Marriage of Mary Fast and John Letkeman

This excerpt was taken from Chronicles and Geneology of the Abram Edmund Klassen Family, compiled by Isaac P Klassen, David Friesen and Helena Braun, published January 1988.  Any significant additions/edits have been added in Italics.  Spelling and grammar has been corrected without notation.

Maria (Mary) Fast and Johann (John) Letkeman were married at Holdfast, Saskatchewan on November 21, 1926 where they first met.  They farmed at Holdfast, then at Stoughton.  Just before the drought years of the 1930's, they gave up on southern Saskatchewan and took up a homestead at Northvale, Saskatchewan where they farmed for 34 years.  Northvale no longer exists as a community.  It was located east of Mullingar.  

With much courage and a lot of hard work they raised their eight children and saw to it that they all got an education.  In 1964, John and Mary moved to Waldheim, and, so writes their daughter, "even then they were not idle.  Dad worked for an implement dealer at first and when his arthritis became too disabling, his hobby of building miniature windmills kept him busy and happy.  Mom's gardening abilities were much appreciated by neighbours and friends whom she supplied with bedding plants.  The sight of many flowers around the house also gave evidence of her love of gardening."  Mary also made many blankets for the MCC."