The home's rich heritage

Why Patrick Place?

The home at 88 Fifth Avenue North in Yorkton was built in 1911 by John and Sadie Patrick, and they lived there, raising a family of seven, until 1935.

John and Sadie were both prominent residents of Yorkton, leaving only when John was appointed a judge in the Moosomin district a hundred miles to the south.

But we're getting ahead of the story.

John Patrick was a member of the third generation of Patricks in Canada. His grandparents had come from Ireland during the time of famine, arriving in Quebec City in 1819. They eventually moved to southern Ontario, where their youngest son George and his wife Alecia continued to operate the family farm and raised a family of 12 children.

Their seventh was John A. M. Patrick, born in 1873.

The offer of free land in the west attracted the eldest of the Patrick sons, Dr. Thomas Alfred, who arrived at the end of the rail in Saltcoats in 1889. He established a medical practice there, moving to Yorkton in 1894.

As the eldest, Thomas had a great influence over his four brothers, all of whom followed him west. And all played significant roles in the early community of Yorkton:

• George (commonly known as Eddie) was a surveyor and owner of the Patrick Block on Third Avenue, which housed the 600-seat Patrick Theatre. There, on Saturday evenings, the folks of Yorkton would pay 10 cents to see the silent picture shows, which were accompanied by live piano music;





• Richard Abner, known as Dick, set up and operated Patrick's Drug Store;





• Benjamin Franklin became Yorkton's town constable;





• John A. M. (named after Prime Minister John A. Macdonald) became the first teacher at Orkney School west of Yorkton, where he taught for six years.

John had arrived in Yorkton in 1896. He also taught at Ebenezer School and Victoria School, where he met and took a fancy to Sadie Pearl Hawkins. They were married in November of 1905.

But by that time John was no longer teaching. In 1901 he had enrolled as a student of law in Regina. He articled with the illustrious George William Brun (who also became a judge), and was called to the bar in 1904.

He opened a law practice in Yorkton and became the trusted legal advisor to Peter Veregin, drawing up all the documents for the Doukhobour community that was part of Yorkton's early history.

He was named a King's Counsel in 1914, and continued to practice law in Yorkton until he was appointed judge.

John and Sadie had a family of seven, and also raised a niece.

John served as President of the Law Society, President of the Bar Association, President of the Yorkton Board of Trade, Trustee of the school board, and Mayor of Yorkton for three years.

And while much of Sadie's time was taken up raising the children, she was also the first woman to chair the local school board, serving as Trustee for six years.

John was an animal lover, and the sun porch of the Patrick home was truly a menagerie, with cages that housed everything from lovebirds to an alligator. The family pets included a monkey named Chuck, two dogs, three ponies, two elk that carried the children on their backs, and a moose that pulled the kids to school on a toboggan.

John owned a piece of land west of the city that became a wildlife preserve he called Deer Park. He eventually gave it to the city, and today it is a picturesque golf course with the same name.

Sadie was intensely interested in missionary work, and was a loyal member of the IODE Rebekah Lodge. She imported Indian lace, from which she made doilies that were sold to raise money for the Methodist Church.

She hosted a tea at her home the first Thursday of every month, an event duly noted on her calling card.

Saturday was Sadie's bake day, and on Sundays after church she wrote the family diary, to which all members of the family were expected to contribute.

With thanks to
Mona Ione (Patrick) Gladwell
for her recollections.