Harvey was born July 18, 1935, the youngest child of Rose and Bill Hudson, with brother Roy, sisters Joan and Mavis. They moved from Sprague Street to Wolseley Ave. on the Assiniboine River when Harvey was 5 years old. Harvey was in his element living on the shores of the Assiniboine River. When the ice was “coming down” it would bring with it lots of interesting stuff, including wood from other people’s docks. Needless to say Harvey would gather anything that looked salvageable, and construct his own docks.
By the time he was 12, he had saved up $150. He had a paper route of 120 customers, lots of grass cutting in the neighbourhood, and working at the local tennis court. With this money, he contracted a boat builder to build him a 16’ boat, to the tune of $154.00. (Big money in those days for sure). His brother Roy told him if he bought the boat, he would buy the motor, which he did (a 7.5 HP motor, which even had a neutral gear!). He spent many hours cruising up and down the Assiniboine River, and later, up at Twin Beaches on Lake Manitoba.
When he was old enough he joined the Air Cadets and spent three summers out in Calgary and vicinity with them. While in Winnipeg, he often biked over to Stevenson’s Field and would ask a pilot if he could ride with him. Once they found out he was a good flyer, (and didn’t require the paper bag,) he took many flights with the pilots. After graduating from Gordon Bell High School in Winnipeg, he signed up for an Avro Arrow course down East. Just before going for his course, he had met Margaret Ann at a Young People’s Dance in Winnipeg. Three months into the course, Mr. Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro Arrow program altogether (bad idea, Harvey always said). This brought Harvey back home to Winnipeg. Sister Joan told him that she heard Canada Packers were interviewing. The powers that be must have realized that his friendly, outgoing personality was just what they were looking for to be a Company Sales Representative. He was hired immediately and worked for Packers for 34 years, and really enjoyed his work. A lot of his customers became more like friends, which was a good thing.
After “dating” for a couple of years, Harvey and Margaret-Ann decided to get married, and set the date for June of 1958. Days before the wedding, Harvey broke the news that they were to be transferred to Fort Frances, Ontario. Because he would now be a “married man,” his weekly pay was raised from $50.00 to $55.00/week. Maggie stayed working in Winnipeg while Harvey looked for accommodation in Fort Frances. In 1958, there really wasn’t much to choose from, and getting a three-piece bathroom was tough to find. However, in September he found a little house on the corner of 2nd St. and Colonization Rd. East, which Vern Shortreed was renting out for $40.00 a month. It had a sink, toilet and bathtub, which was wonderful, but the good news was that it was also right across the street from the river! There were boom logs tied up there, so Maggie and Harvey would just have to go across the street to swim every day after work. So great!
Because there was no heating system, in the fall Harvey purchased a small oil burning stove. He also built some shelving, and made cupboards. His sales route included many of the 23 Independent Grocery stores, Shop Easy and Safeway. His other customers were with the camps and stores west and north of Fort Frances. He so enjoyed getting out of town, not only selling, but developed friendships with the camp and lake customers. Harvey and Margaret Ann soon made many friends of their age, playing card games on a Saturday night, or taking in a movie. M.A. sang in the church choir, had a CGIT group, worked at Gillons, then the Lands & Forests, so it wasn’t long before they became happy Fort Frances residents.
They were excited when their first son Bill was born in 1961, In 1963, Harvey was asked to move back to Winnipeg to another Sales Territory. The good; was that we would be with our families and Winnipeg friends again, the bad; we had met such wonderful people in Fort Frances and would miss them so much! When we returned to Winnipeg, we were able to find a home again, and touch base with “old” friends and family. Heather was born soon after we moved, and Jim arrived the next year.
After a couple of years, we started looking for a lake cottage. Often, son Bill would accompany us on our cottage searches to Lake Winnipeg and Lake of the Woods. After one of our futile trips to find a place, Bill remarked, at about 5 years of age, very scornfully – “We are NEVER go’in to find a Cottage!” However, we did find one – on Red Rock Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. Happy Days again! Although Harvey had busy weeks, it was the weekends that were the best, when we were together at the Lake. There were no phones of course, so when he was turning his orders in, he had to drive a few miles to a Bell telephone booth, talk to an operator in Winnipeg and go through his orders one by one. Rain or shine and mosquitoes. Harvey planted a wonderful garden, but when the veggies were ready, we were always at the lake, so he just mentioned to the neighbours to help themselves. Of course, he built a “Rec” room in the basement, new cupboards in the kitchen as well as any other type of thing he could set his mind to.
We were happy that some of our Fort Frances friends came in to Winnipeg, and as well, we drove back to Rainy Lake, enjoying being with our friends there. The year that wife Margaret Ann and her team curled so well that they were slated to curl in the Manitoba Ladies curling final; Harvey got “the phone call” from Canada Packers management to ask if he would consider taking on the Fort Frances sales territory. What a decision! Our three children just in high school, M.A. had a job that she enjoyed, plus our special cabin at Red Rock Lake! Just to make it more difficult, our dear friend Marg had told us that she was going to sell their Little Bear Marina as her dear husband, Roland had passed away, and it was getting too difficult being a single parent with four young children. Of course, we had a Family Meeting, and it didn’t take too much thinking for Bill, Heather and Jim to say that they would be happy living right on the lake (swim, waterski, boat, skidooing). The die was cast! We moved back to Fort Frances in 1977, Harvey continued to work for Canada Packers as well as doing quite a few changes at Little Bear. He built some new docks, built a little store (so our kids would learn how to work a simple cash register), Marg’s son Doug helped Harvey a lot, and daughter Ann Marie helped as well in the store. (She wasn’t thrilled when she opened the minnow tank to find a large snake had come in overnight!)
Harvey was a Shriner and helped organize and sell tickets for the Shrine Circus in Fort Frances for 18 years. During that time he helped out as a clown and sold thousands of delicious Christmas cakes in support of the Shriner’s Hospital for Children. Over the years, Harvey and Margaret Ann were able to travel to many different places. Hawaii was one of their favorites. However, Treasure Island, Florida was an annual destination for the last 20 years, where many close life-long friendships were formed and continue to this day.
Left to remember Harvey is his wife Margaret Ann of 67 years; three children Bill (Rhian), Heather (Joe), Jim (Tracy), Cathy and Vik Nowak (they were like children when they lived with us),Val Webster; sister Mary Edwardsson; and cousin Mary Buchanan; grandchildren Jim, Lucas, Justin, Cynthia, Chloe, Ben, and Sarah; great-grandchild Arlie; Nieces Anne, Diana, Judy, Lynda; nephews Kenneth, Keith, Bruce, Darrell, and Cam.
Harvey and Margaret Ann so often said things like “Life has been good to us, Blessing us with a Wonderful Family, Good Friends and Good Health”
Lucky Us !!
In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Khartum Shriners Transportation Fund or a charity of your choice.
A celebration of life for Harvey will be held on Friday, May 9, 2025, 11:00 a.m. at Knox United Church, Fort Frances.
Arrangements entrusted to Northridge Funeral Home Ltd., Emo, Ontario.
