Janet Louise (Moisan) Couture

Jeannette Louise Moisan was born on March 5, 1930, in Gibbons, Alberta. She was the second youngest of six children born to Elzear and Adeline Moisan. Gibbons is a small community fifty kilometers north-east of Edmonton, Alberta. Janet was born in an apartment above the bank, and it was always joked that her mother went to make a deposit and came out with a baby girl.

The family lived on a small subsistence farm, with the father away a lot, getting work where he could as a carpenter. Since this was the beginnings of the decade of the “dirty thirties” they would have experienced the well-documented hardships of that era.

In 1939, a move was made to the city of Edmonton. The Moisans were of French-Canadian heritage, and Janet and her siblings grew up speaking French in the home. They now had the challenge of learning English as well as all the other new adjustments.

By the time Janet was attending St. Mary’s High School in Edmonton, she was thriving. She excelled in sports, and was the coach of the girls’ basketball team. She was a happy, active, popular girl, confident enough to ask a certain handsome young man from St. Joseph’s High School to the Annual Sadie Hawkins Dance. You might say the rest is history. Rudy and Janet began their love story at age eighteen, while still in high school.

Rudy Couture and Janet Moisan were married on December 30, 1950, at the age of twenty. (They were both born in 1930.) In 1952, they welcomed their first child, a daughter they named, Judith Marie. Just a year later, in 1953, a second daughter, Wendolyn Jeannine, arrived.

In 1954, an opportunity for a big move presented itself. Rudy’s uncle, Walter Barry, asked him if they’d be interested in coming to the Yukon to help him operate his business, the Watson Lake Trading Post. The young family was soon off to Mile 635 on the Alaska Highway, the very first time flying for any of them.

There were some challenges, living in a cabin without running water and two toddlers still in diapers, but the move was never regretted. They soon made new acquaintances, some of whom became lifelong friends, and became involved with community activities. There was camping and fishing in the summer, and curling in the winter.

Within a year, Janet had the position of Watson Lake Post Mistress. She was also the agent for Northern Freightways, and an expediter for mining companies, at various times. She was a member of The Catholic Women’s League, and also worked as a returning officer for the electoral district of Watson Lake. She served and volunteered on many local organizations and committees. She also assisted Rudy in his business enterprise, Yukon Self-Serve, which he began in 1959.

Into this busy life, a third daughter, Glenda Ann, was born in 1962. In 1968, after fourteen years in Watson Lake, a move was made to Whitehorse. Rudy began a career in government and Janet took employment in the Hougen’s Department Store.

In 1972, a move was made to Faro, Yukon, with daughter Glenda (the two eldest daughters were now out on their own). They were to spend fourteen happy, productive years there. Rudy, was employed as town manager. Janet first worked in the local Hougen’s Store, then operated and managed the local Murdoch’s Gem Shop from 1974 to 1985. Janet now learned how to make gold nugget jewelry. She also found time to take a two-year course in wood-work, a craft in which she had always had an interest. In this small close-knit community, Janet continued to be an involved member of her church and various committees.

During the Faro years, Janet and Rudy were delighted to welcome five grandchildren into their lives. Their lifestyle in Faro afforded them with weekends off, and more leisure time than they’d ever had before. They built a cabin on their property at Little Salmon Lake, and most weekends would find them there, summer and winter, having a good time with family and friends.

However, in the early 80s, the mining industry in Yukon took a nose-dive; the huge Cyprus Anvil Mine in Faro closed down. The Coutures, along with most of the town, looked at relocating once again. 1986 saw a move back to Whitehorse where Rudy continued his career in government. Janet went back to Murdoch’s Gem Shop from 1986 until 1992. She designed and marketed a Yukon licence plate, during this time, because so many tourists seemed to think they were in Alaska. It proudly displays the word Canada resting on maple leaves, and a gold miner.

And speaking of Janet’s talent in designing, she was finally able to see a twenty-year venture come to fruition in 1984. Back in 1965, while still in Watson Lake, Janet began designing a Yukon tartan, as a centennial project. Using crayons and graph paper, she chose colours that are prevalent in Yukon’s nature: blue for the waters and sky, magenta for the fireweed, green for the forests, purple for the mountains. White depicts the snow, while yellow represents the midnight sun. Lastly, the broken yellow lines are for the gold nuggets found in Yukon creeks.

Janet was to discover that having a tartan officially recognized is a long and complicated process, but finally in 1984 it was accepted by Lord Lyon, King of Arms of Her Majesty New Registry House in Edinburgh, Scotland, as Yukon’s official tartan.

During the years of Rudy’s tenure as Executive Director of the Association of Yukon communities and Sergeant-at-Arms, Janet travelled with Rudy when he attended annual meetings. By booking holiday time at the same time, they visited Canada from coast to coast.

In 2007, very fittingly, Janet and Rudy were chosen to represent the territory as Mr. and Mrs. Yukon. They were honoured and were wonderful ambassadors for the territory.

In retirement, the good work of volunteering in the community, the enjoyment of family and friends, and some more travelling, continued until Janet’s passing in 2015.