Version 6.01

02 January 2023

David March © 2014

ROSETTA KOYL née BIGELOW, ARTHUR LEON, LUCILE FRANCES and

 JOSEPHINE ELISABETH ANTONIETTE KOYL née ECKSTEIN

Arthur Leon Koyl was born on 13 November 1888 in Beamsville, Lincoln, Ontario to Eardley Homing Koyl (1857-1893) and Rosetta Bigelow (1865-1938). His siblings were: Muriel Bigelow (b 1887), Lucile Frances (1891-1932), Eardley Gavin (1893-1966) and Una Rosetta (1894-1895). In 1891 the Koyl family may have been living in Nebraska as that is where Arthur's sister, Lucile, was born.

In 1901 they were living in Lindsay, Victoria, Ontario. According to his obituary, Arthur left a position with the Bank of Montreal and moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1909 where he founded McDonald, Koyl and Matthews Real Estate. He married Josephine Elisabeth Antoniette Eckstein in the District of Columbia, USA on 5 June 1912. She was an only child born on 3 May 1887 in Washington, DC to Frederick Eckstein (1866-1950) and Ida V Fischer (1870-1953). Josephine was raised in Washington, DC. Her father began his career as a Senate page and rose to the position of postmaster of the Senate, a position he held until he retired in 1945.

Josephine came to Saskatoon in 1912. From at least 1916 to 1957 the Koyl family lived at 403 12th Street. Arthur and Josephine had three boys: Leon Frederick (1915-1992), Jack Eardley (1916-1986) and Donald Herschel (1919-1999). The life of Jack Koyl was well represented in his obituary which was published in The Phoenix on 29 November 1986 and can be found here.

Most of the information that follows was gleaned from Arthur's obituary which was published in The Phoenix on 6 July 1973. In 1917 he formed A L Koyl and Company. He was an innovator in real estate and developed the Westmount sub-division, Willington Place, Victoria Gardens and South Side Park. He was also instrumental in organizing the building of some sport facilities in Saskatoon. Arthur was the first realtor in Saskatoon to join the National Real Estate Exchange and served five terms as president of the Saskatoon Real Estate board between 1913 and 1947.

A 1945 voter's list still placed the Koyl family on 12th Street and indicated that Arthur was a financial agent, Jack was in the RCAF and Donald was in the Navy. Josephine died in 1957 and Arthur on 5 July 1973. Arthur was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Lindsay, Ontario. It is presumed that his wife was also buried there. His obituary can be found here.

Arthur's sister Lucile was born on 13 December 1891 in Nebraska, USA. In 1916 she was living in Saskatoon with her mother and brother, Gavin, at 403 12th Street, the same residence where her brother, Arthur, and his family were living. In 1918 she was living at 523 116 3rd Ave South with her mother and was a clerk at the Royal Bank. She had lived in Victoria, British Columbia and worked as a stenographer for the Civil Service prior to living in Toronto for the three months preceding her death. She died in Toronto on 27 April 1932. According to her death registration, she was single and was buried in Lindsay, Ontario.

Arthur's mother, Rosetta, was born on 10 April 1865 in Lindsay to Silas Samuel Bigelow (1830-1895) and Lydia Jane Bateman (1843-1881). Her siblings were: Arthur Wellington (1865-1900), Stanley (1867-1867) and Frederick Egbert (b 1870). She was raised in Lindsay and was married there on 25 August 1886 to Eardley Homing Koyl.

Eardley was born on 22 July 1857 in Centralia, Huron, Ontario to Ephriam Lillie Koyl (1814-1880) and Frances Culp (1823-1897). His siblings were: Charles Herschel (1855-1931) and George Culling (b 1861). Eardley's family was living in Camden, Addington, Ontario in 1871 and Cobourg, Northumberland, Ontario in 1881. He died in Toronto on 18 December 1893 and Rosetta in the same place on 22 January 1938.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave Koyl Tree.

It was interesting to note that all of the Koyl's who signed the quilt eventually joined 3rd Ave Methodist Church. Rosetta (Mrs RB) and Lucile both appeared on the roll in 1910, Leon in 1909, A L in 1922 and Josephine (Mrs A L) in 1927.