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1. P1024 - Jacob Regier (1907 - 1999), pictured with nine of his twelve children, once homesteaded on his first BC mixed farm at the south end of Gladwin Road in Abbotsford, adjacent to the American border. Jacob, a 22-year-old of Mennonite heritage, was able to leave Stalin's Russia for Canada, but unfortunately his parents and siblings found themselves re-routed to Paraguay when Canada suddenly closed its border to the flow of European immigrants. On March 17, 1930, Jacob Regier arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada on the SS Melita, and continued onward to Saskatchewan. In the same year, he married Justina Kehler (1908 - 1941), the girl with whom he had fallen in love, in Russia. By that time, the Prairies were ravaged by the Depression, drought and dust storms, and after feeding thistles to their horses for some time, Justina and Jacob heard from relatives that one could still farm in BC. In 1938, the young family packed their few possessions and boarded a train to relocate in the Fraser Valley. In 1941, shortly after settling in BC, Justina, Jacob's first wife, tragically died during the birth of their seventh child. Later, Jacob had five more children with his second wife Katarina Siemens (1909 - 1995). In 1950, when this photo was taken, Jacob was a kind family man who was working hard to build a productive farming legacy, and yet, found time to be active as a church music leader, and served on the MEI Board in Abbotsford, where his daughter, Elizabeth, was attending. Left to right back row: Jacob Regier (patriarch), Stella (peeking), Elizabeth, Art, Nettie, Katarina Left to right front row: Vic, Abe, Walter, Esther, Marlene Missing from photo: Anne, Tina, Jake, (Justina, 1st wife)

   "Description" content provided by Audrey Johnson, Elizabeth Regier's daughter/Jacob's granddaughter.

   Record Type: Photo