Fonds atu-5 - Margaret Clarke fonds

Margaret L. Clarke was born in Edson, Alberta on April 19, 1952, to Allen Clarke (born August 1, 1927, in Lloydminister, Alberta) and Bertha Louise Halstead (born May 2, 1927, in Nokomis, Saskatchewan). Clarke's parents were active members of the Stettler Seventh Day Adventist Church, the Central Alberta Naturalists Club, and the Seniors Community Choir. They were also involved in the local farmers' market selling bread, vegetables, honey, and some craft items. Clarke's father kept bees for some years as had his father. During her brothers' high school years, the two older boys and her father were members of the Stettler Brass Band. The rich history evident in Clarke's extended family has influenced her career as a genealogist. Her step-grandfather, Albert Erickson, emigrant from Sweden and her mother's step-father, was a founding member of the UFA Co-Op. Clarke's great-great-grandfather Alfred Isaac Stone, emigrant from Wisconsin and her father's mother's grandfather, was the first postmaster at the area now known as Sunnybrook, Alberta. At that time, the name of the post office was Stone's Corner. Clarke's great grandmother Florence Halstead, emigrant from England, was the first postmistress of the post office at Nokomis, Saskatchewan, which she named after the grandmother in Hiawatha. Clarke's great-great-grandfather Edward McKay, third generation Hudson Bay Company mixed blood and her mother's mother's grandfather, was said to be the first man to put up a fence in south eastern Alberta. He fenced his haystacks at the foot of Cypress Hills before Medicine Hat was established. He also wrote a letter to report the Cypress Hills massacre in 1872 to the authorities in Winnipeg. In terms of schooling, Clarke first attended Niton Central School in Niton, Alberta, from 1958-1965 for grades one through seven. She then completed grades eight and nine at Blumenau Seventh Day Adventist Private School in Stettler County, Alberta, from 1966-1967, and grades ten to twelve at the Canadian Union College Academy in College Heights, Alberta, part time between the years of 1967 and 1972. While at CUC, Clarke and her sister were members of the alto sections of various student choirs. After graduating, Clarke attended the University of Alberta where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993 and a Master of Arts in Native History in 1997. While growing up, Clarke did chores on the family farm until her family moved to Erskine in 1965. During her high school years at Canadian Union College, Clarke held several positions working in a book bindery, in food services, as an aide in a nursing home for most of a year in 1969 or 1970, as a nanny for most of the year in 1971/1972, and a further eight months keeping house for her grandparents while she finished her last classes of high school. After graduating from high school at the Canadian Union College Academy in 1972 and marriage in 1973, Clarke continued working in food services until 1981. While completing her graduate studies at the University of Alberta, Clarke worked as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Jennifer S.H. Brown for two years. After graduation from the University of Alberta with her Masters degree, Clarke did contract research work for Parks Canada, and became involved in local community development through Métis L.I.N.K.S. (an early intervention program for youth) and Niwichihaw, a joint program funded by AADAC, The Healing Foundation, and the Red Deer Local of the Métis Nation of Alberta. As a young adult, Clarke met T.R. (Pat) McCloy, former archivist / librarian at the Glenbow Museum and Archives and her mother's cousin, and promised him that she would do something with his genealogy collection. In 1973, Clarke married Thomas David Clendon and together they have one child, Scott Alexander Clarke Clendon.