A few weeks back I had made a reference to Mrs. Casler and thought it might be a good idea to provide a bit more information on her for those who may not know who she was.
I stopped in to to see my friend Kira Westby, the curator at the Bulkley Valley Museum. She has a wealth of knowledge concerning our local history and is always helpful in directing me to sources.
I had met Mrs. Casler back in 1975 when I first came to town. She was pushing a grocery cart and collecting bottles and other valuable trash. She was dressed fairly roughly and looked to me to be a street person or a hoarder.
I had moved to a rural property outside of Telkwa and unfortunately never had the occasion to see her again.
Her story is certainly interesting.
She was born in 1898, Kathleen Daisy O’Connell in Buxton England and brought up to be a cultured English woman. She immigrated during the depression and arrived in Smithers with her husband in 1944.
Norman Casler worked for CN Rail. They had four children and settled in the Zobnick Road area to raise goats. Between 1949 and 1954, Mrs. Casler was chairperson of the Smithers Public Library Board. She set out to find a permanent location and through her determined efforts she succeeded in converting a small unheated area in the municipal garage.
Ruth Mould was able to continue the dream and the present building was completed in 1958.
Mrs. Casler was also a storyteller and wrote several children’s books. Her writing was highlighted on CBC and in the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Casler’s marriage broke down partly because her husband did not like living with the goats she persisted in bringing indoors during the cold weather.
Her children grew up and left town and Mrs. Casler developed osteoporosis. She was regularly seen around town in her cast-off clothing pulling a wagon full of scrap produce for her goats.
Her appearance and activities provided an incentive for the creation of a nickname, “the goat lady.”
However, beneath this disguise was a sharp mind. Kathleen was a strong supporter of Indigenous rights and attended many council meetings opposing actions against what was then called Indiantown — the area just east of Fifth Avenue (now Hwy 16) and north of Queen Street to around Winnipeg Street.
She rented several cabins on her property to those less fortunate. She was very cautious with her finances and was known to help others in need.
During the winter of 1976, Kathleen fell ill and was not able to keep the fire burning.
Smithers Fire Chief at the time, Harry Haywood, went to check on her. He found her unconscious in bed with 30 cats on top of her keeping her from freezing. She lost a few toes to frostbite but was able to recuperate. At the time she was encouraged to make the hospital her home for the last years of her life.
Dr. Allan Wilson stated that after Mrs. Casler was all cleaned up and placed in the hospital ward she turned out to be a cheerful, little old proper English lady. On more than one occasion he found her in the children’s ward reading and telling stories to a group of young patients helping to relieve their ailments with her charm.
Kathleen Casler passed away on September 19, 1980. Ponnie Wilmot, a retired nurse at the time, wrote that it was as if a light went out. The town had lost one of its more colourful characters.
This column was gleaned somewhat from an article, “Chronicles of Smithers: Our 100th Celebration.”