When I offered Elaine Peake the job as the Anchor’s first reporter in 2003, she told us that she and her late husband, John, were the godparents of “the modern Chestermere.”
I have been thinking about that conversation since learning that Elaine died this past weekend at the age of 101.
The message letting friends know of her passing said she was peaceful, with all her family present, and had smiles to the end.
As I think about her now, I keep coming back to those words about “the modern Chestermere.” They say so much about the woman we were welcoming to the newspaper in 2003. Long before she wrote for the Anchor, Elaine had helped shape this community, preserve its stories and bring its neighbours together.
We were fortunate to have her with us at the beginning of the Anchor. Over the years, she also became a personal friend, which makes this a difficult story to write.
There is much to remember about what Elaine did for Chestermere. But as we say goodbye, I want to remember the woman behind that work, too.
Elaine’s interest in writing began long before the Anchor. In a March 2016 interview with this newspaper, she recalled receiving a school writing award and later pursuing courses and freelance work.
“I always liked to write,” she said.
Her work included contributions to the Rocky View News and Rocky View Times. She also recalled writing humorous accounts of life at Chestermere, sometimes calling the community a “Muddy Puddle.” Not everyone appreciated the description, but she explained that the columns were intended to capture the funny side of spending summers at the lake.
Elaine and John initially came here as summer residents before making Chestermere their permanent home.
Covering council meetings helped develop her interest in municipal government. She remembered a modest operation in an Atco trailer, with a mayor, two councillors and a secretary. Eventually, she moved from reporting on council to serving on it.
In that interview, she recalled ten years on council, including five as mayor. The arrival of city water stood out among the achievements that had given her particular satisfaction.
It is easy now to take something as basic as good water for granted. For Elaine, it remained a source of pride years later. She had been there for the decisions and the work that helped make everyday life better for her neighbours.
Elaine also understood the importance of keeping a record.
She edited Growing Through Time: Stories of Chestermere Lake, helping preserve accounts of the cabin owners, organizations and earlier years of the community. The Chestermere Historical Foundation identifies it as a resource for the lake’s history, including its beginnings within the irrigation system.
The book has been digitized through the University of Calgary’s collections. Reference copies are also identified in local libraries.
For people arriving in Chestermere today, those stories offer a way to get to know the place beyond its streets and buildings. They introduce the families who spent summers at the lake and the neighbours who helped turn a collection of cabins into a community.
Thanks to Elaine and the people whose stories she helped preserve, those earlier years are still there for us to discover.
Her work continued to be used decades later. In April 2020, the Historical Foundation advertised a program built around cabin stories from the book she edited. The stories were still giving residents a reason to gather and learn about Chestermere.
Her own name also appears in the records of the Chestermere Lakefront Owners Association, which lists her as vice-president in 1994–95 and president in 1996–97.
Her involvement reached well beyond council and the newspaper. Like so much of the work that keeps a small community going, it meant taking on responsibilities and working alongside her neighbours.
Her writing interests were broader than Chestermere. Calgary’s 1977 Parks Department annual report credits Elaine and Barbara Kwasny with Look at Calgary’s Public Art.
Whether she was writing about art in Calgary or life at the lake, Elaine gave readers a chance to look a little more closely at the places around them.
And alongside all that work, there were the friendships and the pleasure of belonging.
The email remembering Elaine described her as a lifetime member of the Whitecappers and recognized her volunteer work on committees and task forces supporting seniors, as well as at Chestermere events and special occasions.
In another Anchor interview in 2016, Elaine spoke about Whitecappers and encouraged younger seniors to become involved. She described the club’s importance to her social life and recalled its long-standing potluck tradition.
The shared meals and familiar company mattered to her. After so many years of giving her time to Chestermere, she valued having a place to gather with friends and enjoy being part of it.
Looking back through her stories, I am reminded of just how much of Chestermere’s life Elaine had been part of. It helps explain why that first conversation has stayed with me all these years.
When she called herself and John the godparents of “the modern Chestermere,” there were years of experience behind those words: years of knowing the place, caring about its people and helping it grow.
At the Anchor, we are grateful that part of that life was shared with this newspaper. Her place as our first reporter will always belong in its history.
The books, articles and community records remain for others to read. They will help people who never met Elaine understand something of what she contributed.
For those of us who knew her, this farewell is more personal.
Elaine was our first reporter. She was also my friend.
I will miss her.