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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2013-12-04, Page 1414 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 4, 2013 Local's search for family history leads to university degree at age 76 Carolyn Helfenstein spent years chronicling the stories and personal histories of the people of Bruce County as the award-winning editor of The Teeswater News. But she was never able to tell the story that meant the most to her. A tragedy early in Carolyn's life cut ties binding her to relatives in Newfoundland and blanketed her family's history in a thick fog. Despite an accomplished life, she never felt she quite belonged any- where - not with the high -achievers she grew up with in Sarnia, Ont., or the farming community where she taught in King City, Ont. or in her adopted home in the heart of Bruce County. As she entered her 70s, she started a journey that brought her back to that rocky island and the discovery of her family's role in its rich history. "My study was a search for the identity I lost," Carolyn says. Along the way, Carolyn finished a university thesis, earning a diploma - her first at the age of 76 - from the University of Waterloo and wrote a book she is now shopping around to publishers. Her ancestral questions had always been there but the drive to finally find answers came as she realized she was getting older and even her most tenuous connections to Newfoundland were fast disappearing. All Carolyn remembers about the family's journey to Canada - the island didn't join the confederation until 1949 - was crossing during World War II in what were U-boat infested waters. She still doesn't know exactly why they left. Her father, James Gordon Muir, was a trained lawyer in the British colony. He was meant to study at Osgoode Hall so he could work in Canada's legal system, but ended up working first so he could settle the family in Sarnia, Ont. He died suddenly in 1946, leav- ing eight-year-old Carolyn, her sis- ter and mother to look after themselves. She thinks most of her memories before this time were lost in the grief of his death. "Those were tough times, Caro- lyn says. Many decades later, with her mother also gone, she turned to her older sister Ann Jeanette to ask what could be remembered about the family's past. Her sister gave short, terse answers that didn't measure up to what Carolyn did know. Ann Jeanette was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and as her memories faded or were scattered, so were Carolyn's last remaining threads to their story. She started her research in ear- nest, using what leads she had to map out her lineage on her mother and father's sides. Carolyn found out her family on her father's side comes from a long Steven Goetz Kincardine News Carolyn Helfenstein, 76, working at her home office in Lurgan Beach where she wrote a thesis on her family's history in Newfoundland. Her work earned her a diploma from the University of Waterloo. and storied family of lighthouse keepers on Newfoundland's Cape Spear - the continent's eastern -most point. On Aug. 9, 1845, St. John's was preparing a parade and celebration on honour of a visit from Prince Henry of the Netherlands on the frigate `Jahn: The prince's ship was lost in fog and search parties sent out. It was James Cantwell - Carolyn's ancestor - who found the ship and guided her in to harbour. He was asked what reward he wanted for his service and he asked to keep the light at Cape Spear. For six generations, Carolyn's Municipality of Jlaron-Kinloss Waste & Blue Box Collection Schedule December 2013 & January 2014 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 22 23 IF -, ) Section 1 24 kr ' Section 2&5 25 Christmas46 Day 26 10', Section Section 7) 2 27 �: Section 3 & 5 28 Section 3,4 &6 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 29 30 O)p Eill -, Section 1 31 Section , 2&5 1 New Year'sill Day 2 , Section 7 3 4 0, Section 4 Section 3,4 &6 r 1,4,6 & 7 = Waste Collection & Section � = Blue Box Collection & Section ancestors maintained and operated the lighthouse. The lighthouse has since been restored and made a National Historic Site. Carolyn's first cousin still has the doc- ument from Aug. 1845 granting the Cantwells care of the lighthouse. It has been signed by all visiting royalty to New- foundland since, including Queen Eliza- beth, and Princess Diana. On her mother's side is a proud and very Scottish history. While starting her research, she dis- covered the University of Waterloo's Independent Study program, which invited students to propose their own thesis projects. Over three years, they can earn a university diploma. Carolyn submitted a proposed thesis focussed on her family and the New- foundland peoples' histories and was accepted. She was assigned Professor Anne Dagg who became a sounding board as the project developed. Her decision to work through the uni- versity program was "a way of being part of something" and "showing my kids and grandkids that hard work pays off;' she says. "I wanted to do it and I knew I could do it." The work load was difficult. "I didn't know what academic writing was all about - how to make bibliogra- phies or cite references," she says. One online course was so frustrating she almost quit. But her husband Harry - who took over the duties of running their bed and breakfast so she could keep on with her research - "asked how far I was, and I was more than half way there:' "He told me to keep going," she says. Carolyn took the stage at her gradua- tion commencement this fall surrounded by students less than half her age. Her thesis is called "In Search of an Identity," which she intends to turn into a book called "Rock Solid: The people of Newfoundland:' When she started out writing, "it was about belonging to Newfoundland," Car- olyn says. "I am beginning to think it is not belonging, it is the satisfaction of knowing:' She has told her grandsons they have the distinctive thumb print of a New- foundlander and the island is now part of their heritage too. "I am happy I have given it to my chil- dren and my grandchildren," she says. There is still a sense of a black hole in the family's history leading up to their migration from Newfoundland, but Car- olyn feels a sense of recognition in the virtues of her maritime ancestors. "That substance that makes up a New- foundlander is what I was searching for," Carolyn says. Newfoundlanders are known for their hard work and never -quit spirit, says Carolyn. "I know I have it, nobody can take it from me," says Carolyn. She has sent the first chapters to friends and publishers and has received positive feedback so far.