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Authority record
Musée Héritage Museum Person

Bracko, Leonard

  • MHM
  • Person
  • 2 Dec 1943 - 19 Aug 2017

Leonard (Len) Bracko was born 2 Dec 1943 in St. Albert, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education and a graduate diploma in Education administration. Bracko began teaching junior and senior high in St. Albert Catholic school in 1979. In 1989, Bracko ran for MLA in the provincial election with the Alberta Liberal party. However, he came in second to Progressive Conservative Richard (Dick) Fowler, former mayor of St. Albert. Later in that same year, Bracko ran for St. Albert City Council and was elected as alderman. He served as alderman from 1989-1992 before running again and winning a seat as MLA in the 1993 provincial election. Bracko served as MLA with the Liberal official opposition caucus from 1993-1997, when he lost his seat to Mary O’Neill. He returned to teaching and retired in 1997. After his retirement, Bracko ran for and was elected again to the City Council of St. Albert, and he served as alderman from 2001-2013, having been reelected three times (2004, 2007, and 2010). Bracko and his wife Barb were active with Habitat for Humanity and international development. Bracko passed away on 19 Aug 2017.

Plain, Margaret

  • MHM
  • Person
  • fl. 1972 - 2010

Margaret Plain has played a very significant role in the community of St. Albert where she has lived since 1972. Plain helped found St. Albert Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF). She has also served on the boards of various agencies and organizations including the St. Albert Historical Society, Sturgeon General Hospital Board, and Capital Health Authority Health Board. Plain has also been involved in the organization of many community events such as Celebrate 125, Homecoming 88, 1994 Alberta Winter Games, and Rendezvous 2011. She served on St. Albert City Council for 5 terms: 1986-1989 with Mayor Richard Fowler, 1989-1992 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, 1992-1995 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, 1995-1998 with Mayor Anita Ratchinsky, and 1998-2001 with Mayor Paul Chalifoux. In 2010, Plain was named St. Albert Volunteer Citizen of the Decade. Margaret Plain is married to Richard Plain.

Plain, Richard

  • MHM
  • Person
  • fl. 1974 - 2004

Richard Plain served as mayor of St. Albert for two terms in 1974-1977 and in 2001-2004. Plain holds a doctorate and taught at the University of Alberta as an associate professor until his retirement in 2001. In 1979-1981, Plain was the chairman for the St. Albert Citizens Committee opposing Edmonton's proposal to annex St. Albert. For his work in this committee, Plain was named St. Albert's 1981 Citizen of the Year. Plain is married to Margaret Plain.

Post, Victor

  • MHM
  • Person
  • 12 May 1953 - May 2001

Victor Post was born on May 12, 1953 in Port Colbourne, Ontario. His parents were Lena and Jack Post. Lena Post was born in Cudworth, Saskatchewan and Jack Post was from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Victor Post’s father was in the air force as a fighter pilot during World War II. After the war, the couple moved to Ontario. They had two children, Jack Jr. and Victor. In 1968, the family moved from Port Colbourne, Ontario to St. Albert, Alberta.

During his childhood, Victor Post was interested in and experimented with electronics. At age seven, he first made the news when smoke coming from one of his experiments brought the fire department to his home. From 1967 to 1971, Victor Post participated in various science fairs at local, national and international levels. He was particularly interested in holography and lasers. In 1969, Post participated in the 9th Annual Edmonton Regional Science Fair where he won third place. That same year he competed in the Canada-Wide Science Fair where he won first place. This win placed him in an international competition, the International Youth Science Fortnight in London, England where he presented helium-neon lasers for holography. During this trip he met with Dennis Gabor, a Jewish-Hungarian physicist who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in holography. Victor Post and Dennis Gabor corresponded for two years after meeting. While in London, Victor Post also had the opportunity to audit courses in Science and Arts at Cambridge University. In 1970, Victor Post participated in the Edmonton Regional 10th Annual Science Fair as well as the Canada-Wide Science Fair. In 1971, Victor Post participated in the Edmonton Regional Science Fair. Because of his interest in science, Victor Post began undergraduate work at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He was able to attend courses at the university in the years 1971 and 1972 but due to health issues, he discontinued his studies.

Victor Post’s interest in photography also began at an early age. In the years 1965 to 1967 Victor Post studied portrait photography and black and white production of prints under photographer C. Healy in Ontario. In 1968, while attending Paul Kane High School in St. Albert, Victor Post worked as a part-time freelance photographer for the St. Albert Gazette. He worked for the St. Albert Gazette until 1971 when he gained employment by the Government of Alberta to photograph 4-H club and Junior Forest Warden Program activities until 1972. In 1972, he established Victor Post Photography.

From 1972 to 1986 the work at Victor Post Photography was done in the basement of Lena and Jack Post’s home. In 1986, Victor Post opened a photography studio on 8 Perron Street in St. Albert. Lena Post ran the business aspects of the studio and Victor Post managed the lab work. He hired people to help with taking photographs and lab work. The studio produced wedding and portrait photography. When on Perron Street, the studio had larger equipment than other local photographers on which to create oversize prints; this equipment included a large roller feed film processor and a large paper processor which produced 60 x 40 inch prints.

The Province of Alberta gave Victor Post many assignments to photograph dignitaries, official visits and events. In addition to his appointments by the Government of Alberta, Victor Post created scenic photography, Kirilian photography, aerial photography, and architectural photography. Included in his repertoire are photographs of famous people and politicians.

He was involved with various photographic professional organizations including the Royal Photographic Society of England, the Alberta Professional Photographers Association, and the Professional Photographers of Canada. He served on the board of the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography.

Outside of photography and science, Victor Post had other interests. He received PADI certification for scuba diving, attended private and commercial aviation schools, studied classical guitar, and served as an auxiliary constable for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Another interest of Victor Post included ham radio. A friend, Dave Gervais, had peaked Victor Post’s interest in amateur radio in the mid 1980s. By 1986, Victor Post acquired a license for ham radio. He was a member of the Northern Alberta Radio Club, Amateur Radio Emergency Services, Amateur Radio League of Alberta and Canadian Radio Relay League. In 1989 when he discovered King Hussein of Jordan also was a ham radio operator, Victor Post hosted a reception for the king and acquired a Canadian amateur radio license for the king.

With regards to his personal life, Victor Post married Kathryn Brown in 1981. When Victor Post was an auxiliary member of the RCMP, Kathy was working for the RCMP and they had met through Victor Post’s father. Victor Post struggled with Crohn’s disease throughout his life and died from the disease in 2001.

Pratt, Edmond

  • mhm
  • Person
  • 1890-1970

Joseph Edmond Pratt was born in St. Vincent de Paul, Quebec in 1890. He studied in Ottawa at Sacré-Coeur Juniorat and continued his studies at St. Joseph's, Edmonton in 1917. In May 1918 at St. Joachim in Edmonton, Edmond Pratt was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Father Pratt taught at the St. Jean Juniorat in Edmonton, AB (1918-1919), then served as a missionary in Fort Resolution, NWT (1919-1920) and was a teacher again at St. Jean Juniorat (1920-1922). He worked as a missionary in North Battleford, SK (1922), Saddle Lake, AB (1922-1929), Onion Lake, SK (1929-1930) and Le Goff, Cold Lake, AB (1930-1934). Father Pratt was principal of Onion Lake's residential school, St.Anthony's, (1934-1938) and Hobbema's residential school (1938-1939). He was treasurer of the Blue Quills residential school in St. Paul, AB (1939-1941) and returned to North Battleford (1941-1942). From 1942-1970 he was priest at Rivière-qui-Barre also known as St. Alexander Mission. During this time, he also was the chaplain of the jail in Fort Saskatchewan. Father Pratt died in 1970 and is buried at the oblate cemetery in St. Albert, AB.

Ratchinsky, Anita

  • MHM
  • Person
  • fl. 1986-1998

Anita Ratchinsky was St. Albert's first full-time mayor and first female mayor. She served as chairwoman of the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce in 1985 and 1986. In 1986, Ratchinsky ran for city council and was elected as alderman. She then ran as mayor and was elected for three consecutive terms from 1989-1998.

Vaugeois, Pauline

  • MHM
  • Person

Pauline Vaugeois moved to St. Albert with her parents, Maurice and Bernadette, in 1950. It was shortly aftewards that she began to work in the girl guide movement, a committment which continued for over 20 years. Pauline was also a member of the Circle Francophone, and Secretary of C.U.P.E. in addition to being a student of psychology at the University of Alberta. She was named Citizen of the Year in St. Albert in 1977.

Walker, Ron

  • MHM
  • Person
  • n.d.

Ron Walker worked on renovations of the Vital Grandin Centre, also known as the Bishop’s Palace in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He supervised the restoration that was conducted in the old building which was originally erected in 1882.

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