H.G. (HANK) PALLISTER was the son of Guy and Evelyn Pallister, and was raised on the Lineham Ranch near Turner Valley, Alberta, Canada, with nine brothers and three sisters. He was the only child who followed in his father’s footsteps to make life’s occupation in the cattle business. His father Guy Pallister came to the ranching frontier in 1888 from Sheffield, England, and this family was recognized by Friends of the Bar U Historic Ranch Association as a Pioneer Family, in January, 2005
Hank walked daily to a country school and after finishing high school he started working for various ranches in the area. He left the ranch life early in 1950 when he was accepted for a position as a Brand Inspector, working at Edmonton stockyards and then moving to the Calgary stockyards. In 1964 he was promoted to Supervisor of Brand Inspection for southern Alberta, and he covered many miles to stockyards and auction markets from Red Deer to the American border. In 1968 he was promoted to Co-ordinator of Regulatory Services in Edmonton to supervise the Brand Inspection Service for the Province of Alberta.
Hank was charged with the responsibility of moving the Alberta Brand Office out of Edmonton to Stettler during February 1975. He supervised an office staff of thirteen and field staff of approximately ninety inspectors. Hank retired in November 1992 after 42 years of dedicated service to the Province of Alberta. The Western Stock Growers presented him with an honorary lifetime membership on his retirement.
Nearing the end of his employment, he started writing stories of early ranch history from memories of the early range men that his father had talked about, backed by information gleaned from the Brand Office files. The secretaries had tired of typing his stories for him, so they purchased a computer as a retirement gift. This opened many hours of enjoyment as he wrote recalling many of the early rangemen his father knew, and incidents that he chronicled about many of the early ranches in Alberta. He had an incredible ability to remember dates and events, His column “A History to Remember” in the southern Alberta newspaper supplement “The Regional”, or “Smoke From the Branding Fire” in the Alberta Beef Magazine was always a favorite with readers. The last article he wrote was entitled “Alberta’s Centennial”, and was published in the Alberta Centennial Brand Book, as well as in the September 2005 issue of Alberta Beef Magazine. Many of these stories are featured in the book “Smoke From the Branding Fire”.
Hank became a recognized Horse Show Judge for the Alberta Light Horse Association and also a Registered Cutting Horse Judge. He eye for ‘good confirmation’ showed very clearly when he chose a wife in Joyce Haberer, who worked at the stockyards in Paul and MacDonald’s office across the hall. They were married on August 29, 1964 and had two children, Guy in 1967, and Wade in 1971.
When he married, he announced to Joyce that he intended to retire in High River, so that goal became a reality in July of 1999 when they moved from Stettler to High River. Hank felt like he was home at last. Hank worked with the committee for the selection and establishment of the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site at Longview, a museum to the ranching industry. The spring of 2000, he took over as Manager for Friends of the Bar U Historic Ranch Association.
Hank passed away in April 2005 with his family by his side. In 2007, The Museum of the Highwood in High River Alberta opened an exhibit entitled “The Pallister Legacy”. This exhibit celebrates Hank’s life and family as a well-know historian, author, and brand inspector. Part of the exhibit tells the history of branding in Alberta through Hank’s fascinating experiences as a brand inspector in southern Alberta. This exhibit runs until May 2009. For more information click here.
Hank was a genuine cowboy, a true friend, a good boss, a talented author, and a loving husband and father. May his memory never fade.
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JOYCE PALLISTER-BRONSCH worked at the Calgary Stockyards during the 1960’s for Paul and MacDonald, a commission firm buying and selling livestock. It was here she met and married Hank Pallister, a Brand Inspector, and their western way of life took them to Edmonton and then to Stettler for many years. Joyce owned and operated a health food store in Stettler for ten years, and they moved to High River in 1999. Joyce managed the gift shop at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site for four years, and after Hank’s death in 2005 she compiled his stories of early ranch history into a book entitled “Smoke From The Branding Fire”.
Representing a pioneer family in the High River area, she is an active volunteer and board member of the Museum of the Highwood, and also a member of the High River Old Timers Association, the Alberta Cowboy Poetry Association and the Cowgirl Cattle Company. She is also a member of the Country Gospel Music Association, the Alberta Poetry Association and a past president of Aglow Canada, Nanton/High River Lighthouse.
Modeling had always been a dream in her life, and in May 2007 she participated in an International Modeling & Talent competition as a senior model, with 400 competitors from across Canada. She took second place in the ‘TV Commercial’ competition for writing and auditioning her own commercial, and continues to model on a part time basis.
Joyce developed the impersonation of ‘Minnie Pearl’ at the request of her friend, Grace Jacobsen for the release of her CD “Country Music In The Sky”. After this, poetic inspirations came in the wee hours of the morning and upon writing them down she realized it was God’s way of taking her through the grieving process of her husband’s death, as well as the death of her first grandchild and her father.
She won ‘Reciter of the Year’ in 2007 and Lyricist of the Year in 2008, 2009, & 2010 as well as Entertainer of the Year in 2009 at the Canadian Country Gospel Music Awards, which qualified her at the International Country Gospel Music Awards in Branson, Missouri.
She has since shared her poems with community audiences at fall suppers, musical concerts, cowboy poetry gatherings, cowboy church and at the Stampede Range Gals Pow-Wow, as well at ladies events. She continues to enjoy writing and performing poetry and her love for people is shown through her creativity, her sense of humor, and her enthusiastic personality as a ‘Minnie Pearl’ impersonator and ‘Minnie, The Reminiscer’.
Meanwhile, she created a gift-type book of Cowboy Poetry, entitled “Lingo and Lines From a Cowboy’s Life and a Cowboy’s Wife”. It contains the artistic illustrations of Don Brestler, Twin Butte, Alberta .
May 2010 she completed the second book of Hank’s writings entitled “Bulls, Brands. and B.S. – History and Humor from Alberta’s Brand Inspectors. In May 2011 this book won a bronze medal in the USA Independent Publishers Best Marketing category.
She married again in January 2009 to Edwin C. Bronsch, a farmer from Tilley, Alberta who she met at the 2008 Pincher Creek Cowboy Poetry Gathering. They can be contacted by email at joyce.pallister[at]gmail[dot]com for bookings.
Joyce as Minnie Pearl
