Angelo (Angus) Pighin was born in Udine Province, Italy, in 1875. At age fourteen he went to Germany and worked there for fifteen years. He returned to Italy and married Louise Gardi in 1904 and later, in that same year, he came to Canada to Moyie. He worked for the Porta Rico Lumber Company and in 1905 came to Marysville to work in the smelter.
Angus bought property near Marysville and when the smelter closed down in 1908, he continued to improve his property while working at sawmills in the area. He had brought his wife and infant daughter Mary (Marie) to join him in 1906.
Over the next number of years he developed a dairy herd and built up a good milk trade in Marysville and Kimberley. His pasturizing plant was on Wallinger Ave., next door to what was once a garage and is now Zantes Restaurant. It was later moved to Lower Blarchmont, on the corner of Warren Avenue and Richie Street.
Angus retired in 1950. He had purchased the Carlin Place at Fort Steele but moved to Cranbrook in 1954. Angus and Louise had ten children; Marie, born in Italy and the other nine, all born in St. Eugene Hospital in Cranbrook, were Walter, Nervy, Cecil, Victor, Zoe, Dora, Robert, Irene and Teddy. Angus passed away in 1962 and Louise in 1969.
Walter took over the dairy on the home place until 1955, when he was killed in a car accident near Irishman Creek. He was on his way to Creston to sell the Pasturizing equipment there. Walter and his wife, nee Kate Skribe, had one son, Clarence and one daughter, Elaine. When Kate died he married Erma Fortier and they had five children; two sons, Wayne and Marcel and three daughters; Vivian, Esther and Carol. Walter was an active member in the Knights of Columbus, the Moose Lodge, the Elks and the Eagles.
Nervy Pighin married a Cranbrook girl where they still reside. They have four children.
Cecil has a farm near the old place near Marysville and has never married. Victor took over the Carlin Property at Fort Steele and married an Alberta girl. They have ten children.
Zoe still lives in Kimberley. She married Pat Reid, who worked at the Mine and just recently retired. They had three children, two sons; Jim and Roy. Their daughter, Shirley met her death at a Banff Ski Resort when she was caught in an avalanche in 1977.
Dora married a Bull River man and moved to Kellogg, Idaho. She had three children. She is now deceased. Robert lived in Cranbrook and had six children. He passed away in 1972. Irene married and lived in Ephrata, Washington. They had one adopted daughter and two sons. She died in 1971. Teddy lives in Fort Steele and remained a bachelor.
Marie was working at the Chapman Camp Cookhouse when she met Sydney (Smoky) Adams. They were married in 1925. They have five children, four boys and one girl: Norman, Raymond, Joyce, Gordon and Larry. Norman and Larry still live in Kimberley and both work for the City. Norman is City Treasurer and Larry is a Fireman, 2nd Class. Marie and Smoky have twenty grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Marie remembers those early years in the Dairy. Everyone worked hard except Saturday nights in the summer, when there was no hay in the loft and the big barn was filled to capacity with dancers. Many folks in the area will recall the old fashioned country dances held in Pighins barn. Walter played the accordion, Cecil played the banjo and a friend, George Foster, played trumpet and trombone. A good time would be had by all! ! ! !
