Ethel Louise Foote was born August 30, 1925 in Vanguard, Saskatchewan, and arrived in the Spirit River area with her parents, Emily and Joe Foote, in 1929. They came to join family members Vern and Becky Foote, and Vern and Hattie Rappel, who had come to the Peace Country in 198. In 1942, her cousin, Ray Rappel, enlisted in World War II and was sent overseas, and in 1943, Ethel married Walter Buck, whose family had settled in the Bridgeview area south of Spirit River in 1929. Based in England, Ray became friends with Jean Goff, and asked his cousin Ethel to write to her so she would know a little bit about Canada. Although that relationship did not last, Ray did marry in England, to Rosina Elizabeth Stredder, and asked Ethel to write to her as well. Ray was injured in the war and sent home in 1944. Rosina followed later that year. The couple went on to have two children, James and Frederick, but Ray passed away in 1954 while the children were only 6 and 8 years old. Rosina later married Robert Giles. Meanwhile, Ethel Foote had continued to write to Jean Goff and was still writing to her at the age of 90, when this collection was donated to the Archives.
[ca. 1942-1950]