It truly was love at first sight.
Sparks flew at the Mackenzie Hotel one evening back in 1960 when the manager, Max Trennert, looked across the cafe and saw the woman of his dreams sit down for lunch with her friend.
"You see that young lady?" he told one of the cooks. "I am going to marry her."
"You're crazy," laughed the cook, going back to his grill.
Unbeknownst to the manager, the twinkle in his eye across the restaurant, Julia Pokiak, had also taken notice of him.
"You see that man," she told her friend. "I'm gonna marry him."
"You're crazy!" laughed her friend. "You don't even know each other."
A 64-year-long love story began that night, concluding earlier this year when Max and Julia Trennert died shortly after each other SA国际影视传媒� Julia passed unexpectedly on March 28 and Max on May 30.
Their legacy includes two daughters, two sons, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They also leave a piece of history of the North.
"Our mum did her best to prepare us in the end, but we were not ready for her to go," said youngest daughter Inuk. "The moment my mum passed, I knew my dad's heart broke and two months and two days later, we gave our dad our last hug.
"So much grief, at the same time, for my family and those who loved and respected them. It was a shock for us all, but my family knows [our parents] are together and those two months and two days was probably the longest time they were apart in 64 years."
From the moment they laid eyes on each other, Max and Julia soon became inseparable. As Julia worked her way through school and Max surveyed what would ultimately become the Village of Inuvik, the pair spent as much time out on the land as they could in between. Inuk said they would entertain her for hours with stories of hunting, camping and berry-picking.
On Feb. 5, 1961, within a year of meeting, they were married.
"It was a natural draw to each other, like old souls meeting each other again," said Inuk. "They started with barely anything, just their love for each other and the desire to build a home and have a strong family. They gave us a solid foundation, our home, free of alcohol, drugs, gambling and violence.
"They never gave up at the same time SA国际影视传媒� there was always one fighting to stay and work through their disagreements."
Three children and a full education later, the family moved to Fort Smith, where Julia completed her studies. It was then Max was hired as one of the 13 founding wildlife officers of the NWT, requiring the family to relocate to Fort Simpson, where Inuk was born.
While Max worked as a wildlife officer, Julia set about creating an artistic legacy across the North. Starting with painting, she quickly expanded her skill set to include moose-hair tufting, porcupine quillwork, embroidery, beading, carving and sewing. Among her marks on Canada include the moose-hair tufting that appears on Nunavut's official crest, which was a gift to the Nunavut government from the GNWT. Her work has been displayed at art festivals across Canada, including Inuvik's Great Northern Art Festival.
Julia and Max continued to raise their family together. Eventually, Max was transferred to Hay River, where he and Julia eventually purchased a gas station and cafe on the Mackenzie Highway near junctions 1 and 3. They ran that operation for nearly 30 years before settling in Hay River for a much-deserved retirement.
"My life-givers touched so many, especially across the NWT," said Inuk. "My dad taught us how to love and respect the land and animals, and to thrive on and with the land. Many Elders and their children in Nahendeh still asked about my dad.
"My mum also became a well-respected multi-dimensional artist, a master tufter, an Elder, but also a key part of caregivers being acknowledged in the GNWT. She did a lot of work with Indian residential school survivors and drugs and addictions, a sought-after Elder.
"I and my family would like to thank everyone for their continued love and prayers for us as we navigate this new life without them here in body. We are a strong family, and we each are grieving in our own ways, but I hear my life-givers' words: 'Keep doing good and we'll see you in about 40 years.'"
