Born
at Plumas, daughter of Jake and Ruth Emisch, Penny graduated from
Brandon University in 1966 and taught briefly at Sidney School and
Carberry School.
She married Norman Ham and had three children.
Over a 26-year period, she wrote columns for the Brandon Sun and other
western Canadian newspapers, and she wrote three books: “Place Names of
Manitoba” (1980), “The History of the Manitoba Agricultural Museum”
(1981), and a posthumously published collection of her columns, “A
Celebration of Rural Manitoba “ (1993).
Her work is celebrated for highlighting the many interesting aspects of
rural Manitoba that can tend to get overlooked.
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Her book, “Place Names of Manitoba” is an invaluable resource for
Historians and Geographers. Communities large and small, rivers,
lakes and other geographical features are presented alphabetically.
Name origins provided insight into the beginning of Manitoba
communities.
As one reviewer said:
“The general reader will find “Place Names of Manitoba” an interesting
and useful book. Everyone will appreciate the attractive layout and the
author’s lucid writing style.”
Penny died suddenly, at her home at Sidney on 26 August 1993 and was
buried in the Carberry Cemetery.
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