The Road of my Life

Ida Nikkel (Humphrey) nee: Buchi was born in Prince George, B.C. Canada on October 5th, 1925, the second of 5 children for Gustav and Caroline Buchi who immigrated to Canada from Switzerland in 1923. She grew up on a farm in the area, attended a one-room rural school, and when finished grade 8, ventured out on her own. She then met Alwyn Humphrey, a soldier from Toronto, who was posted to Prince George with the Army’s Medical Corps. Married in 1943, they were raising 4 boys in Toronto until his sudden death in 1966, and she moved back to B.C., supporting her family alone. While living in Kelowna, she met and married George Nikkel, and her road of life led back to Prince George for some happy years until George passed away in 2004. She still lives independently, and loves to walk, garden, and grow plants and fruit trees in the summer. She writes poetry, stories, letters, and knits up a storm of mittens, hats, socks, and scarves. Here are her thoughts, snapshots, and memories!