[Place Family Photo Here – Recommended: B&W Archival Photo]
Stephen and Susanna Polz arrived in British Columbia in the spring of 1945. They had left their homeland, in what is now modern-day Slovakia, back in 1922. They settled first in Denzil, Saskatchewan, with their two oldest children, Albin and Hyacinth. By the end of the 1930s, their family had grown: Bernadette, Frank, and Martin.
The economy was hard. Stephen went ahead to British Columbia, looking for work—looking for a place they could call home. He found it on Thorn Hill. Ten acres. A beautiful piece of land. He sent for Susanna and the younger children.
“When Susanna arrived in Vancouver with the children, they came through the train station. The children had never seen an escalator before. They refused to step on. A kind man who worked there noticed. He stopped the escalator… then turned it back on. And up they went.”
They moved into a log cabin and started a small dairy farm. Sundays were different. Special. They woke early, dressed in their best, and Susanna packed a large picnic lunch. The whole family set out on foot. Ten kilometers. From the back hills beyond Albion to St. Patrick’s Parish.
They didn’t have a car. When the second church was built on 224th Street in Haney, they kept walking. Every Sunday. After Mass, they would sit together and eat lunch in the priest’s garage. Later in the afternoon, the priest would drive them home to Thorn Hill.
Their first parish priest was Father Finnigan. Father Steele came in 1947. In 1951, the family finally bought a car. Bernie was the one who drove them to church. But the journey had never been a burden.
It was a gift. A chance to be with God.
And with the St. Patrick’s community that had become their home.
Submitted by Tony and Pamela Smith-Gander