LEST WE FORGET 371 WILKEN, Harold James “Pete” WWI Pete was the first child born in Rouleau to Peter, the CPR section foreman, and Mary Wilken. They moved toYellow Grass the next year where she became the Postmaster. Peter also had a ranch southwest of Yellow Grass, Harold enlisted at the age of sixteen and served in the Canadian Armed Forces with the Expeditionary Forces during World War I. He was wounded at Passchendaele, Belgium in November 1917. He returned toYellow Grass where he married Cora Cox and they took over the Post Office from his mother in 1919. They had two children; Garnet who was killed in a bomber crash with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England in 1943. In his honour, there is a lake in the far northeast of Saskatchewan named Wilken Lake. Pete also had a real estate and insurance business. His daughter, Shirle, and son-in-law, Odie Lund, later took over the Yellow Grass Post Office. Between them, the family operated the Post Office for seventy years. Pete was an avid sportsman, who, with three other locals represented Saskatchewan in the MacDonald Brier in 1929. He also umpired baseball and refereed hockey games. In retirement, he spent winters in Florida and Arizona and attended many MLB games. Pete passed away in 1970. WILSON, John “Jack” WWI Jack was born in Noharm, Saskatchewan on December 19, 1895. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force when World War I broke out and served as a pilot. He had his basic training in Texas then overseas to England and France. He was in the Army of Occupation for one year in Cohnn, Germany. Jack returned to England on April 9, 1919. When he returned to Moose Jaw, he met and married Jessie Binnie who resided in the Elrose. Jack bought land in the Wartime area from the Purse brothers in 1924 through Veteran’s Assistance. They lived there until moving into Elrose in 1951. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Elrose Branch 206. Jack passed away on January 7, 1970, and Jessie in 2006. WILLMEK, Frank WWII Sergeant Frank Willmek served his country in World War II as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Frank made the ultimate sacrifice and was killed in action on December 12, 1944, at the age of 23. He is buried in Chester (Blacon) Cemetery in Cheshire, England.
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