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For a boy born and raised near Vulcan, Alberta to rise from the humble beginnings of farm life to that of a person of renown
internationally was more of an arduous journey than a planned endeavor.
Like many people who gleaned their education from a small country schoolhouse, Felmer Eamor and his brothers and sisters
received their education at the Red Cross school north of Vulcan. The school was some two miles from their home - a trip made twice a day by foot or on horseback, at times in the dead of winter.
This was no mean feat for Felmer, for at a young age he had fallen from a grain wagon and was left permanently handicapped, his left leg would remain shorter than the other from the accident. Hospitalized for several
months after the accident he would return home to spend several more months on crutches.
"There were a few times when some of the bigger fellows tried to take advantage of me, well, Iīd just lean
back on those crutches and kick those guys so hard on the shin with my good leg that they never knew what happened." Felmer would muse. Even with this handicap he was the catcher for the school baseball team.
In another instance, when the Eamor family was standing in a railway station platform by a locomotive, the engine vented steam right beside Felmerīs head. He subsequently suffered a great loss of
hearing. What hearing remained was preserved with the life long use of hearing aids.
After receiving his grade 10 education, the times decreed that Felmer should graduate from school and go to
work. He worked in the Vulcan - Blackie district of Alberta, during the "dirty thirties", trucking grain and coal with his four brothers. He related how they could fill a railway car in three to four hours by spelling
each other off and shoveling like fiends.
In 1938 he moved to Calgary to apprentice in the shoe construction and repair business. Custom built figure skates and figure skate repairs were also a
part of their education. This was the initial step to his climb on the ladder of success.
He soon moved to Royalties - also known as "Little Chicago" - where the oil fields had come in strong and
started up his shoe repair shop.
When the oil boom ended he gained further education as a leather craftsman, when he hired on with Claude Mills in High River, Alberta for $1. a day to learn the
saddle making trade. In 1943, Felmer and Mike Kratt formed a partnership and bought out Claudeīs business. Mike passed away in January 1945 and Felmer assumed sole ownership of the venture.
In 1944
Felmer and Mary Maurer, a Saskatchewan girl from Flowing Wells were united in marriage. Over the years they were blessed with three children, Duane, Brent and Stuart. In the ensuing years Felmer and his staff made
saddles for such luminaries as the singing trio of McGuire Sisters, Prince Rainier of Monaco and many of the well known ranchers of the Alberta foothills.
In 1954 the National Film Board of Canada
chose Eamorīs Saddlery around which to produce a film called "The Saddle Maker". The star, Elaine Hughes, a local girl and Felmer and his staff were the cast of main characters. This production was presented and viewed
world wide, putting High River and the saddle and tack business on the world map.
The business grew steadily and in 1963 Felmer was inducted into the Saddlemakerīs Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, the only Canadian to receive that honor. At itīs peak there were twenty-nine people on the staff, producing twelve saddles a day and all related tack. Seventeen thousand saddles were built in the 11
years of assembly line production. In 1975 the business was sold to a consortium in Calgary and Felmer retired. In 1976 Felmer and Mary moved to Adams Lake, BC to put the finishing touches on their new dream home. Here
Felmer pursued his favorite pastimes, fishing, watching baseball and hockey games and enjoying friends and family who came to visit. Conversation with visitors occasionally revolved around his history, and his handicap
would enter the picture when his reply would be "People are only crippled in their minds. You have to believe in yourself and when you do you are away in life."
Red Noble, an old acquaintance of
Felmerīs, eventually "dug him out of mothballs" to build a set of show harness for his Belgians. This was the initial project that started Felmer on a new career for a few years. His penchant for quality work and
painstaking efforts towards detail quickly earned him a reputation not only with harness makers but also with many heavy horse people. Customers from BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Utah and Lodi, California purchased his
harness.
People often asked Felmer why he didnīt hang up his tools and relax. "Being occupied is the way to keep from going dormant mentally and physically" he maintained. "No matter how long
you've been at it, you never know it all. A person learns something new in this business every day."
In 1991 Felmer and Mary sold their home at Adams Lake with some degree of reluctance, and moved
back to High River, Alberta, to renew old friendships and to be closer to facilities. In the fall of 1993 Felmer underwent a hernia operation, and after overcoming postoperative complications looked forward to a time of
camaraderie with friends and neighbors. However an unfortunate turn of health for Felmer shocked family and friends. On July 10,1993 he went into the High River hospital after suffering a mild heart attack - "a warning
to slow down" doctors advised. But on July 13, while still in hospital, a second heart attack took his life. Felmer was 78 years of age.
The success Felmer had in life was hard won. It did not
leave him elevated or hard to reach. People found him down to earth, straightforward and honest. He was well respected for his achievements and will be missed in the industry.
Triple E Custom
Saddlery, begun by Felmer, Brent and Stuart in Adams Lake, continues under Brentīs ownership. |
