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| George and Mabel Parrett in 1936. |
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| Having given up the farm and living in Brandon |
Mother, Mable Purchase,was one of ten children in Moreton, Dorset. The Purchase family had the village shop, bakery and post
office, the ten children living in small rooms behind and upstairs, all takling turns in the post office, including sending
and receiving telegraphs, by the waving needle of those days. George Purchase ran a subshop for soldiers on summer training
at nearby Bovington Camp, and my father George Parret was a clerk there, which is where he met my mother Mable.
My mother, Mable Parrett, was the moving spirit of our family. She hated the Pilot Mound farm, and persuaded dad to move
to Winnipeg, then Brandon, Manitoba, and open a neighborhood shop, as their families had the village shops in England. Mother
"could do anything," was president of the Consevative Association, Matron of the Eastern Star, and a Commissioner
of the Girl Guides. She continued to operate Parrett's Grocery in Brandon after dad died, moving to Vancouver after WW11.
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| Father George Parrett with brother Stan in 1930s |
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| Now in Brandon, Man. operating PARRETT's Grocery |
My father, George Parrett, left the Pilot Mound farm in 1917, served in the army,was discharged in 1919, returned to Winnipeg,
and Brandon, and opened a grocery shop at 555-6th Street, Brandon in April 1922. He bought the house across the road at 554-6th
Street, had it jacked up and moved back 50 feet on the lot, building the shop on the front. This was done by hand jacks and
horses! Dad died in 1942, mother operating the shop until after WW11, when she and sister Mabel (Mamie) moved to Vancouver.
My dad, George Parrett, was a quiet man, but he moved mountains. After moving the Brandon house back on the lot, he dug out
the basement by hand, put in concrete foundations, installed a hot air furnace, insulated walls and ceiling, and poured concrete
walks to the back door, and in front of the front shop. The Brandon store was open until six oc'lock weekdays, and until
11 PM on Saturdays- which often ment closing near midnight. During the Depression years, he ran accounts for those who rarely
paid,and filled brown bags with food for needy neighbors who were out of work.
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Father, Maimie, Roy and Stan in Brandon- about 1922.
My dad, George Parrett, served in the army WW1, and was a Mason in Brandon and played cricket there.When he died in 1942,
Saint Matthews church was filled with friends to say goodby. Daughter Mabel- always called "Mamie"- attended St.
Michael's Academy in Brandon, and took up piano playing there. She trained as a nurse at the Brandon Hospital, and did a post
graduate course at the Mayo Clininc in Rochester, N.Y. Maimie served as an army nurse, overseas during WW11, and attended
UBC, Vancouver, for Public Health nursing, and worked for the Metropolitan Health Unit in Vancouver until retiring. Roy, in
the sailor suit, will be featured later.
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| A gathering of Parretts in Vancouver in 1962. |
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| In front, Maude, Mable Sr. and Mabel ("Mamie") |
Other Relatives
Granny Parrett, centre, is celebrating her birthday in Vancouver, with Roy's wife, Maude-left, and daughter Mamie on the right.
Brother Stan is in the white shirt, standing, with wife Peggy on the left. Beside Peggy are her daughter Pat and Roy's daughter
Barbra. Roy is in the jacket and then George and Bob. Stan's family are in the Vancouver area, Roy and Maude in Victoria.
Maude passed on in 1974. Roy and Stan served in the artillery during WW11, Roy in England and Europe, Stan in Italy.
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| D Troop, 15th Field Regt. RCA in Germany 1945 |
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