Person:Alexander Elliott (4)

Oldest United Church minister in Saskatchewan celebrates 100^S9 REV. ALEX ELLIOTT GRENFELL, Sask. (CP) "I think my secrets of a long life are that I walked four miles a day until I was well into my 90s and I love people." says Rev. Dr. Alex E. Elliott, who reached 100 years Wednesday.

What does the oldest United Church minister in Saskatchewan, a living legend in this community about 120 kilometres east of Regina, plan to do now he is 100?

"I don't plan on doing anything very remarkable. I am very happy with my life. If you love people you are sure to live a long, happy life."

Elliotl was born in 1879 at Mill Brook, Ont., and moved a lot with his family, mostly in Ontario, during his early life. His father was a teacher and harness maker.

In Peterborough, Elliott was forced to leave high school because his father was making $9 a week to feed nine people--the parents, Elliott and his six brothers and sisters. Eliiott went to work in a clothing store.

"The day I arrived home from graduation," he said, "I found that my uncle wanted me to work on grandfather's farm for the summer.

"Grandfather was the type who believed a person should not eat unless he worked for it. So 1 left the farm that summer, very adept with a fork and a hoe."

Elliott finished high school 'in 1895 and worked for Canadian General Electric before he studied for a teacher's certificate in Norwood, Ont.

He taught school near Midland, Ont., and then attended Victoria University, a liberal arts college affiliated with the University of Toronto.

In 1906, on a friend's advice, he arrived at Belle Plaine, between Regina and Moose Jaw, to become a lay minister--and start his decades of church service in Saskatchewan.

From Belle Plaine he moved to Regina to take charge of Rae Street Methodist Church. He studied for the ministry while serving in the field instead of returning to college for his theology degree. He was ordained in 1918.

In the years that followed, Elliott served at Grand Coulee, Drinkwater, Milden, Suiherland, Summerberry and Ellisboro in the Qu'Appelle Valley.

Elliott was 70 when he moved to Grenfell. He continued to preach until he was 78 and entered Grenfell and District Pioneer Home in 1974 shortly following the death of his wife for 67 years, the former Mabel Johnson.

The Elliotts had two children, both born while the family lived in Regina.

Flt. Lt. Eldon Burke Elliott of the Royal Canadian Air Force was killed in action in Europe in 1943. Their daughter, Frances Roberta Denison, a widow, has multiple sclerosis and is in hospital In Regina.

In 1959, St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon, conferred an honorary doctorate of divinity on Elliott in recognition of his long service,

At the age of 96 he tape-recorded a memoir which was published by Ihe Grenfell United Church to commemorate 50 years of church union. Title of the memoir is a quotation from Genesis 47:9 -- The Days of the Years of My Pilgrimage.

1. ↑ E.F. White, Jr. Copy of Rhoda Johnston's Records
   Page 3.

   Mabel May (Johnston) -- b. Nov. 2, 1885 m. Alexander E. Elliott, May 26, 1909, Kolapore;

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Ada J Flynn. Johnston Family Tree
   Page 12.

   B.A., D.P.D. Retired United Church Minister;

3. ↑ Elliott, Alex. E. The Days of the Years of My Pilgrimage. (Grenfell, Saskatchewan: United Church of Grenfell, 1975).
4. ↑ Marriage, in Genealogical Research Library. Canadian genealogy index, 1600s-1900s
   1909.

   Johnston, Mabel May , 010326. Married in 1909 in Kolapore, Ontario, Canada
   Elliot, Alexander E , 010326. Married in 1909 in Kolapore, Ontario, Canada

5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Alexander E Elliot & Mabel May Johnston, in Ontario, Canada. Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Archives of Ontario)
   1909.

   Name: Alexander E Elliot
   Age: 30
   Father Name: John Charles Elliot
   Mother Name: Jane Hanna Elliot
   Estimated birth year: abt 1879
   Spouse Name: Mabel May Johnston
   Spouse's Age: 23
   Spouse Father Name: John Johnston
   Spouse Mother Name : Frances E White Johnston
   Marriage Date: 26 May 1909
   Marriage Place: Grey
   Marriage County: Grey
   Source: Indexed by: Ancestry.com

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Moffat, Richard G. (Rick).

   Grandma Moffat referred to him as Alex.

7. ↑ Directory Entry, in Genealogical Research Library. Canadian genealogy index, 1600s-1900s
   1911.

   Elliott, Alexander E (Rev) , pastor. Living in 1911 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 Grenfell Cemetery, in Find A Grave.

   Rev. Alexander E Elliott

9.   Oldest United Church minister in Saskatchewan celebrates 100, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. The Lethbridge Herald. (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada)
   Page 27, 10 Feb 1979.

   Published in the Lethbridge Herald, Saturday, February 10, 1979, Page 27
   Viewed at NewspaperArchive.com