Growing up one of 14 children shaped a lifetime of resilience

By Joan Janzen

Not many people know what it’s like to grow up with 13 siblings. However, Monica Ritter of Kindersley was happy to share her experiences growing up in a family of 14 children.

Monica (Schmidt) was born in the late 1940s at the Kerrobert hospital. At that time, she joined her parents and three older siblings on their farm located between Smiley and Major. By 1961, the family of 14 was complete, including seven girls and seven boys.

Monica Ritter (back row, far right) with her 13 siblings and parents in 1961.

Monica at her graduation from practical nursing in Saskatoon in 1967.

Monica Ritter lives in Kindersley and grew up in the Major area along with her parents and 13 siblings.

“I had whooping cough when I was one year old,” Monica reported. “For six weeks I stayed at home and needed to be resuscitated on different occasions by my dad. My mom didn’t know how, so she would call my dad from outside. I shouldn’t even be here today.”

During her early years, she grew up in a tiny house.

“There were 12 of us living in the house with no power and no water,” she recalled.

Visits to a doctor were rare, yet all the children except one were born at the Kerrobert hospital.

“It was so hectic!” Monica said, describing her formative years. “There was always somebody fighting.”

Her parents were strong disciplinarians, enforcing order amongst the chaos.

Monica said she had thin, fine hair as a child. Consequently, her dad reasoned that shaving her head at age five would help rectify the situation. Apparently it worked, but Monica said, “My older sister remembered me crying so hard.”

When Monica was five years old, the family acquired their first vehicle. Before that, she remembers travelling the 12 miles to town in a horse-drawn buggy to buy groceries.

“We bought big amounts of basic things because our farm was very productive. I grew up poor but was never hungry. We always had lots of food,” she said.

In 1956, the family built a new house and had electricity, no longer needing kerosene lamps and a wood-burning stove.

She attended school at Superb, located west of Kerrobert, from Grades 1 to 5.

“I loved school! My only sanity was really going to school. It was so peaceful,” she recalled.

Back home, there was plenty of work to be done. Although young Monica loved being outdoors, she was relegated to helping in the kitchen.

“I was six years old and I had a sliver in my knee from scrubbing wood floors,” she said. “By the time I was 10 years old I was making buns for the family. We had no recipes back then.”

There was also butter to be made and lots of canning to do when the garden was harvested.

“People sewed everything back in those days. Clothes were homemade and passed down. I didn’t get any new clothes because I grew into my sister’s clothes,” Monica said.

“Our only means of entertainment was playing cards every evening. To this day I love cards,” she explained.

The family faithfully attended weekly Mass at the Catholic Church.

“We prayed before every single meal and prayed the rosary every night, a practice I still believe in.”

She attended school at Major from Grade 6 until her graduation from Grade 12.

Monica followed in her older sister’s footsteps and, in 1966, enrolled in a practical nursing course at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Arts and Science in Saskatoon. The course, along with her room and board, was provided free of charge.

“I never really left home, so that was a big event for me,” she said.

After completing the course, Monica and a girlfriend worked for six months in North Battleford and saved enough money to go on a month-long European vacation. It was her first time flying.

“We landed in a big airport in London. We were the only young girls in a whole bus of older people,” she said, describing the European tour. It was the first of many travel adventures for Monica.

Monica and Ken Ritter were married in 1970 and started their family in 1972. She was a stay-at-home mom until 1985, when she went to work at the Robinson department store, located in the Kindersley Plaza.

A familiar sound in the mid-1980s was the tinkling of a bell announcing the arrival of the Dickie Dee ice cream bike.

“Me and my three children operated the ice cream bike for five years,” she said. “My son, at age 12, had such strong legs that he could pedal it. It probably carried 100 pounds of ice cream.”

Her seven-year-old daughter rang the bell as they pedalled all over town during the summer months.

In 1991, at the age of 45, Monica went back to school to become a registered nurse.

“I think there were seven of us older gals,” she remembered. “The first day I got locked out of my locker, failed the math test and came home crying.”

But she persevered and graduated.

She spent the next 23 years working at the Manor, retiring at the age of 70.

“I go back every other day visiting. It’s like home to me,” she said.

Monica keeps busy in her yard, making soup and muffins for her family and friends, and helping with community events.

“At age 16 I began writing in a diary and have been doing it ever since,” she reported. “It’s become an obsession.”

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Monica. We enjoyed travelling back in time with you.