The Quick Answer
Lois Hole (1929 to 2005) was a St. Albert market gardener, bestselling gardening author and Alberta's 15th Lieutenant Governor, serving from February 2000 until her death in January 2005. Her name lives on in Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park at Big Lake and Lois E. Hole Elementary School in St. Albert.
Ask anyone who's lived in St. Albert for a while about Lois Hole and you'll usually get a smile first. I'm John Carle, a REALTOR with Homes & Gardens Real Estate Limited, and I've been selling homes in St. Albert since 1999. Few names come up more often when people talk about what makes this city feel like home.
On this page
Who was Lois Hole?
Lois Elsa Hole was born on January 30, 1929, in Buchanan, Saskatchewan. In 1952 she and her husband Ted bought a farm on the edge of St. Albert. They grew and sold vegetables, and over the years the family business grew into Hole's Greenhouses & Gardens, one of the best-known garden centres in the Edmonton region.
She also wrote a series of practical gardening books that sold across Canada. Plain advice, written for regular people with regular backyards.
What did she do as Lieutenant Governor?
Lois Hole became Alberta's 15th Lieutenant Governor on February 10, 2000. She used the role to speak up for public education, libraries and literacy, and she was famous for hugging the people she met. That's where the "Queen of Hugs" nickname came from.
She died in Edmonton on January 6, 2005, while still in office.
Where can you see her legacy in St. Albert today?
- Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park. Created in 2005 around Big Lake on St. Albert's west side, it's one of the best bird-watching spots near Edmonton.
- Lois E. Hole Elementary School. A St. Albert Public Schools elementary school named in her honour.
- The garden centre. The family business was sold in 2019. The greenhouse on Riel Drive now operates under new owners as Salisbury at Enjoy.
Why does her story still matter to St. Albert?
Because she was one of us. A farm family that grew vegetables on the edge of town, built a business, and then a woman who represented the Crown and still took time for every person in the room. Drive out to Big Lake on the west end and her name is right there on the park sign.
Key takeaways
- Lois Hole was born in 1929 in Buchanan, Saskatchewan, and died in January 2005.
- She and Ted Hole started farming in St. Albert in 1952; the business became Hole's Greenhouses & Gardens.
- She was Alberta's 15th Lieutenant Governor from 2000 to 2005.
- Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park and Lois E. Hole Elementary School carry her name.
If you'd like to live close to Big Lake and the trails she loved, I'm happy to walk you through the neighbourhoods on St. Albert's west side.
Just Call John. 780-937-7534
Sources
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Hon. Lois Hole biography: https://lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/history/biographies/hon-lois-hole-15th-lieutenant-governor-of-alberta/
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Lois Elsa Hole: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lois-elsa-hole/
- Government of Alberta, The Honourable Lois E. Hole: https://www.alberta.ca/aoe-lois-hole
- Alberta Parks, Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park: https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/central/lois-hole-centennial-pp/
- St. Albert Gazette, Hole's Greenhouses rebranded as Enjoy Garden Centre: https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/holes-greenhouses-rebranded-as-enjoy-garden-centre-2781772