Two residents from the long-term care facility at St. Joseph’s Hospital turned 100 years old last week.
Selma Gall opened the week with her centennial on May 10, enjoying the cake brought by her son Harry Gall.
Cornelius Lucey, mainly known as Father Lucey, celebrated his birthday on May 15 with his caregiver Martha Holzer, who brought gifts from his family.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no additional family members or friends could visit their loved ones at the facility, but residents and staff did their best to make the big days for Gall and Lucey special. Nicole Messer, who works at the long-term care unit, said that residents are now distanced during the meals, but they can still have coffee and cake together to mark the date.
Both Lucey and Gall had long and intriguing lives. Born outside of Canada, they were among the mid-20th century immigrants that dedicated their lives to building this country and making it better.
Selma Gall was born in Ukraine in 1921. Her family was of Germanic descent. She grew up under the Soviet regime, and her family suffered under communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. The latest was especially harsh on Ukraine, trying to amalgamate the Soviet republic into a unified Russian-led communist state, and Selma’s family was hit really hard during those times.
"All her brothers were starved to death or hauled off to the work camps, the five brothers and her dad and her grandmother. Stalin took them all. They perished there. And her sister and my grandmother, her mother, they had two brothers here in southeastern Saskatchewan, one in Steelman and one north of the Northgate customs, 10 miles north he farmed. He brought the three to Canada, her uncle Henry did," shared Harry.
Harry said that when the German troops were leaving Ukraine during the Second World War, his mother's family followed them as it was the only way for them to get out of the country. The next six years they spent in Germany, and in 1949, they came to Canada on board the Beaver Brae ship.
"She had a real hard life till she got to Canada," Harry said.
Selma first settled in the Oxbow area. She was trained to be a nurse in Germany and was working at the hospital in Oxbow until she got married and had two sons. Her husband worked at the CNR Railroad until he retired. The family also started and grew a farm, which later was successfully sold and another one was bought in the Regina area. The latter remains in the family. Harry said Selma always liked gardening and working with livestock at their farm.
Later in life, Selma got to live in different locations in B.C. before she came back to Saskatchewan.
She's been a resident at the long-term care in Estevan for a few years now.
Lucey was born in Glenflesk, Ireland, in 1921. His family were farmers and he was one of eight children. He stayed at the farm until he was 25 years old, when he immigrated to Canada on a troopship via New York. Here he followed his passion of becoming a priest. He arrived by train in Saskatchewan on Oct. 31, 1946.
He continued his education at St. Peter's College in Muenster, then moved to Edmonton to study at the seminary.
In 1955 he was ordained in Regina by Archbishop O'Neill. Father Lucey served as an assistant pastor in Dysart, Regina, Estevan and Moose Jaw from 1955-1960. From 1960, he served as the pastor at Mutrie, Claybank, the mission at Truax, Lestock, Wishart, Leross, Bengough, Big Beaver, Horizon and Ogema. During this time he completed extensive studies at the Universities of San Diego and Chicago. He served as a judge on the Diocesan Matrimonial Tribunal and held this position for many years.
In 1993, he settled in Torquay. Sacred Heart Catholic Church became his home for 21 years. The village of Torquay embraced him and he soon found himself a mentor to all.
In 2010, he was awarded the Award of Merit for his years of service on the tribunal.
The following year, Lucey's other passion came to fruition as he composed a book, The Poetical Works of Father Lucey, which soon was followed by a second publication, The Complete Poetical Works of Father Lucey, 2013. He retired and moved to Creighton Lodge in February 2014.
Lucey made his final move to St. Joseph's Long-Term Care Home in 2018.
Holzer met Lucey in 1992 at the church in Torquay. At that time, he was thinking about retiring but said that he wasn't ready to give up on his mission. He became a parish priest and was a pillar of the community for many more years.
Holzer said that Lucey always served and led by example. All his life he lived in poverty and was support and mentor to anyone who needed him.
"Humility (was a big part of him). He has always been very, very humble and very generous. And he's always taken all his vows seriously. Poverty. Obedience," said Holzer.
Not only did Lucey serve his parish, but he also served the community at large.
"He visited with everyone. It didn't matter what denomination they were, what race they were. He was always very interested in people, their history, their background. He is the historian, that type of person who's always searching and looking for people and looking at people and studying people and interested in what they're doing.
"And people would go to him and talk. He would do a lot of counselling, and it didn't matter to whom, some people didn't go to church at all. That didn't matter, he counselled them too. He's a people lover. He really loves people," Holzer said.
She added that to this day, Lucey has a great sense of humour.
He also has been a poet "forever," according to Holzer. He wrote about faith and God, but also about everything else that filled his life. One of his favourite poems is Marienthal about a parish south of Torquay and an old cemetery there.
His siblings from Ireland and Fargo, N.D., were planning to come to visit him for his big day, however, the celebration had to be held virtually.
