The Nicholson family lived at 1116 – 16th St N.W. Bert (Nicky), Jean and young son David moved to Calgary at the end of World War II. Nicky had been a teacher in the Grande Prairie area before enlisting in the RCAF where he served overseas in England and Italy.
After demobilization, Nicky decided to upgrade his teaching qualifications by entering the industrial arts program at the Technical School, now called SAIT. The family found accommodation in a suite in the hutments on the grounds of that institution. In the industrial arts program, Nicky met Gordon Sanders who had built a suite for his family in the basement of the Murray MacLean home on 15th St. When Gordon decided to accept a teaching position in Wetaskiwin, Nicky found out about the empty suite. The MacLeans had no intention of renting this property, but when they found out that a ‘suite’ at the hutments consisted of two rooms, the second obviously intended as a storage room with no windows, they decided that was no place to raise a family and the Nicholson’s moved to 1320 – 15th St. It was the beginning of a life long friendship.
Nicky was a very capable handyman, and in a short time he and Jean had purchased a lot in the 1100 block on 16th St. They followed the pattern of many ex-servicemen, working a regular job all day, and spending every other available hour building their new homes. Excavation, cement work, plastering, had to be contracted out, but personal effort and hard labor make it possible for them to become home owners.
Positions with the Calgary Board of Education were not easy to come by, so Nicky commuted to Canmore to teach for two years before finally being able to be home with his growing family. A daughter Valerie was born and quite a few years after, a son, Greg, completed the family. They were good neighbours for many years.
THE END