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Steve Tasko came to Canada in 1929 , leaving his wife in the old country (Hungary) with her parents and it took 9 years before she was able to join him in Canada. He moved to East Coulee in 1936 as he always wanted to be a coal miner and he used to say "Coal mining is in my bones". His occupation in the mines was as a timberman which means constructing the framing and supports to keep the tunnel ceiling and walls from caving in. This was an exacting job and he took it very seriously. Once his wife, Mary, joined him in East Coulee they had two children.

They had one boy and one girl and they named them Steve and Mary. They had a well maintained two story house on River Drive with a large yard that provided space for the vegetable gardens that were so important in East Coulee. Mary was well known for having a very productive garden and one of the reasons was the use of raised beds. They both took care of the house and yard, keeping them in top condition at all times.

After Steve retired he was presented with a framed copy of the picture of Mary and Steve standing at the entrance to their house (part of the Lawrence Chrismas book "Coal Dust Grins"). The man who brought over the picture, Marcel Deschenes, hung it on the wall and then adjusted it. They talked about the picture and coal mining and so on. However, Steve kept looking away from Marcel. Finally Steve could stand it no more - he walked over to the wall and adjusted the picture by a very small amount so it would be EXACTLY straight. Seems like the timberman in Steve never stopped checking...

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Steve Tasko (timber man)
1 October 1985
East Coulee, Alberta, Canada


Credits:
Unknown