| My parents had moved from Winnipeg to Toronto, after marriage in 1934,
for jobs. The Great Depression sent people up and down the country, usually
riding the rails like my dad John Hochban did, to seek work. Toronto must
have been the best source for work. I was born Ken John Hochban, Dec 11-1935
and my brother Norm Mathius Hochban born Aug. 07-1938.
My earliest recollection of Grandma Lena seems to be in Toronto. I hadn't begun school yet so I must have been 4 or 5 and Grandma must be visiting from Winnipeg. This would have been 1939. The outstanding memory is going to Catholic church with Grandma and kissing a photo of Jesus before she had communion. We must have gone more then once since I always wanted to kiss this picture. This is my only memory of Lena in Toronto. |
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We moved back to Winnipeg(1941), mainly to look after my other grandparent
Katie Yauk. Grandma Hochban became a big part of our lives along with the
Yauk Grandparents. Lena lived at 569 Redwood Ave., which was about 5 blocks
from 668 St. Johns, our Yauk home in Winnipeg.
Grandma lived upstairs in this house and rented the bottom floor to supplement her income. It seems to me she also had a small rental apartment in Transcona since we often drove there and brought grandma with us. The young couple who live in Transcona were also relatives who I think was a daughter of the Muller (Miller) from Saskatchewan. |
| The Redwood street house was unique. Although small, like all the houses in Winnipeg's North end, this house had an upstairs outside covered balcony which I loved. I know this since whenever John my father would punish me, he sent me to Grandma Lenas house. Little did he know this was not punishment but a delight to sit on Lena's balcony and read books. Then grandma would fix little goodies for me and you cant beat Austrian pastries. |
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| I also asked for her playing cards she brought back from Zickydorf. (By the way Zichydorf is named after a Count "Zicky de Vasonkeo" and Dorf = Village). These cards had amazing pictorial scenes and very strange six suit designations. I wish we could find even one of these cards now but at least I got to see and use them. |
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Grandma was quite tall and not excessively big but suffered poor leg
and heart circulation. She always enjoyed going on car rides with us and
John made a point to try and take her most weekends. A few times we would
visit a farm outside Winnipeg which belonged to either relatives or friends.
They were well known since my dad John would take a week holiday to help
them harvest in the fall.
Anyway, grandma would come to this farm to get chickens. She sure knew how to handle and butcher them. These chickens were free range so you had to catch one and she never missed. After bringing out her hidden 10 inch knife she would lop their heads off with a deft slice then throw them 10 ft away so they could run around for a couple of min and lose their blood. Later, back in Winnipeg, we would have Chicken Paprigosh with dumplings for supper. |
| On another of our trips, which by the way always included a couple of flat tires, Grandma hit her head on a bar in the car after John went over a mud hole. This resulted in the whole top of her face turning purple from broken capillaries. It lasted for weeks and she was embarrassed to be seen. |
| As part of our drive route we would visit a cemetery (Elmwood-?) which must have included relatives. I thought Grandpa Hochban might be buried here but on my year 2000 visit to Winnipeg there was no sign of any other Hochban burial site. While Grandma, John & Kay would attend to flowers plus fixing a relatives grave, Norm and I would investigate the Tombs. There was one grave that had a window view and I told Norm I could see the body. He wouldn't Look! Another surface grave had a baby also included as part of the tomb. This always saddened me and on every visit I had to go and visit this baby site. |
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Many of these trips went to a place called Birds Hill which is now a Provincial park. Then, it was nothing more then a sand pit which filled from an underground water spring. We would pack a picnic lunch, pick up Grandma, and arrive at Birds Hill with inner tubes for swimming. Surrounding this pit are many wild Saskatoon berry trees which always provided a supply for pies or just eating. Grandma loved these excursions since it gave her an opportunity to get her feet wet in a water pool. She would sit at the edge, dangling her feet, and the odd time wadding in up to her knees. |
| Further down the road was a dam on the Red River called Lockport, below which people would fish for sturgeon. Dad (John) tried it once with Norm & I in a rented boat, his first time fishing. Unbelievably he caught a huge fish but even more crazy all the boats in the river came over to give advise. He couldn't bring it in! |  |
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The fish was dragging us around in the boat with people shouting stupid advice. Grandma and Kay were on shore watching the Mutt & Jeff show finally yelling "give up, its getting dark". I don't fully remember whether the fish broke the line or Dad cut it, but we never got to see it. This ended his fishing exploits until he tried it again in Deep River where he moved to retire. |
| Grandma was a Great cook and her repertoire included most of the fabulous cooking of Austria and Hungary, especially Hungary with its paprika based cuisine. Everyone knows these dishes so I'm not going to describe them except for a different strudel. She would use pumpkin slivers with butter and sugar as a filling. We also had the normal apple. Let me say I believe this cuisine is world top and our family should never forget to pass them on. |
| Grandma was a strong personality and very kind. She was advanced for
women of her day and could hold her own in many ways. The catholic religion
was extremely important to her especially coming from a catholic village
based society in Europe, Zichydorf. Since Peter her husband was killed
by horse or bull on Jan 14-1934, Grandma, carried on life as a successful
immigrant in Winnipeg.
There is much to write about Grandma Hochban but I'm glad I experienced the small amount I did and feel extremely proud to be a Hochban. This taste of German culture is ingrained with me with its close relationships and family life. Unfortunately my own children never got to fully experience this German culture since much is lost. These reflections may help. Grandma, after spending her remaining years with Matt and Lena Birg, in the USA, died and was buried in Crivitz, Wisconsin, on Jan 21-1970. |
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