Ralph Hale and the Blakeburn Mining Disaster of 1930

It's a great thing, in our digital age, to have access to so much information.  Some wise folks in Merritt, BC, decided it was time to digitize old newspaper archives.  It created a gold mine of stories, documented history, and a dream come true for researchers of that area.

Take, for example, this Merritt Herald story of August 15, 1930, documenting the mining disaster at Blakeburn, BC....46 men perished in a coal-mine explosion.

One of the men who perished in the explosion was Ralph Hale.  He is listed above as one of the "entombed" men, whose body was not yet recovered.

Later on we see a obituary listing for Ralph, this taken from the Merritt Herald of August 29, 1930, showing leadership and bravery in trying to save his fellow workers.

Mrs. Ralph Hale would go on to place two "memorial" inserts in the newspaper, remembering her husband's untimely death:

(Merritt Herald, August 7, 1931)

and this: 

(Merritt Herald, August 12, 1932)

Here is Ralph Hale's grave in Merritt cemetery.....

And what happened to Mrs. Ralph Hale?

Mrs. Ralph Hale was originally Elizabeth Isabelle Martell (1894 - 1970).  She will re-marry on October 21, 1933...to Thomas William (Bill) Skelton (1899 - 1984) ...another one of the miners of the area.  They will adopt 2 children, William Roy Skelton and Margaret Ann Skelton.

Margaret Ann Skelton is my Mother....born in 1934.