Marion R. Cottrell & Family

George Glen Cottrell was a farm boy. Born in Viking , Alberta on November 29, 1943 he took his first 2 years of schooling in a one-room country school just 1/4 mile south of the farm where he lived with his parents and two siblings. When that school closed he went on to the Viking School. Glen attended Vermilion School of Agriculture for the 1960- ’61 and ’61-’62 terms which went from November to the end of March. He was a quiet, shy young fellow with a natural ability to work with his hands. Vermilion gave him the opportunity to learn many skills which stood him in good stead for all his life. However, the most valuable personal experience Glen gained from those two winter sessions were the friendships he made.

He kept in contact with many of his fellow students for the rest of his life. Always being a man of few words, he may not have contributed a lot of story-telling during the gatherings at Rose Balls and other social events with the Vermilion gang, but oh how he enjoyed the retelling of those escapades in the company of friends who had been there. He would often tell his own kids and later grandkids college memories.

Glen began farming with his father in 1962. Never a sports fan, he spent much of his time in his shop inventing, building or redesigning machines. Of course there were always the necessary repairs of farm machinery. Glen was capable of diagnosing a mechanical problem tearing a tractor, truck, combine or whatever apart and re-building it good as new! And he never had left-over pieces!

Glen always had a project or two on the go. Sometimes it was something practical for the farm or making something for someone else or something just for fun. Like the go-cart for his daughters and then later a bigger, sturdier and more powerful one for his nephew. His ability to create extended to woodworking also. Furniture,rocking horses, a “Cat House” for his Grandson’s kitty and so much more, remain as a reminder of his skills.