dorothy (Stewart) Johnston, my brother Neil and sister Mary Helen, to the A.B.C. Dickey farm (SW 12-14- 25) 1.6 km north of Crandall.
I started school in Crandall in 1949. My first day of school I got into a fight with Neil Amy and came out the second best. When I got home there was a "Radio Flyer" wagon waiting for me. It was my reward for going to school without too much protest. We are still using pieces of this wagon on the farm.
I took all my schooling in Crandall. My teachers were Miss Vera Johnston, Miss. Velma Sherritt, Miss. June Turner, Miss. Wilma Beattie, Miss. Evelyn Frost, Mr. Paul Kuch, Miss. Joan Teal, Mrs. Doris Rampling, Mrs. Audrey Lints, Mrs. Jean Kitz, Miss. Bergan, Mr. Joan Suszko and Mr. Bill Davison.
I finally graduated in 1962. Back when I went to school, girls wore skirts and they never smoked or swore. The boys had short haircuts. We were all afraid of the teachers, as they weren't afraid to use the strap. Miss Teal administered that punishment on me. Nowadays, the teachers are afraid of the students.
All the boys participated in sports, even the not so gifted ones like myself. Baseball, hockey, rugby and curling were the main sports. Neil Amy was by far the best athlete I went to school with. The girls played softball, dodgeball and volleyball.
In the fifties we were allowed to listen to the World Series on the radio and curl in the Crandall Bonspiel during class. When Mr. Bill Davison became the principal in the late fifties, he put an end to these perks.
In July of 1962, I began employment with the Royal Bank of Canada, serving in Hamiota, Pine Falls, Lac du Bonnet, Roland and Baldur, Manitoba. I resigned in 1965 to come home to farm the R.L. Dickey farm. This consisted of the E1/2 and SW 1/4 of 11-14-25.
After harvest. Herb Johnston, son of Garnet and Alice and I worked on the construction of the Shellmouth Dam. Al Hirst was the night foreman on the project. Later when freeze up came. Herb and I went to Alberta and worked with a seismic company at Zama Lake. The three following years I returned to Alberta in the winter and worked for Braidnor, an oil field construction company. I worked at Swan Hills, Rainbow Lake and then back at Zama Lake.
I served on the church board and was the last secretary for the Manitoba Pool Elevators Crandall board. The Crandall elevator closed in 1980. The last elevator manager, Karen Koloski of Oakburn, was the first female to hold that position in western Canada.
In 1985, I had a new shed built, purchased a new truck and took a trip to the Yukon. That same year, Melanie Ellis of Lenore came to live with me. She was 20 years my junior and had somewhat of a free spirit. Having a steady job and money seemed to come secondary to her. One day she made $50.00 and that night she blew it all on a case of beer and a pizza.
In 1993 Melanie fell off a horse and suffered a severe head injury. She was in the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg for 33 days. She spent some time at Brandon Mental Hospital and then came home. She was never quite the same. That winter she moved in with Wayne Van Buskirk and is still there.
In 1995, I eased out of farming and started a custom cutting and baling operation. I work for farmers within a thirty-mile radius.
In 1996 Aline de Montigny and her daughter, Rachelle Saindon, came to live with me. Rachelle stayed with us for one year and then she moved to Hamiota and went to school from there.
Aline grew up in the St. Boniface and St. Anne areas. She married, moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta and lived there for sixteen years when she divorced and moved back to Manitoba. Besides Rachelle, Aline has a son, Louis who lives in Hamiota.
I had been having anxiety attacks for several years. In 1997 I went to a psychiatrist, who happened to be Allison Gunson. Allison and I rode the same school bus. It was determined that thirty years of alcohol abuse caused my problem. Dr. Gunson put me on medication and I quit drinking and have not had an attack since.
In 1999 Aline and I married and continue to live on the farm at SW 12-14-25.

Johnston, Dennis Elwyn
November 28, 1940
Dennis has retired from his teaching career, which spanned 36 years. He taught elementary school in Miniota, Waskada, Brandon, and Shilo, Manitoba. He also taught mathematics for many years in the high school at Shilo. Dennis received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1973 from the Brandon University. He met his wife when she was in nurse's training at the Hamiota Hospital. Helen graduated as a Licensed Practical Nurse. She worked at the Assiniboine Hospital and the Fairview Nursing Home until retirement. She was a stay at home mother while her three daughters were in school.
After Dennis' retirement in 1996 he worked as a fishing guide for Plummer's Lodges at Great Bear Lake in the North West Territories, and as a fishing camp manager for Scott Lake Lodge which is at the northern edge of Saskatchewan. He presently is a licensed guide for Manitoba, a certified guide for Saskatchewan, and is returning to Plummer's Lodge this summer.
Dennis and Helen are now living in Brandon. Their car is going to be travelling many miles/kilometres as they travel to visit their daughters. Tari (Faulkner) and her family are in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jodi (Thornton) and her family reside in Washburn, Wisconsin. Traci (McCutchin) and her husband have been posted to Thompson, Manitoba. Their histories appear elsewhere in this book.

Johnston, Garnet Elwyn
(May 17, 1917-June25, 1986)
Interred in the Family plot in the Crandall Cemetery.

Johnston: Jacob, Leonard, Delymer, Hirst, Elliot and Strain
By Mayme Hirst (Daughter)
Life and Crandall have changed greatly since the publication of the Chronicles of Crandall. We don't have much of a town left, but we are a great little community even if we are few.
The Jacob and Margaret Johnston (my great grandparents) branch of the Johnstons came to an end name wise with the death of my father Delymer Johnston, on December 24, 1993. Dad truly went home for Christmas.

Johnston, Neil Herbert
I was born in 1939 at Deloraine, Manitoba and moved with my parents, Herbert and Dorothy, my sister, Mary Helen and brother Brian to Crandall in 1948. Father passed away in December 1980 and Mother died in February 1989. Both are buried in the Crandall Cemetery. Mary Helen is married to Arnold Nicholls and lives in Hamiota. Brian is married to Aline de Montigny, and they live on the home farm 1.6- km north of Crandall. His history appears elsewhere in this book.
Classmates through my school years were Anita Schoch, Bev Rudd, Eileen Padfield, and Margaret Elliot. Close friends were Barry Lyng, Garry Van Buskirk, Ivan Schoch, and Wallace Lelond, to name but a few. Additional friends were Lyie Littlejohn and John Dickey who continue to be close to this day.
I finished school in 1957, and started working as a brakeman for the Canadian National Railway in Brandon, Manitoba that July. 1957-1958 saw long job lay off periods so I resigned from the CN and started work for the Royal Bank in Shoal Lake, Manitoba in July 1958. October 1958, I was transferred to Glenboro, in November 1959 to Keewatin, Ontario, September 1960 to Winnipeg and November 1961 to Souris, Manitoba. In all of those communities, I worked at clerical and administrative responsibilities, with leisure time spent playing golf and fastball in the summer and curling in the winter. While in Souris, I added another interest when I met Noreen Logan. I was transferred to Steinbach, Manitoba in July 1963, and Noreen and I were married that September. We lived in Steinbach until December 1968, and to say the least, a lot happened. Craig Herbert was born in 1965, followed quietly by Clare Neil in 1966. 1967 and 68 were troubling years as Noreen's sister died from cancer after a long illness. Also Noreen was expecting our third child. That December, in the following order, my third son Rick Stewart was born. I reported for work in Port Arthur, Ontario one week later, returning to Steinbach for Christmas and to pack our belongings.
Port Arthur became Thunder Bay while we lived there. We made many friends with whom we are still close. In 1972 we were transferred to Winnipeg, 1975 to London, Ontario, 1978 to Kitchener, Ontario (we lived in Waterloo), and in 1981 to Cambridge, Ontario. London and Kitchener were management positions in a loan risk approval role, while Cambridge was manager of the main branch. In December 1984, I became a Regional Manager in Toronto, Ontario and we moved to our home in Markham, Ontario where we still live. In 1987, because of a re-organization, I became an Area Manager in an affluent part of Toronto where I remained until my retirement in July 1993. Noreen worked part time for Hallmark Card and Gift, and in 1994 she retired as well. We now spend our leisure time with our family, playing golf and some community work as well as travelling.
Our oldest son, Craig married Patricia Polsky of Hamilton, Ontario in 1990. He operates his own hardwood flooring business in Cambridge. They have two children, Elizabeth (1998) and Ann (1999). Our second son Clare works for the Royal Bank as an investment advisor in downtown Toronto. He has not yet married and lives in Toronto's West End. Rick married Crystal Quast of Winnipeg in 1997. He is a commercial photographer and has his own studio. Crystal is an investment analysis writer for an Internet Investment firm. They have two children and live in Toronto.
With family still living in the Crandall community, we visit every couple of years, and we are able to keep up to date on Crandall news every week or two thanks to significantly reduced telephone rates.