Kelskun Hills Heritage Museum School (photo by Wendy Smith)

By Liam Verster

Honouring Raymond Boyer

Kleskun Hill Heritage Park founder hoped to be honoured with hill naming

Nov 6, 2019 | 6:36 AM

A geographical feature in Kleskun Hill Natural Area may soon be named after a local man responsible for preserving the heritage of the region.

Raymond Boyer was born in Grande Prairie in 1924, served in World War II, and worked for the County’s Public Works Department, eventually working his way up to a Superintendent position, before retiring. He was also heavily involved in heritage conservation, and the establishment of the Kleskun Hills Heritage Park and Museum.

The Kleskun Hill Museum Society now wishes to commemorate Boyer and his hard work, by naming a hill adjacent to the museum Boyer Hill.

Board Member of the Kleskun Hill Museum Society, Lynne Oe, says Boyer’s work began in 1993, and the first building, the school, was moved to the site in 1997.

“And why he wanted to preserve the school is because that’s where he went to school. Lots of us from the area went to school there, and he just wanted to preserve it, so he did.”

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Boyer’s work didn’t end with the school though. He ended up overseeing or being responsible for moving many other heritage buildings to the site to be preserved, including the school teacher’s housing, a general store and attached dwelling, a barn, and even an old Catholic Church.

President of the Museum Society, Jim Robertson, says Boyer and his work deserve to be commemorated.

“Well, Ray was such a tireless person in his pursuit of trying to make Kleskun Hills Museum a place where people can go out and learn about the history of Peace Country.”

“As you know, the Edson Trail basically doesn’t end right there, it does continue on West, but it goes right through that particular area. So, there’s a lot of history that in the early days of this country, in the opening of this country, that is very significant. And Ray was very adamant about getting this preserved.”

Boyer passed away in 2012, at the age of 88. Oe says they tried to name the hill after him before then, but their hand written sign on the hill wasn’t official, and they needed to go through proper channels in order to officially honour Boyer. She says in order to commemorate someone this way, they had to go through the Alberta Geographical Names Program, which is part of the Ministry of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women.

The order has since been processed through the Program, and on Monday, November 4th, the request went before the County of Grande Prairie Council for their support, which was passed at the meeting.

Council will now write a letter in support back to the Ministry, who will process the request, and either approve or deny the application. Robertson says they hope the request is approved by next spring, and they can officially name “Boyer Hill” after the man who was responsible for the establishment, expansion, and the upkeep of the Heritage Park and Museum.