Rachel's older brothers Alex (later married to Elka Hanen) and Shepsel Caplan (Rifka), and her older sisters Mary (Velvel Sanderson) and Henya (Chaim Caplan), had come several years earlier. At one time her brother Shepsel Caplan was Calgary's shochet.

      Abe Chetner's sisters were Clara (Morris Austin) and Minnie (Mr. Berger). His brothers were Israel, Dave and Nate Chetner. Abe and Clara were devoted to Jewish education, ardently supporting the Talmud Torah and Zionist causes.

      Abe and Rachel Chetner had three sons: Dov (married to Arlein Hoffman), Jack (Sylvia Dattner) and David (Glenda Binsky).

      Dov and David live in Calgary. Jack Chetner was for 25 years the principal of the Edmonton Hebrew School. There are 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

      Abe and Dave Chetner ran a second-hand store, Chetner Bros., at 231 - 8th Avenue E. for many years. Abe Chetner passed away in 1984. Rachel Chetner, at 96, still lives in Calgary.

      David Cohen and his wife Hannah (Hart) owned a grocery store at 11th Street and 14th Avenue W. in the "early days".

      They left Calgary in the 1930's and the corner store was taken over by Kesnicks Confectionery.

      Eddie Cohen was 14 when he arrived with his family. (Please see the Shmuel Cohen Family below.)

      To supplement the family income, Eddie left school after only one year. In that year, however, he completed eight grades.

      He then went to work selling newspapers on the Bank of Commerce corner at Centre Street and 8th Avenue. When he got his pay, it went to his mother. He also helped deliver meat by wagon for his father Shmuel Cohen's kosher meat business.

      Hard-working Eddie went on to start the Reliable Clothing Store, a respected Calgary business, eventually located on 8th Avenue near Centre Street.

      In 1920 Eddie married Mary Karsh. Before their marriage, Mary was a stenographer at the CPR telegraph office, located on 9th Avenue where the CPR train station is today. The children of Mary and Eddie Cohen are Arnold Cohen and Doreen Abugov.

      Baruch Karsh came to Calgary from Russia in 1911. He and his family were comfortable there, but he wanted a better way of life for them.

      After he got a job at Riverside Lumber in Calgary, Baruch sent for his wife Ida and their seven children. One of the children died on the ship coming over.

      The surviving children were: Fanny Katchen, Harry Karsh, Rose Chetner, Ann Hapton, Mary Cohen and Ruth Libin.

      Shmuel and D'vora Cohen made their way to Calgary in 1911 from Rekeeta on the Russian-Polish border.

      Shmuel was a butcher and went into the kosher meat business with Mr. Rootman, a respected Calgary business. (In the early days there were five kosher butchers: Bell, Dvorkin, Friedman, Marks and Rootman.)

      D'vora died of asthma only a year or two after their arrival. Their eldest daughter Ida then looked after the younger children. Shmuel later moved to Boston to marry his wife's widowed sister. In addition to Ida, his children were Eddie, Jennie and Zelda.

      The six sons of Alex and Rose Cohen are known throughout North America and Israel as philanthropists, community leaders and businessmen. The family's roots are in Winnipeg, and have spread across Canada, but for many years all the brothers and their parents lived in Calgary, and it was here that their business interests began.

      The grandfather of the six Cohen brothers Frank Cohen came to Winnipeg in 1905 from Kiev, in the Ukraine, with his wife Faiga and four children, including young Alex. Their mother Rose also came from Russia to Winnipeg in 1905 with her parents, Samuel and Chana Diamond and two other daughters.

      Alex Cohen and Rose Diamond married in 1910 and soon moved into half of a double house in the north end of Winnipeg. Alex barely eked out a living delivering furniture with a horse and wagon; later he became a country peddler.

      Their oldest son John C. (Chauncey) was born in 1911. Harry Cohen was born in 1912. They were followed by four brothers: Albert, Morley, Samuel and Joseph.

      All the boys helped support the family as soon as they were able. Harry Cohen left school after grade 10, and finally landed a full-time job in 1930 at the Winnipeg film exchange as a "film inspector" with Warner Brothers. He was 18. Late in 1931 he moved to Warner's in Calgary to work as a shipper.

      Several Cohen brothers soon joined Harry in Calgary. Chauncey worked for Columbia Pictures as an inspector. Albert sold shoes at the Hudson's Bay Company. The rest of the family, including parents Alex and Rose, Came west later in 1932. The Cohens rented a house at 1230 Westmount Boulevard N.W.

      Soon all the Cohen brothers were in sales. Albert and his father drove throughout Alberta selling a line of candy to restaurants and theatres. Harry did well at Warner Brothers: he was promoted to salesman, to booker, then to branch manager at age 26.

      In 1939 the Cohen brothers formed General Distributors, acting as sales agents and wholesalers for a number of products. Harry and Jack kept their full-time jobs, but were involved with the new family business.

      Most of the brothers joined the Canadian armed forces in World War II. Morley Cohen joined the RCAF and served in Northern Ireland. Albert and Joseph enlisted in the navy. Samuel was in the army, but received a medical discharge after six months. Joseph had been an army reservist, but later joined the navy. Chauncey signed up with the RCAF, serving at a radar base in Newfoundland.

      Harry tried to join the Air Force, but was rejected for officer training because of an ulcer.

      In 1943 Harry left Warner Brothers and joined his brother Sam in running General Distributors. They found a good market in supplying goods to army post exchanges on the Alaska Highway construction project.