'I, Clarence, am the youngest of the family of Mr & Mrs H.C.Duckering who came to Canada as Barr Colonists in 1903. With them came my Uncles, Ernest and Percy Duckering. My father and two Uncles each home steaded and settled in what became known as the Fenham District, their home steads being NW section 28 & SE32-51-2, west of the 4th. (See notes on Ernest and Percy). Uncle Ernest will be remembered for his keen interest in the game of bridge.
My brother Howard, (one of the few remaining of the original Barr Colonist), has told about the early years when the Duckerings first came to Canada, to Saskoon, and then to homestead near Streamstown, Alberta. Mother and dad have seven sons, and I being the seventh will relate to some of the later years. Two of my brothers passed away in Saskoon in infancy and another brother, Eric, passed away at an early age on the homestead. This left my sister, Kathleen, and brothers Howard and Arthur, my sister Kathleen, and brother Roy. Roy was seven and half years older than myself. We attended school at Fenham. My first teacher was Mr Allen Boyce who won the hearts of all the students, even though he was one to tease. As I remember, there were many tears shed when he left the district. Charles Crichton became one of my best friends at school after we had a fight over some darts that the older boys had made. Some of the older boys at that time were, Richard Daley, Alonzoand Ogle Heathcote, Herb Rutherford, Clayton Flewell, Tom McDonnell, and my brother Roy. Kathleen was still attending Fenham School at that time, and I well remember riding behind her on a horse we called "Pete". When "Pete" galloped he would sound like a churn with his round belly. The cinch would sometimes get loose and we would end up on the ground, and "Pete" would run away home.
In 1925 the C.P.R. railway came through and the town of Streamstown came into being with John and Bill Curtis starting the first store and operating the Post Office. I well remember the bag of Candy John and Bill gave me the first time I went to their store.
It was during the early '30's that my father and mother developed a flower garden that attracted many admirers. The spruce trees that dad planted surrounded the home and garden and lined the driveway to the road. Besides flowers, he had a fruit orchard with several varieties of apples and other fruits.In 1934 I began to play for dances at our local school, withRichard Daley on the clarinet, Herb Rutherford on the fiddle,and Ellis Grenek on the guitar. Later it was my pleasure to playwith Vic Bystrom, Bingt Carison, Bill Skeates and many others.There would be several from Streamstown, Myrtle Hill, and otherplaces in the surrounding area, come and join in the good timeswith us at Fenham. Each Sunday therewas a church service held in the Fenham School with the minstercoming out from Kitscoty. Fenham was a good neighborly community with regular church meetings, the annual picnics, the Christmas Tree concerts, the Ladies' Aid, the bazaars, fowl suppers, along with the whist drives, bridge drives, and dances. It was a good place to grow up and live in.
In 1936 my brother Arthur, went to England. He worked in a coal mine near Nottingham, and in the mid '40's he married a coal miner's daughter. They had a daughter and a son, but the girl passed away at an early age. The son is now married and lives near Nottingham. I didn't see Arthur again until they came to visit us in Red Deer in 1970. He passed away at the age of 72. In 1935-36 I attended the Vermilion School of Agriculture where I met Gertrude George from Elgin. We were married October 1, 1938. In August 1939, we had our first child, and named her Shirley. (See Herb Radford notes for next section).I was on stand-by call but was not in the Forces. In the spring of 1946, mother and dad retired to Nanaimo, B.C.. Howard returned from overseas in the fall of '47 and stayed with us to help with the harvest. He then returned to Red Deer to make his home with the Nazarene College. By this time there were six children in our family, Shirley, Deanna, Victor, Carolyn, Terry and Linda. In 1951 my father passed away in Nanaimo, mother came back to Alberta, but before settling in Red Deer with Howard, she made her first trip back to England since coming in 1903 to Canada. This enabled her to see once again, her brother Jim, the lone survivor of her family.In 1957 we moved from the farm to Red Deer and took up "trucking." Today it is known as "Duckering's Transport", and Ken, Gord and myself manage it. There have been some hard times along with the good times since moving to Red Deer. Two months after the family moved, Getrude became quite ill, and two years later she passed away. In 1963, I married Grace Bassant, whom Imet at the Nazarene Church that we attended. We have three girls, Faith, Judy and Connie, all at home and in school. The first family are all married and there are twenty-one grandchildren. Five of them live in Red Deer. Shirley is an AGT operator, Vic is an accountant while his wife, Edith is a College Instructor. Carolyn with her husband, own my first trucking business now known as "Tor's Moving". My two younger sons, Ken and Gord, as mentioned are with "Duckering's Transport". Deanna married Cliff Knight, who works for the Federal Government in Agriculture, while she works in the Post Office in Fort MacLeod. Terry works in sales for an oil company called "Comco" and he with his wife, Adrienne and little girl, Stephanie, live in Calgary. Linda is an R.N., but now works in her husband's office as a secretary. Her husband, Wayne Ludwig, has been a welding instructor at S.A.I.T. and is now starting his own business as a welding consultant, in Calgary.Betty Lou has recently moved from Calgary to Medicine Hat with her husband, Brian Cave, who works for the City of Medicine Hat as a draftsman.' (Article written by Clarence in 1978 and copied to me by Shirley Hutzkal 17.3.96. This was publised in a book, ‘Echoes of Marywayne Area’.)

'Clarence Duckering started moving freight around Red Deer 28 years ago, with three little open-box trucks. Now, Duckering's Transport moves freight with 16 big highway tractors, 26 trailers and 11 other trucks and vans.There has been a lot of miles, a lot of trucks and a lot of work between then and now. But now Clarence Duckering is enjoying himself, working with his three sons, Gordon, Ken and Vic, in a successful, growing business. Duckering's Transport operates basically out of Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer, hauling general freight. Every night two big highway tractors hit the road hauling triple trailers. One heads south from Edmonton, the other north from Calgary, they both turn around and take a load back the other way. "Sometimes we have to add other trucks as well, " says Clarence, as in the latter part of May this year, "We had our biggest week ever, the short week of the Victoria Day holiday, then we followed up with another week just as big right after that. We moved over a thousand tons of freight each week. "In Edmonton, Duckering's work with the Truck-All depot, where freight is collected for shipment out and received for city distribution. But in Calgary they have their own terminal and do all their own pickups and deliveries. Sons Gordon, Ken and Vic all have distinct and vital roles in the company. Gordon, in spite of being the youngest, has been in the business the longest, says Clarence. He started as a driver in 1971 and now manages the Edmonton operation. Ken joined the company in 1975, also starting as a driver. He now looks after all the central dispatching from the Red Deer head office. Vic joined the team in 1981, taking over the accounting duties, a job that has grown to sizable proportions. "We handle 200 to 300 invoices per day," he says, a big chore, even with computerization. It's a long, way from the little operation Clarence Duckering started in 1957, but Clarence still has fond memories of the years of struggle that paved the way to today's success.
"I came to Red Deer from Lloydminster in 1957," he says. "We bought three trucks from the late Andy Roth, two one-tons and a two-ton, with open grain boxes. We weren't sure where we were going with them, but Cec Hewson had a place along the railway at 52nd Street and he said we could share his office."That was the beginning. Clarence called that first company Midget Delivery and operated successfully for six years before selling out and moving to Calgary. However, the new owner was not successful and Clarence returned in 1965 to take over the business again, changing the name to Duckering Delivery. This time he started with just one little van and a single one-ton truck. But again the business grew and eventually we took over Speedy Delivery and United Delivery. Basically we operated a local service, including department store deliveries and furniture moving."
In 1971 Duckering's Tranpsort was born, beginning with a service between Edmonton and Red Deer, and expanding to Calgary the following year. Along the way, Clarence's daughter Caroline and her husband Jerry Torhjelm became involved in the business and in 1970 they bought the delivery business, later changing the name to Tor's Moving & Delivery. Prior to that though, they played an important part in the beginning of Duckering'sTransport. In fact their home was the first office for the new business as Caroline looked after the office work.
Soon Duckering's Transport moved into its first official home, in the Westburne building on 55th Avenue, then in 1972 the company moved to the former brewery building on 43rd Street.
In 1979 Duckering's Transport moved into their present location at 7839 - 49 Avenue, giving them office, warehouse and plenty of yard space for the big highway trailers. The company currently employs 35 people. President Clarence Duckering sees nothing but continued growth as he looks toward the future.
"We held up quite well through the recession," he says, "and business has been pretty steady recently. The future doesn't look too bad to me," he adds with a smile.' (Article from the Red Deer Commerce, May/June 1985 p17 & 18 sent by Shirley Hutzkal 17.3.96)

Kate & I visited Clarence & Grace in Olds, staying with them for three nights from the 26th July 2012. We were warmly greeted and fed with huge steaks cooked by Clarence on the BBQ in the garden. We spent a lot of time discussing the family from both sides of the Atlantic. Clarence was very keen to hear about the Duckering history. On the Friday Kate & I went into Olds to get some large sheets of paper so that I could draw out the main line of the family tree from Clarence's great grandson Zachary right back to Edward who died 1613. To this we added the two unconnected families, one in Germany and the other in Australia. We then spend some time adding in other interest Duckering's, such as John who moved to the USA in 1840, Florence who qualified as a surgeon from Tufts University, William who founded Alaska University and many others. During his time Shirley Hutzkal joined us and it was really good to meet her, as she was so kind to our daughter Anna when she visited Canada many years before. As well as being the source on all the family history for he Canadian Duckering's. Shirley stayed the night, as the next day we she was travelling with us to Calgary to do a 6 mile charity walk with fifty other members of the family in aid of a cancer charity. It is this charity that is supporting Terry Duckering in his fight against the disease. Kate & I therefore had a great time walking and talking with some of the or members of the family - too many to get round them all! But a beautifully sunny day and all so friendly. After the walk most of Clarence's children went back to Wayne and Linda's (Linda being the Duckering) for a BBQ. Clarence & Grace joined here. Just as the BBQ was about to start the sun went in and hailstones fell or about ten minutes. It then cleared and became sunny again and the men folk went out to inspect the cars to see if they were dented from the hailstones! Kate & I just about managed to speak with all off Clarence's children, trying not bore too much about the amply tree. It is here where many of the new photos were taken - Airdrie, near Calgary. After most folks had left, we stayed behind with Shirley to chat with Wayne & Linda as they are keen walkers. Wayne was looking for his next big walk adventure. They are both retired and live between properties in Airdrie, New Zealand and British Columbia. After this we got back not to late and had a light supper with Shirley at Olds. The next day we were on our way to Banff. It was clear Clarence did not want to see us go and would chat forever. We took various combinations of photos in front of their house with Shirley and ourselves.

Email from Shirley (nee Duckering) Hutzkal 29th Dec 2020: Robin and Kate,
I'm sorry to bring you the sad news that Dad passed away yesterday at 12:30 pm. On Christmas day, Deanna, Carolyn, Linda, Betty, Ken, Gord and I did a zoom call with Dad. He was very alert and so glad to see all of us and several times said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It was a very enjoyable zoom call and we were able to see Dad and each other and have a good visit that way.

Vic went in to visit him at the Hamlets in the afternoon so didn't join the zoom call. At supper table that night Dad had a choking episode so he was taken to the hospital for observation. Vic and Judy felt he should be brought back to the Hamlets since there was nothing much more could be done at the hospital and if he was left in the hospital no one could go see him because of Covid shutdown.  Vic spent the night in Dad's room with him and both Vic and Judy had spent time with him in his room since that happened. Dad was not responsive and not eating, drinking or taking his medication. Judy was with Dad when he passed and said he passed peacefully. It is very sad but at least he didn't suffer a lot. We have all been in touch with each other and expressing our love for Dad. The staff at the Hamlets have said how much they will miss Dad as he was always so kind and pleasant with them.

Thank you for your Christmas letter, I hope you were all able to get together for your Christmas as planned. The Covid lockdowns have sure kept families apart. Each household here had to stay in their own homes so there was just Ed, Anita and I here, disappointing as usually everyone would be together. Dad received your Christmas card but didn't seem to be able to read it like he previously did and when I asked he didn't seem to know if he got any other cards. He did say he got a card from Robin and Kate but didn't mention the others. He was failing then. 

I hope little Oscar is still doing well, he seems to be gaining weight and growing from what you said in your letter. I hope you were able to see him at Christmas.

All the best to you.
Shirley 

Obituary rdnewsNOW, Everything Red Deer.
Clarence  William Duckering May 20, 1918 – December 28, 2020
 
Our family is saddened to announce that our dad’s time here on earth has come to a close at the remarkable age of 102.
There to greet him in his heavenly home would be his first wife Gertrude of 21 years and his second wife Grace of 56 years, a son Terry Duckering, a daughter Theresa Erker, a son-in-law Gerry Torhjelm, his parents Herbert and Rosetta Duckering, and his six brothers and two sisters, along with many other family and friends who have gone before him.
 
Dad was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and grew up on his parents’ farm near Streamstown, Alberta.
 
Dad married Gertrude George in 1938 and together they raised nine children on the family farm.  Dad was musically gifted and although he could not read music, he played piano for most of the local dances and was popular among the many people who attended as he could play any request by ear.  After the farm sold in 1957, he moved his family to Red Deer and he purchased and successfully operated Midget Delivery, delivering everything from mud to the oilfield, household groceries, to pianos and other various items throughout the community.  There was no move he would not tackle.  If there was work to be done, Dad would be doing it.  He was raised to work hard and work came before pleasure.  Unfortunately Gertrude passed away after a lengthy illness in 1959 and Dad was left to raise his family on his own.
He met and married Grace Bassant in 1963 and they had three children together.  During those years,  Duckering’s Delivery came to be,  and then
Duckerings Transport Ltd.   He worked hard and was proud of his
accomplishments and the fact that he could pass the legacy of his business to three of his sons when he retired in 1986.  They moved to Nanaimo, BC only to find they missed the family and moved back East to Calgary in 1988. From there, they moved to Olds where they lived comfortably from 1997 to 2018.
When health issues became a concern,  a retirement home in Lacombe became home.  Once again Dad was to be widowed as Grace passed away in August 2019.
Dad was moved to the Hamlets in Red Deer where he resided until his passing.
Left to cherish his memory are his 11 surviving children, Shirley (Ed) Hutzkal, Deanna (Cliff) Knight, Vic (Jean) Duckering, Carolyn Torhjelm, Linda (Wayne) Ludwig, Ken (Rita) Duckering, Gord (Pat) Duckering, Betty (Brian) Cave, Faith (Darryl) Johnson, Judy (Doug) Herbert, and Connie (Ben) Yaney,
40 grandchildren, 92 great grandchildren and 29 great- great grandchildren.
At 102, he may not have been able to list them all by name, but he was always certain of his love for each and every one of them.  He was always quick to say, in earnest, “God bless you” and “I love you, I love all my family”.
We will miss your strong presence in our expansive family Dad.  There have been a few times we thought we’d lose you, but you always bounced back, determined to retain your patriarchal position.
Obviously God thought that, at 102, you deserved your rest.
Rest in peace Dad.  We love you.
The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the staff at the Hamlets in Red Deer for their care, kindness and compassion shown to Dad over the last year and a half.
A private graveside service will be held on Thursday, January 7th at the Alto Rest Cemetery in Red Deer.  Plans for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.

Church secretary.

Obituary Overview
Grace Lillian Duckering
Grace Lillian Duckering, 80, of Lacombe was born on April 10, 1939 in Rimbey, and passed into the presence of her Lord Jesus Christ on August 3, 2019, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She will be lovingly remembered by Clarence, her husband of 56 years; 8 step-children: Shirley (Ed) Hutzkal; Deanna (Cliff) Knight; Victor (Jean); Carolyn Torhjelm; Linda (Wayne) Ludwig; Ken (Rita); Gord (Pat); Betty (Brian) Cave; 3 daughters: Faith (Darryl) Johnson; Judy (Doug) Herbert, and Connie (Ben) Yaney; 37 grandchildren, 79 great-grandchildren, 24 great-great-grandchildren, sisters Shirley Street; Doris (Ron) Lund; brother Les Bassant; and numerous nieces and nephews. Grace was predeceased by her parents Leslie and Doris Bassant; sister Dorothy Hager; and step-son Terry Duckering.
Grace will be remembered as a woman of God who lived out the meaning of her name in remarkable ways. A superb cook, she delighted to exercise her gifts of hospitality in welcoming others to her home and table. Her ready smile, kind heart and infectious laughter had a way of quickly putting others at ease. She was an excellent singer and loved to sing solos as well as harmonizing in duets, trios and choral music. Grace had wonderful skills in various crafts – crocheting, cross-stitch, beadwork and sewing – and her creations will long be treasured by her loved ones. She also loved to garden, delighting in the beauty of flowers as well as in canning and preserving the produce of her gardens.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 15, 2019 at Crossroads Community Church in Red Deer.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Grace Lillian Duckering 2019.. (Canada Obituaries 2019 August)

Order of service for Grace’s funeral:
‘In Loving memory Grace Duckering.
Prelude: Processional of Family: Amzing Grace
Welcome and Introduction - Rev Doug Herbert
Scripture Selections and Prayer - Rev Ryan Herbert
Congregational Song - led by Rev Glenn Boyce - Great is Thy Faithfulness
Musical Special: Goodbye, World, Goodbye
Eulogy: Betty Cave & Judy Herbert
Multimedia Presentation
Solo: Kathy Knopp - No More Night
Scripture and Sermon - Rev Doug Herbert
Pastoral Prayer: Rev Doug Herbert
Congregational Song - led by Rev Glenn Boyce - I Will Praise Him
Benediction/Blessing over lunch
Congregational Song: led by Rev Glenn Boyce - The Doxology
Recessional

Grace Lillian Duckering April 10, 1939 - August 3, 2019, Memorial Service August 15, 2019 at 2:00pm, Officiating Pastor Glenn Boyce, Pastor Doug Herbert, Pastor Ryan Herbert, Inurnment Alto Reste Cemetery. Following Grace’s service, the family would like to invite you to join them in the Church Hall for a time of fellowship and light refreshments.

Choose Joy: ‘Choose Joy, Don’t wait for things, To get easier, simpler, better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now.Otherwise, you will run out of time. We can’t often choose our circumstances, but we can better control our reactions and emotions. Choose Joy!’ “…for the joy of the Lord is your strenght” (Nehemiah 8:10)’
Order of service sent to me by Judy Herbert Dec 2019.