Skip to content

Celebrating the women who made Golden what it is

For this month's Turning Back the Pages, Colleen Palumbo will be honouring Women in History month.
60118goldenstarP1450
Martha Feuz

Recently I had a visitor to the museum with a special little cookbook. Thank you Bernice for bringing it in. Now normally we don’t accept cookbooks but this one was created in Golden by St. Paul’s Guild in April 1953. Sixty years ago! It’s one of those great little community cookbooks that are created by the women of the area and each recipe is accompanied by a name. October is “Women in History” month and I thought I would acknowledge that by giving a brief history of one of the contributors to the book along with the recipe that she submitted for each week in October. Follow along and make the recipes and let me know how they worked out for you.

Gertie Marrs

Gertie Feuz Marrs was born in Switzerland in 1910 and came with her family to Canada in 1912.  Gertie’s father was Edward Feuz, one of the original Swiss Guides brought to Canada by Canadian Pacific Railway.

The family occupied the house that in most recent years is known as Walter Feuz house for two or three years but when Gertie started school the family moved off of Edelweiss hill to take residence in their own place where the Brookside Motel is today.

Gertie, and other children in that area, had to walk to school during a time when plows were nearly unheard of. Gertie attended Lady Grey School and when she had completed high school she went to Vancouver to Business College.

After working for a time at the Vancouver Stock Exchange, Gertie came home where she spent her summers working with her mother at the Tea House at Lake Louise and the rest of the year picking up what secretarial work was available. After a while a permanent job came along, as secretary at the Government Agent’s office.

Gertie met her future husband George Marrs in 1936, and it was several years before they had the means to get married. . One child, Patricia (Holland) was born to the couple and when Pat was in her early teens the family moved into a new house that they had built on 10th Ave.

Gertie's husband George was a pharmacist and quite comfortable with the public and when Golden held its first civil elections in 1957 he became our first mayor. Gertie took to life in the public eye and accompanied her husband when he met with Princess Margaret in 1958 and then Queen Elizabeth in 1959. She entertained many dignitaries in her home including W.A.C. Bennett.

Gertie loved to dance and play badminton, the latter being how she met her husband. She was an active member of St. Andrews United Church and sang in the choir right up until her passing in 2004 at the age of 94.

 

HALF HOUR PUDDING

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

¼ tsp salt

½ cup milk

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup raisins

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a large greased pudding bowl.

Melt together 2 cups boiling water, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup of brown sugar

Pour over the first ingredients and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees). This pudding makes its own sauce.