Porozni, Mike and Jean

School was a luxury. I was needed on the farm so I quit in 1935 to help my dad.
In 1941 I married Jean Lukiwski. We farmed for four years and then our son Lenard was born in 1945. Because of my severe problems with hay fever we quit farming and went into business.
My first venture was a theater and coffee shop in Drumheller, wich we sold to buy the Wabamun Hotel and Garage in 1947 when I was only 30 years old. This venture was followed by some time spent in oilfield drilling (Royal Drilling Co. Ltd had 2 drilling rigs for seismic work for a few years). However, when our bid on 4 acres in Banff was luckily accepted, we built a motel in Banff in 1954 which we managed until 1960 when we moved to Calgary.
In Calgary we first built a 14-suite apartment block which we sold in 1962. This venture was followed by building the Ambassador Motor Inn which we operated until 1968 when we hired a manager to run it and we moved to Edmonton.
Then in 1972 we built the Ambassador Inn in Edmonton and that same year Lenard married Bernice Bubenko and they managed the hotel until we sold it in 1976. Lenard and Bernice had a son, Tyler, born in 1974.
In 1981 we bought more land and built our retirement home on the original homestead near Willingdon where we live now. Lenard and Bernice are the owners of the Ambassador Inn in Calgary and Tyler is taking his second year of law at the University of Alberta. We are enjoying our retirement and have been to Romania many times, enjoying the beautiful country and friends.