This was the home of Roy and Grace Castonguay for about forty years, and for Glenn and Pearl Skime even longer.
Roy Castonguay and Grace Dean were married in Koochiching County on May 12, 1915. Roy came from Grand Falls, Mn. and settled in Bemidji at 711 Scott Avenue. Roy was employed at the Chicago Box Factory in the 1920s. In the 1940s, he and his son Crenton both worked for the Bemidji Wood Products Co. Roy and Grace had a large family including Crenton (1917), Gladis (1919) Olga (1922), Walter (1924), Anna Laura (1927), Mary Mabel (1928), Emogene (1929), and Henry Peter (1934). Roy died June 5, 1952 and Grace lived there a bit longer.
The home then became the home of Glenn Skime and Pearl Sanderson, who were married May 15, 1956. I think my dad took their pictures at Wattles Studio. I thought Pearl was one of the prettiest brides I had ever seen.
Glenn worked with his father Elmer at the Nymore Locker Plant. In 1970, he started a second career as a fire fighter for the city. He closed the locker plant in 1971. He continued as a firefighter until retiring for health reasons in 1982. He also retired from the volunteer department, where he served on his off-duty days for 26 years. He served in several elective offices on the volunteer fire department and had been an assistant chief as a firefighter. He was an avid outdoorsman, enjoyed hunting, and fishing and restoring old vehicles, especially fire trucks. He died in 1996. He and Pearl have three sons Gary, Jeff and Kelly.
Pearl Sanderson started out as leader in high school. She was a senior when I was a sophomore. She was class secretary at BHS as a junior, and class treasurer as a senior. She was on the yearbook staff and graduated in 1955. I remember her also as a teller at the First National Bank — always easy to deal with at the window. It was another aspect that I admired. She has set a fine example of a BHS graduate, a working woman, a pleasant senior citizen, and a friend to many.