SUNDRE – Members spanning three generations of the family of a late Sundre-area farmer who played an instrumental role in bringing about an expansion to the local museum that ultimately became the World of Wildlife recently reunited for the first time since he passed away 22 years ago.
Niels Eskesen died at the age of 80 after sustaining injuries while working on the museum’s reception centre in a project that ultimately paved the way forward to open the exhibit that features an impressive variety of taxidermy animals ranging from bears and cougars to more exotic creatures including elephants, lions and zebras.
Darlene (née Eskesen) Temple, who is also a former manager of the Sundre and District Museum, recently told the Albertan during an in-person interview that there had previously been smaller gatherings.
But there had not yet been a reunion to the scale of the one held on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Sundre museum’s grounds that was attended by almost 40 people with another two dozen who due to summertime scheduling conflicts were unable to attend, she said.
“His children were there, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren,” she said.
While most of those who were able to attend came from Alberta, others made it from as far away as B.C. and Saskatchewan, she said.
The informal affair served not only as an opportunity to remember Niels, but also to reconnect and socialize while enjoying the museum and historic grounds that were so near and dear to his heart as well as celebrating his legacy and the family’s future, she said.
Temple’s nephew Tyler Eskesen had just recently tied the knot in Calgary during the Stampede, but as a result of having a smaller venue could only accommodate a smaller crowd that didn’t include as many extended relations, she said, adding the reunion doubled as a chance to bring everybody together to meet the new bride, Meaghan.
Along the way, Darlene’s husband Bruce Temple, a member of the Sundre and District Historical Society whose board governs the museum, offered anyone who was interested a tour of the wildlife exhibit as well as the rest of the museum’s buildings and grounds.
“Once that was done, the museum closed up and then we moved out to the village,” she said.
From there, everyone had a chance to visit with the option to play some horseshoes as well as a washer game, which she described as similar to a bean bag toss.
“It was a popular one, the kids liked it,” she said, adding the children were also kept preoccupied having plenty of fun playing in a sandbox.
“We didn’t see the kids the whole time; it’s a great place to have a reunion because there’s just so much,” she said about the museum and its grounds, adding everybody seemed to have a great time with the collective realization that it had been far too long.
“The big consensus is, why did we wait so long to do this…we got to do this again and don’t wait 22 years,” she said.
Asked what are among her fondest memories of her late father, who farmed west of Sundre along Coal Camp Road, she said Niels was an exemplary role model who was also community-minded.
Life on the family farm required the shared responsibility of having all hands on deck contributing to the effort regardless of who you were, she said.
“He was one that it didn’t matter if you were a boy or if you were a girl, you helped,” said Darlene, adding she learned to drive a tractor fairly early on.
“I just felt like you’re a part of the family, and he made sure that we knew how to do what he asked us to do; he was a great teacher,” she said, adding he for a period was also involved in the 4-H program.
“He just loves young people,” she said.
“That’s what everybody remembered. His name was Papa; he was Papa to everybody” including friends of his grandchildren, she said.
“That’s just who he was.”
The museum project was also a driving passion for Niels, who was close friends with the late Chester Mjolsness, who had also invested his time and energy toward the wildlife exhibit to find a more public place for his collection of taxidermy animals.
“Dad and Chester were best friends,” she said. “Chester approached dad and they talked about this is where he would like it.”
When Niels wasn’t hard at work on the family farm or busy building community volunteering on a project like the museum’s expansion, which he got the grant to complete, he also enjoyed just having a good time, she said.
“He just wanted to have fun and live life to the fullest, which he did.”
