Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
From great jobs to running marathons to fishing to marvelling at the mountains, Katy and Louis Poirier thoroughly enjoy life in Jasper.
Katy was here first - in fact, she was born in Jasper on Nov. 10, 1963 in the old Seton General Hospital to Sheila and Rajo Vuksanovich. She's part of a big family including Paul, Michael, Peter, Annie Carroll and Marie.
When Katy was a youngster, "They didn't have elk fences around the schoolyards. They were always in the schoolyard," she recalled. "You had to watch yourself when you walked to school."聽
Those were also the days when bear-proof garbage cans weren't used.
"The garbage cans used to be made out of wood,鈥� Katy said. "The bears would come along and pick them up and smash them on the ground."
She said when she was a kid there was a garbage dump on the drive to Pyramid Lake. "Everyone would go up there and watch the bears, five or six at a time - tourists, townspeople," she said.
Katy loves horses.
"I was one of those kids who, when I was born all I could see were horses," she said.
After high school graduation in 1981, Katy went to Olds College for two years and came out with a diploma in Equine Studies.
She trained horses in Condor, in west-central Alberta, then in Drayton Valley.
Katy upped her knowledge level even more with a diploma in Animal Health Technology from Fairview College. She worked at the vet clinic in Jasper for a couple of years, then attended the University of Alberta (U of A) where she completed first year studies in the Bachelor of Science program.
Louis came from the other side of Canada - Newfoundland. He was born in Stephenville on Mar. 26, 1959 to Margurite and Fred Poirier. He shared life with siblings Jim, Gerald, Everest, Dolores and Lisa.
After he graduated, Louis served in the Navy for five years. Stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he travelled all over the world.
"It was a good experience,鈥� he said.
When he finished his contract, Louis returned to help with renovations at his mom's house.
He said, "There wasn't much happening in Newfoundland. My brother Jim phoned from Jasper in 1983 and said, 'Come here - there's lots and lots of work.'鈥�
He and Gerald rode across Canada on CN Rail to Edmonton and took a bus from there to Jasper.
By the time they got to town and settled at Jim's place, "it was sort of dark". Louis decided to rake a few leaves before he turned in for the night.
"The next morning I got up, I could hear clanging on the window," he said. "There was this huge elk eating the leaves I'd raked. It was quite a shock to see animals up that close.
"Coming here and seeing all the wildlife was quite unreal. When I came here I just fell right in love with this place."
Katy and Louis met at the Champs bar at the Sawridge Hotel.
"I saw Katy and went to ask her to dance," Louis said.
But that didn't happen because Katy's leg was in a splint. When she was training horses in Drayton Valley, a stallion had reared up and stomped on her, and she came home to heal.
But they had a good time anyway.
"After that it's pretty much history," Louis said.
After 10 years of togetherness, the couple got married outside along the river at the Tekarra Lodge.
"It was the only day that summer that was super nice," Louis said.
Six-month old Nathan was in tow. He was born in March 1997, just before Katy completed her first year of studies at the U of A. Louis took time off his job working in the Facilities, Maintenance and Engineering department at the hospital to go Edmonton to look after Nathan when Katy was in class.
Nathan's brother Morgan was born 15 months later, on June 10, 1998. Both live and work in Jasper.
After her six month maternity leave, Katy started working nights at the Cottage Medical Clinic as a filing clerk, and eventually became the manager. She has worked there for 21 years.
Katy also ran and operated the Fitness Network with Lourdes Nunes-Sammer for about 10 years, then taught fitness classes at Jasper Park Lodge for almost a year, until the pandemic hit.
Now, Katy keeps busy as a firefighter and runs on trails with the Girls Breaking Trails running group.
This tenacious lady has competed in the Canadian Death Race too - a 125-kilometre foot race up and down mountains in the Grande Cache area. Five of those times Katy was part of a team. She's done two solo attempts and completed the Death Race marathon (a shorter version) in 2017.
Louis has another year to work at the hospital before he retires and said it's a great job. He plays hockey in the winter.
"In the summer time I'm hooked on fishing," he said.
Maligne Lake is one of his favourite fishing holes, and at Patricia Lake, Louis caught an eight-pound rainbow trout. At Lac Beauvert, he chuckled, "I have to try and dodge the Canada geese when I'm fishing.鈥�
The Poiriers love life in Jasper.
"I never get tired of the mountains; they still amaze me," Katy said.
Louis added, "You couldn't ask for a better place to raise a family.鈥澛�
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