FAMILY WEB PAGE
EILEEN Lightfoot
EILEEN RUTH LIGHTFOOT
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Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 6, 1955
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Mother - Verna Magee
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Father – Arthur Lightfoot
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Married - Keith Carter (divorced)
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Children - Robert, Jennifer, Jonathon, Lawrey
KEITH CARTER
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Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 6, 1955
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Married - Eileen Lightfoot (divorced)
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Children - Robert, Jennifer, Jonathon, Lawrey
Eileen’s first memory is of when she was 2 ½ years old and was the flower girl at Patsy Ruth’s wedding. They told her not to eat the confetti. She had on little white gloves so she couldn’t pick up the ‘fafetti’. She wanted to eat it because it was such pretty colors. It was a really hot day and she had on a fluffy lace dress and carried a pink or white basket. Her next memory is of the Carnation Bowling Alley. It would have been before Grade 1 and she remembers her mom taking her to the Bowling Alley and that there was a pattern of pins and stripes on the carpet and that they would roll on the carpet pretending that they were bowling balls striking the pins.
She hated her first day of school. She needed glasses to see but they didn’t know that until she started school. She despised school from the first moment and wasn’t going anywhere without her mom. Her mom had told her it was only half a day and when she found out it was a full day she was mad at her mom. She always disliked school. She did however meet her friend Lawrey at school, with whom she has been friends for 42 years (2006) and who her daughter Lawrey is named after. She remembers that Lawrey had a fence with bees flying all around it and they would knock on the fence and call for ‘Mr. Bee’. In grade five she had Mr. Kazina who was her favorite teacher. She remembers him trying to explain to her some mathematical question and he was standing behind her and all of a sudden two big tears hit the page and he said it was OK they could figure it out later. She was able to tell him several years later that he was her favorite teacher.
She remembers the family going to Laclu (near Kenora, Ontario) for years, her, her sister, and her brother, all kids in the back seat. They would spend three weeks at the cottage, which had an old wood stove. They rented a Cabin #6 there for years. There was always lots of company that came to visit. In the summer of 1971 she met Debbie Metcalf (another life long friend) at Whytewold Beach. They became best of buddies and eventually she would go every weekend to the beach.
She was then working for her dad as a Security Guard at the Jewish Synagogue on Wellington Crescent and Academy Road, in Winnipeg. Her job was to tell all the rich ladies not to smoke on the Sabbath in the Synagogue. She remembers they had the most magnificent food there and she would work from 8:00 until 1:00 and then go to the Lake. She had to protect all their mink coats!!
She also did some 'private investigation' work following men who were cheating on their wives. Her ‘biggest case’ she remembers was that she would have to be there before he came to work and watch to see if he made contact with the ‘other woman’. After two weeks she was getting bored and wanted to wrap it up so she followed him and when he went into the building of his supposed lady friend she followed him into the lobby and when he got into the elevator she actually got into the elevator with him, which was against the rules to be seen by your suspect, then she watched him go to the apartment and then phoned her dad to tell him he was actually with the other woman. She said it was really fun, she would have to change disguises as she followed people and she made great money. Her Dad owned Lightfoot Security. On another job she went to Dominion Stores with marked money to catch employees that were cheating on the tills. She also would take a group of friends somewhere to eat and then pass the marked money. She would also ‘mystery shop’ places like Dominion Stores, take things back, etc. to see how customers were being treated.
She taught gymnastics at the YMCA in St. Vital and volunteered Fridays and Saturdays at the Winter Club teaching gymnastics, which is where she met her husband Keith. He was her hero, he was an amazing gymnast. They dated off and on for six years and were married in 1979. In 1976 he was in the Montreal Olympics and they all went, friends and family. They also went to Yugoslavia the year before.
When they got married she got pregnant right away. She wasn’t ready to be pregnant and wasn’t happy about it. She had done four years of university, one year of teaching and just gotten married and having a baby was not in her immediate plans. As a consolation Keith took her to England but the weather was cold, they saw lots of relatives, the food was strange and they stayed in a rickety home that was straight out of the Psycho Movie so it wasn’t the best of holidays. Their son Robert was born in February of 1980, and they bought their first home, Jennifer was born in August of 1981, Jonathon in June of 1983 and Lawrey in December of 1984. Her sister Donna died on September 28th of that same year and her mom, Verna died on December 18th so it was a very difficult year for her. She was able to spend tons of time with her sister Donna before she died and Auntie Viv (Knochak) also came to help look after Donna’s two young girls, as Verna just couldn’t bring herself to be there.
The family had wonderful ski holidays and spent Easter vacation in Whitefish, Montana, and always went to the Lake for Christmas. They took their kids to Disneyland in Florida and stayed at the Ritz. They had a ball. They used to go to the zoo at Assiniboine Park very often and take a picnic dinner and they would feed the ducks. They had a lovely home on the river, fabulous neighbors, and a cottage at the lake, which was like a paradise. The family had wonderful summers out there and actually went often in the winter also. Their kids attended a good school, they had great friends, belonged to the Winter Club, played badminton, soccer, and the kids took diving lessons. When she would take them to the Pan Am Pool for lessons she would stop in and see her grandmother, Mom Campbell, who lived near by.
The family moved to Calgary, in 1996, her husband Keith’s business changed necessitating the move and it was a big adjustment for all of them. New friends, new schools, new neighborhood. It was hard to leave the old life behind but the kids have adjusted well and they all still keep in touch with old friends in Winnipeg.
Eileen's favorite memories are of our big family dinners around the ping-pong table in the basement of her family home on Lawndale. She remembers she and Heather (her cousin) always had to eat in the bedroom when the dinners were at Mom’s place as Mom’s apartment was so small. She remembers going there to watch the Santa Claus Parade and she remembers the iron bulldog that sat at the top of the stairs, which she would talk to, as her parents wouldn’t allow pets. There was always tons of great food and unbelievable laughing. Both her mom Verna and step-grandfather Pop Campbell were great storytellers, and then (Auntie) Isabel was also funny so the whole family always had great laughs at the family gatherings. She also remembers the kids running through the Alverstone Street home of Uncle Denny and Auntie Viv as there was a circuit you could go through the living room and kitchen then down the stairs to the basement, across the basement and up the front hall stairs and do it again. The kids loved it.
She is happy to be a mom and loves having her home filled with her family and the friends of her children. She occasionally works part-time and particularly loves working for an accounting firm. They have her back each tax season. She has lots of animals and she is never quite sure what pet they will adopt next.
ROBERT CARTER
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Born - Winnipeg, Manitoba, February 26, 1980
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Mother - Eileen Carter (nee Lightfoot)
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Father – Keith Carter
Robs’ first memory was when his dog had puppies. He also remembers that right from the beginning of kindergarten he liked school. He was into skiing, swimming, gym, soccer and all kinds of sports during his growing up years, most of which took place at the Winter Club in Winnipeg. He says he and his brother and sisters went to the Winter Club everyday after school.
He particularly enjoyed the yearly ski trips the family took each year to White Fish, Montana and then the summers they would spend at their cottage at the lake. As soon as school was out the family headed to Whytewold near Winnipeg Beach and they stayed pretty much all summer. There was always lots to do at the lake and a great group of kids to play with. They would swim, build tree forts, bike and even cutting the grass was fun.
In the fourth grade he started to attend St. Johns Ravenscourt School where he played soccer, field hockey, skated on the school rink and got involved in tons of school activities. He met some great friends there, some of whom have continued to be friends to this day. His best friend, in fact, just recently moved to Calgary (written in 2006). They have been friends since they were ten years old.
When he was sixteen the family moved to Calgary and he had to change schools for his final years of Grade 11 and 12. He attended Strathcona Tweedsmuir School and liked it, making some great friends there also.
When he finished Grade 12 he decided he had had enough of school for a while and so he began working full time at the Sunterra Food Market, where he had been working part time while he was in Grade 12. He says it was a great experience for him. He began by being a stock boy, stocking shelves and then had the opportunity to work a variety of jobs there ending up as the Assistant Manager after eight years. It was also a great way to pay for school when he decided to go back to University.
Rob graduated in May of 2006 with his Degree in Economics and went to work as a stockbroker with his Dad for a company called Emerging Equity. He said he loved it. It was a big change from the grocery business but he enjoyed the challenge of his new profession.
As of 2006, Rob had been with his partner Leah for five years. Three years earlier they bought a townhouse where they enjoy living with their two cats and a rabbit. Leah was just finishing her degree in Political Science and working for the Aon Insurance Company which bonds surety for construction companies. She liked her job but was thinking that now that Rob is finished University she might like to get her Law Degree.
In the meantime they were enjoying skiing, movies and getting together with their friends. Rob and his brother Jonathan are also big Calgary Flames fans so they have gone to a lot of hockey games together.
JENNIFER CARTER
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Born -August, 1981
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Mother - Eileen Lightfoot
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Father – Keith Carter
JONATHON DAVID GORDON CARTER
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Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 9, 1983
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Mother - Eileen Lightfoot
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Father – Keith Carter
Jonathon’s first memories are of playing Nintendo in the basement of their home at 235 ? He also remembers playing guns and hiding behind the dresser. He remembers Barb’s (unclear who this is?) old black and white couches and the weird organ shag carpet she had. He decided to run away one time and hid under a tub. He remembers the Kindergarten bus and that he didn’t want to go to school. He also remembers dancing to Rob’s “Back To The Future” tape. Also he remembers when Betsy, the dog, had her puppies and they put them in a playpen.
He attended St. John Ravenscourt School for Grades 1 through 6 and in first grade his teacher’s name was unbelievably UN JEET JOLLY. Sports were always easy for him and he excelled in most. He loved soccer, track and field and even though he was the youngest he was invited to enter the 10,000-yard run (8 times around the track). With his soccer team he went to Ottawa and got to visit the House of Commons. He got to sit in the Speaker’s Chair and was playing with the buttons that raised up the chair. He also went to Toronto and Montreal. He loved the ski trips to Giant Ridge, Minnesota, each year. He was ceded #1 in badminton, won the city tournament in baseball where he played third base and pitcher. He remembers his mom coming to pick up his team, 26 kids, in a limo that she had rented for his sister's, Jennifer’s, graduation and taking them to 7/11 after they won the City Tournament.
He enjoys having fish tanks, as a hobby. He golfs and has done some traveling. He went to Mexico for New Years and stayed in a five star hotel in Cancun. They also visited Playa del Carman, which was a highlight week. They had parties every night and were very popular with the girls.
He had his first job when he was 14 years old working at the Saddledome Arena, Calgary, Alberta, as an usher for the NHL hockey team, the Calgary Flames and also for special events, like Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and Celene Dyon. He also worked at the Calgary Stampede selling hot dogs for 10 hours a day. In 2006 he was working at Sunterra Market where he started packing groceries and is now the Produce Manager.
He remembers on a ski trip to Whitefish that he and his brother Rob went on one of the back paths and cut across it the wrong way getting lost. They had skied for about 45 minutes when they realized they had no idea where they were. They were stranded. They had to hike back carrying their skis and poles to retrace their ski marks in the snow to find their way. It got dark and they could barely see the marks in the snow, they were really scared but finally made it back. Another time he was out in the water at Whytewold and got out too far. There were huge waves and he was loosing ground. He couldn’t swim fast enough to make any headway back to shore. He started to panic and remembers going under. One of the older boys noticed he in trouble and came to his rescue grabbing him as he went under. He thought he was going to drown. One of his current hobbies is photography.
LAWREY DONNA CARTER
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Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, December 8, 1984
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Mother - Eileen Lightfoot
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Father – Keith Carter
Lawrey remembers sneaking down the stairs when she should have been in bed. She remembers her great auntie Viv (Konchak) coming over and playing cards with her. The cards were beautiful and had teacups and flowers on them. Auntie Viv always made the best egg salad sandwiches. After lunch she would take Auntie Viv upstairs to show everyone’s room to her. She remembers that their dog Betsy would always like to watch the video of Lady and The Tramp and would whimper like she was crying when it came to the sad part of the movie.
Lawrey broke her leg skiing when she was just starting school. She had a mean teacher in Grade One so didn’t like school but her Grade Two teacher, Mr. Bartell was great. She remembers the fun ski trips and the summers at the lake, which were also great family fun. She always seemed to find a stray animal, a bat, a heron, or a hawk and brought them home to take care of. She watched her cat Maggie being born and has enjoyed watching her grow up. She loved skating at the Winter Club when they lived in Winnipeg. She also swam and played badminton and loved going to the Bridger Drive In (BDI) for ice cream!!
Her favorite childhood memories are of playing dress up and pretending to have weddings. Disneyland was a highlight and she remembers they were all (she and her brothers and sister) attached by wristbands so they wouldn’t get lost.
She was a flower girl in 1991 for a neighbor and did modeling as the Palaseal Girl when she was young. She took piano lessons and played the trumpet and was the only girl trumpet player. She loved diving and was in skating competitions all over Manitoba.
In 2006 she was painting and writing stories. As a Christmas School Project in High School she organized Color Day where the students wore a certain color on a certain day and were given prizes. They brought food and filled hampers for Christmas to be given to poor families. She made posters, sent home information to parents and she got a list of needy families through churches. She went to Starbucks and asked for donations, they got Maple Leaf Hams, and she went to all kinds of places asking for donations. It took all day to deliver the hampers to 15 families. She says it was a humbling experience when they got to meet the families, especially when the kids would be crying and hugging you. Lawrey said it was very emotional and very rewarding.