History of Charles Mathew Creighton

Charles Creighton (July 31, 1924 - February 9, 2005)
Charlie was born in Devil's Lake, N. Dakota and lived there and in southern Ontario in his younger years. He once told me his father (Matthew) crossed the border quite often but that's a story for another day. The family eventually came to live in the Grande Prairie area, near Hythe on a homestead. I believe some of the older children stayed in Ontario. Matthew died when Charlie was 8 years old and his mother (Alma) remarried. Charlie and his stepfather didn't get along too well and he left home when he was just 13. He went to work for farmers as a hired man and then in the bush, logging. His older sister (Violet) had a farm near Hythe and he would occasionally stay there and visit when he wasn't working. He always enjoyed spending time with family. Charlie was a bit musically inclined and played the guitar, banjo and accordian, often singing along with his playing. I think he was quite good at it myself.
One time when he came out of the bush to Hythe, he thought he had a date with a certain young lady but she already made a date so she got her co-worker and friend to choose one of the dates for herself. She said "I've got one coming from town and one coming out of the bush." Well the friend was Catherine Race and she chose the one coming out of the bush, which was of course Charlie. They hit it off quite well and got married on January 19, 1950. They later moved to British Columbia near Natal/Michelle and their first child was born there. They eventually had four children - Darcy (1952), Leslie (1954), Ellen Lea (1957) and Charlene (1959). More later...