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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

You can go home again if you never leave. (by Peter)

Yesterday Thomas and I went our separate ways.  He had friends of his that live in the Cochrane area.  I had friends in the Three Hills area.  We decided to split up for the day.

Three Hills is the town where I grew up.  I lived in that small community from 1952 until 1967.  I was shaped more by my experiences in Three Hills than by the rest of life’s experiences put together.  When we are young we are much more malleable.  The town literally morphed me into the man I became.  We will give it all the credit for whatever gifts I may have, but no blame for my blemishes!

My Grandma and Grandpa Dunn sold their farm in Saskatchewan in the late 1920’s, and moved to Three Hills.  The sole purpose of their move was to enable their three children the opportunity to attend the Prairie Bible Institute under the leadership of Lester Earl Maxwell.

My Dad graduated in 1932, and sailed off to China as a missionary under the China Inland Mission.  I graduated at the same school in 1967.

L. E. Maxwell was the same professor who lectured, nurtured, chided, entertained, nudged, confronted, and at times intimidated us into becoming “committed soldiers of Jesus Christ.”

In reflection, due to the absence of my parents during my growing up years because of their obligations as missionaries, I cannot think of a man that influenced me more than L. E. Maxwell.  I had nothing but the deepest admiration for him.  I was even given the privilege of being his student grader in my senior year.  In 1984 when he moved on to glory, I flew from Ohio to attend his funeral.

The legacy he has left is not only of an institution that continues to shape the lives of young people, but also literally the lives of thousands of workers around the world that have influenced others for Christ.

The picture of this house is the home that my Grandma and Grandpa moved to when they arrived in Three Hills.  It is also the home that my parents would set up a home for us four children every four years when they came home on furlough.

2 comments:

  1. Grandpa and Grandma Dunn moved to Three Hills in 1928 from near Kindersley, Saskatchewan. The house that you see in the picture was built by Grandpa. The Dunns, at first, owned a fairly large tract of land in the vicinity of the house, which is at the corner of 2nd Street W. and 2nd? Avenue N. The land was north of the house and west toward the railroad tracks. On it they raised dairy cattle and, I believe, sold milk locally. They later sold some of the land to a Mr. Hickok who developed a significant dairy operation.

    Cousin Harold Bradley

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  2. I just noticed a point that needs correction. The Dunns had FOUR children. Gordon, the oldest,
    Marvin (Peter's father), Margaret (my mother) and the youngest, Anna. Anna died in the early 1940's in her late twenties of leukemia.

    Cousin Harold Bradley

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