Dorothy (nee: Brown) and William “Bill” Halma have been members of LSCO since about 2015. Dorothy can be found with the Knitters Group and William plays Crib and participates in Fit Ball.
Dorothy was born in Penticton, B.C. in 1945. She is the youngest of a family of 3 daughters. Her father was in the Canadian infantry in Normandy where he lost the use of a leg and became an amputee. Dorothy was raised in Banff, where she graduated in 1963 as part of Banff High School’s first graduating class. She then left at the age of 18 to attend secretarial school in Calgary while her parents remained in Banff. Dorothy has joyful childhood memories of Banff where ‘everybody knew everybody’. Over time, it would become a ‘tourist town’ with the town really “coming alive” from May to September.
William was born in the Netherlands in 1942, about a mile from the North Sea. He completed 6 years of formal education in the Netherlands before his family of 9 children came to Canada in 1954 for economic and security reasons. With Russia knocking on the doorstep of western Europe, William’s father believed that his children would have better prospects in Canada away from a communist system.
William’s mother went on to have three more children in Canada. William was placed in Grade 5 in Sunnyside School when the family arrived and he believes this school was a great introduction to Canada as many of his classmates were new Canadians. He learned a lot of English from comic books and Dick and Jane books. After moving to the Taber Area, William completed Grade 8 at Barnwell School when he was 16 before joining the Canadian Army in 1958 through the Soldier Apprentice Program. He was stationed for 2 years each at Shilo (Manitoba), Picton (Ontario), and with the Canadian Brigade in Hemer, Germany. In 1964, the ‘Honest John’ Nuclear Missile program was cancelled and William was offered a release or transfer to another unit. So, he returned to Lethbridge, then to Calgary to attend S.A.I.T in Land Surveying Technology (1964-65).
Growing up in Banff, Dorothy enjoyed sledding, outdoor skating, and walking across the ‘rink’ that was created over the Bow River in winter. In the summer, she climbed around Tunnel Mountain and rode bikes. She wanted to be a stewardess but did not meet the height requirements of the time and later discovered she doesn’t enjoy flying.
Willliam and Dorothy met in Calgary while he was a student at S.A.I.T and she was a clerk at the Calgary Police Service. They married in 1965 and moved to Edmonton where two of their sons would be born and Dorthy would make the transition to being a full-time homemaker. William worked in land surveying and decided to make it a career. They lived in an ideal setting for four years until William’s career took them to Grande Prairie so he could article as a land surveyor. It took 10 years of study and testing to finally achieve his Licensed Alberta Land Surveyor designation in 1979. Their third son was born in Grande Prairie.
William and Dorothy moved to Lethbridge in 1976. They started up Halma Surveys in 1979 and operated their small business of generally three employees. Dorothy was a homemaker and kept the office operating smoothly. William was proud of their timely service and their reasonable pricing and that in 30 years of operating there was never a WCB complaint against them. They sold the business in 2013 and William gave up his ALS commission in 2015.
Dorothy is best known for saying ”Are your feet clean?” This is a source of amusement, but it is also significant to her. William paraphrases a Bible quote “whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, and your heart will feel glad.” William is active member of the Bethel Free Reformed Church in Monarch.
William like to keep a garden of vegetables and enjoys fresh veggies immensely, though he does describe himself as a ‘meat and potatoes man’. Dorothy says her comfort foods different types of salads, in-season veggies and chocolate.
Dorothy likes the music of Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Charlie Pride, Danny O’Donnell. William prefers light opera and can tolerate Elvis. William is a lifetime member of the Lethbridge Men’s Christian Choir. Dorothy enjoys jigsaw, crossword puzzles and reading.
William enjoys his little personally homemade “cabin” near Police Lake. This is his regular getaway and they both appreciate it, as they worked so closely together for so many years, they are happy to have this bit of independent time. Like Dorthy says “houpel op” which translates to “get lost for a while”. They feel they have drifted into their retirement and seem to enjoy its simplicity.
William and Dorothy are pleased that all three sons and their families live and work in Lethbridge. They have four grandchildren, all in Lethbridge between the ages of 16-19.
Dorothy and William were a pleasure to meet and get to know. Although a couple with differing backgrounds and interests, they seem to share a sense of humour, enjoy each other and their retirement, and their 59 year marriage.
Many Congratulations!
