Richard Stanley “Dick” Stevens was born on May 27, 1920, in Regina, Saskatchewan, to parents Jack and Kate Stevens. He was the oldest of four children. At the age of nineteen, Dick went off to war in 1939. He was sent to England in 1940 where he stayed until the invasion in 1944. Dick landed on Juno Beach in June with the second wave. He fought all across Europe and when Victory in Europe was claimed, he stayed and hauled heavy equipment to the seashore. He returned to England in August 1945. While he was in England, he met a young girl by the name of Frances “Fran” Monk. Fran was still a teenager and Dick was just out of his teens when they met in 1941 in her hometown of Tadworth, Surrey, England. Dick was billeted not far from Fran’s home and their romance led to a wedding day on September 1, 1945. Dick was shipped home to Canada with other armed forces personnel. He returned to Nipawin where he went to work for Neufeld Seeds and started immediately to build a house for his bride, moving in before it was finished. Fran came to Nipawin later, having to wait until June 1946 before boarding the Aquitania bound for Pier 21 in Halifax. Then she began the seemingly endless train ride into the west. When they reached Regina, Fran hoped it was finally over, but no, she still had to ride the e-train to Prince Albert. Dick met her there with his father’s 1937 Ford Coupe and she learned she still had traveling to do to get to Nipawin. The culture shock was “awful, I couldn’t believe it. In England we had electricity, gas, flush toilets –for transportation we had a train every 20 minutes, the same with buses. We could go anywhere we liked, to a cinema or whatever. When I came here, you couldn’t go anywhere!” An obvious positive was, that although rationing was still in effect in Canada, the coupons provided three times as much as in England. In 1948, their first son Brad was born, then daughter Gail followed in 1950, daughter Zae in 1953, son Paul in 1955 and lastly, daughter Jenny in 1965. Fran’s sister, Connie, also married a Canadian, Bill Howett, and came to live in Nipawin. Fran recalls the special friendships with other local War Brides as well. “We have five wonderful kids, I have a wonderful husband, a good home, and we have good friends,” Fran said in an interview some years ago. “This is Home.” Dick was well known in Nipawin for delivering all the freight from the railroad to the businesses and people of Nipawin for approximately 25 years. When the railroad shut down, he went to work at CSP Food in Nipawin, where he worked until his retirement at age 65. He then worked for a local farmer until he was well into his eighties. Dick was a member of the Oddfellows and a very active member of The Royal Canadian Legion Nipawin Branch. He loved to do woodworking and gardening. You could always find him in his garden or his woodworking shop. Dick loved his family and as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren increased, so did his love. The Nipawin Branch of the Legion is honoured to have Fran lay a wreath on behalf of all War Brides each year on Remembrance Day. Sadly, Fran lost her wonderful husband Dick on January 4, 2020. She also lost her son Brad, also a Veteran, in 2020. LEST WE FORGET 343 Richard Stanley “Dick” Stevens and Frances “Fran” Monk A Canadian Veteran and His War Bride
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==