It’s a street that doesn’t really exist now, but Krushel Drive can still be found on a map of Morden if you search it on Google.
And now there is an honourary sign marking Krushel Drive on the property of Farm King, and family members are happy to have it commemorating the hard work and ingenuity of the family’s 125-year history in and around Morden.
“Krushel Drive has been on Morden street maps for as long as I can remember. The road was never fully developed, and the sign was never erected,” Chris Krushel explained shortly before the sign was installed last Thursday.
“My grandfather would be happy to see it,” added cousin Glen Krushel, who is a descendant of Adolph Krushel, while Chris is a descendant of Adolph’s brother Ludwig (Lewis) Krushel.
Adolph and Lewis were among the seven children of Johann Krushel, who immigrated to the 1-6 area in the late 1800s.
From humble beginnings living in a sod house, he and his wife eventually moved to Morden.
Adolph would go on to develop and patent the agricultural innovation known as the Krushel Crusher which gave farmers the ability to crush their own feed such as wheat, oats, barley and rye.
Lewis created the Kwik Kut power hack saw line, and his sons Walter and Arnold built many variations of LKS (Lewis Krushel and Sons) welders, and they became a benchmark used by the Canadian Standards Association. Many are still being used on farm yards and in shops around the country today.
“Just a few weeks ago, I had a fellow from Saskatchewan call me at work to help troubleshoot problems he was having with a welder that he had bought new some 45 years ago. Shortly after, I was chatting with David Lumgair and he sai, ‘You’re a Krushel, you must be mechanically inclined’,” noted Chris. “Although I couldn’t help the guy and quickly passed the call off to my father Wayne, it does instill a sense of pride with the recognition and association that our name still carries.”
“LKS welders were used during the manufacturing process at Farm King … and Farm King was initially a trade name that was created by my grandfather Adolph,” noted Glen.
He observed that, back in the day, the family would have needed to be self sufficient and do everything themselves on the farm.
“All of the boys were actually industrious and ingenious,” said Glen. “My grandfather Adolph had numerous patents, had numerous inventions, as did Chris’s grandfather.
“One of the other brothers Henry was a watchmaker, so there was lots of mechanical inclination that stemmed from the farm. When they initially came over from Russia, life on the farm with numerous siblings meant you had to be ingenious.”
The mechanical skills would carry on in the family including Glen’s brother Al winning the best antique motorcycle restoration award at the Corn and Apple Festi val show several years in a row.
“As far as the industrial and agricultural sector here, we played a part back in the day,” suggested Chris, who noted another thing that people relate to the Krushel name is flying. “Both my father, mother and grandfather had their pilot licenses.”
“At one point, I counted 14 pilots in the Krushels. My dad Ernie, my brother Warren and myself at one point,” added Glen.
Chris noted his father Warren and his cousin Terry built and flew their own airplanes.
As well, Arnold Krushel was an avid pilot and integral part of creating the Morden Flying Club, and he also had a love for building airplanes but on a smaller scale. He built, flew and operated his own airport on the LKS property for remote controlled aircraft. His son Dale Krushel would go on to become a pilot and a captain for Air Canada.
Before the Morden airport, Dr. W Colert had an airstrip at the lake where he and Glen’s father Ernie had their planes. When Colert sold that property, which would come to be developed as Colert Beach, they moved to where the airport is now.
So there is a lot of local history tied to the Krushel families, and Chris has over the years been digging into it all a bit.
“I’ve been kind of dabbling in that for some time now,” he said, noting another family member, Howard, initially did much of the research. “He gave me a lot of the family history, and I’ve kind of just built on it talking with other Krushels and kind of compiled the history.
“We have a family tree that spreads pretty far by now,” he said. “There’s not many of us now in this area.”
It was after Glen and his family placed a bench on the historical site of Adolph Krushel’s original Standard Gas Engine Works in front of Boundary Trails Dental Centre that Chris felt driven to do something that led to the erection of the street sign.
“My wife Lili and I are the proud owners and caretakers of one of Morden’s iconic historic homes [Bella’s Castle] We love Morden’s rich history and are also very proud of what the Krushel’s brought not only to Morden but also to Western Canada in terms of agriculture and industrial machinery,” he said.
“It’s interesting that the street has always existed at least on paper,” he said. “Up until recently, they still put it on there … obviously, it’s not going to be developed into anything now other than driving into the yard.
“It’s something we felt should be shared and honoured and not lost to the tides of time. It’s always been here, and I’ve wanted to put something up here,” Chris concluded. “It’s great to finally have it in its place where it should be. I’ll be proud to see it and proud to drive by it.”
