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Lyons, Chester P.
Person · 1915-1988

Chester Peter Lyons, often referred to as Ches or Chess, was born near Regina, Saskatchewan in 1915 and moved to Penticton, British Columbia in 1919 where his family took up fruit farming. Lyons attended high school in the Okanagan Valley and hiked, camped and fished throughout the region. In 1939, Lyons obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in forest engineering from the University of British Columbia and began his career as a forest engineer with the BC Forest Service and was involved in surveying, reforestation and development. In 1940, he took up residence in Victoria. Lyons soon became a key figure in the newly established Parks Branch, where he helped explore, plan, and otherwise establish the provincial parks system. His park planning included Manning, Tweedsmuir, Wells Gray, and Bowron Lakes, which he characteristically documented in photographs and moving images. Later in his career with BC Parks, Lyons shifted his focus to human heritage objectives. To this end, he played a key role in the restoration and management of Barkerville from 1958 to 1963 and undertook the Stop-Of-Interest plaque program adjacent to major highways in British Columbia.

After taking early retirement from the Department of Recreation and Conservation in 1963, Lyons pursued his many projects in nature interpretation as an author, lecturer, wildlife and travel filmaker, television producer, and photographer. As an author of numerous books and articles, Lyons introduced the local and natural history of British Columbia to visitors and residents alike. He is best known for his popular fieldguides on the plants of British Columbia and Washington State, especially the various editions of Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers to Know in BC (1952). These fieldguides highlighted his talent as a plant illustrator as he drew the original illustrations for these books.

Lyons became a popular film lecturer, notably on the National Audubon Society lecture circuit and the World Around US travel series which incorporated Lyons' photographs and moving images from his travels in BC and internationally. As an independent documentary filmaker and television producer, Lyons is best remembered for his contributions to the CBC television program Klahanie the Great Outdoors. Lyons also established a travel company, Golden Eye World Travel, which took him all over the world as travel-tour guide. His international travels contributed more subjects for his films and photographs. In his lifetime, Lyons was also the founding father of the BC Museum Association, was involved in Toastmasters, and helped plan BC Parks reunions.

Lyons died on December 20, 1998 in Hawaii due to complications from a ruptured gall bladder, just weeks after his fieldguide Wildflowers of Washington was published.

Wheeler, Dennis
Person · 1948-1977

Dennis Wheeler, writer and filmmaker, was born in Vancouver in 1948. He studied art history and English at the University of British Columbia and became an integral part of the Vancouver art community during the late 1960s. His writing and criticism was published in artscanada, Grape, and The Georgia Straight. In 1975 he directed the film Potlatch: A Strict Law Bids Us Dance for the U’mista Cultural Centre. In 1976 he collaborated with Nancy Holt on the video Revolve. Wheeler died of leukemia in 1977.

Smithson, Robert
Person · 1938-1973

Robert Smithson is one of the canonical figures in 20th century art. He was born in Passaic, New Jersey in 1938 and died in a plane crash near Amarillo, Texas in 1973. Smithson was an early proponent of earthworks or land art and his practice involved drawings, projects and proposals, sculpture, films and critical writings. He has had an extensive exhibition history beginning in 1959 and which continues to present day.

Dennis Wheeler, writer and filmmaker, was born in Vancouver in 1948. He studied art history and English at the University of British Columbia and became an integral part of the Vancouver art community during the late 1960s. His writing and criticism was published in <em>artscanada, Grape</em>, and <em>The Georgia Straight</em>. In 1975 he directed the film <em>Potlatch: A Strict Law Bids Us Dance</em> for the U’mista Cultural Centre. In 1976 he collaborated with Nancy Holt on the video Revolve. Wheeler died of leukemia in 1977.

The Robert Smithson Collection of materials was amassed by Denis Wheeler throughout their friendship.

Wheeler met Smithson in Vancouver in 1969, when Smithson first travelled to the city to investigate possibilities for undertaking outdoor artworks. Over the following months, Wheeler engaged in extended discussions with Smithson regarding his proposal for the <em>Island of Broken Glass</em> (which was to have been undertaken on an island in the Strait of Georgia) and the broader implications of his practice. Wheeler was also present at the installation of Smithson’s <em>Glass Strata with Mulch and Soil</em> and at the <em>Glue Pour</em> Smithson undertook for the Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition <em>955,000</em> in January of 1970. At Smithson’s request, Wheeler photographed the <em>Glue Pour</em> over a number of days with the intent (unrealized) to produce another version of the work. Wheeler also recorded several interviews with Smithson, which have subsequently been published, and published articles on Smithson’s work. Their association continued until Smithson’s untimely death in 1973. Wheeler also maintained a friendship with Smithson’s widow, Nancy Holt, until his own death in 1977.

Austin, Alan
Person · 1932-2009

Alan Austin was a faculty member of the Biology Department at the University of Victoria from 1964-1997. He was a phycologist - a specialist in marine and freshwater algal vegetation. Austin was involved in two major research projects: Victoria Phenology Project, 1964-1986, and the Seaweed Inventory Project (SIP), 1969-1978. The SIP launched a substantial, and very rare, pre-utilisation survey of the seaweed along BC coastal waters, and produced detailed vegetation maps previously unavailable. A major proportion of the day to day research was conducted by Robert Adams, Austin's research assistant and colleague. The data from the SIP was used by the BC Commercial Fisheries Branch (later the Ministry of Environment) to assess the feasibility of commercially harvesting British Columbia's rich marine resources. Alan Austin died in Victoria, BC on September 29, 2009.

White, Hester
Person · 1877-1963

Hester Emily White, the eldest daughter of Judge J. C. Haynes, was born in Osoyoos 25 April 1877. In 1888, on his way home from the coast, Judge Haynes was taken ill and died at the Allison Ranch near Princeton. Mrs. Haynes took the children to Victoria for a period of time and then to England to complete their education. On their return, when Hester was approximately 17 years of age, financial problems necessitated the selling of the ranch and the family moved to White Rock. In 1897 Hester married C. A. Lambly, government agent at Osoyoos. In 1898, the government offices were moved to Fairview. Mr. Lambly died suddenly of pneumonia, and Hester and her two boys, Wilfred, and C.A.R. went to live on the Lambly ranch at Peachland. In 1908 she married Dr. R.B. White, who had recently moved his practice from Fairview to Penticton. Two more sons were born, Bill and Jack. In Penticton, Hester was a charter member of the Women’s Institute, and the IODE, served on the school board, and was a member of the Children’s Aid Society. She aided in establishing a cottage hospital in Penticton and contributed to the success of the Okanagan Historical Society. Hester died in Penticton in 1963.

Kruger, Christanze
Person · 1857-1939

Mrs. Christanze Kruger was born in Schleswig–Holstein in 1857 and died in Penticton in 1939. She came to Victoria in 1872 and married Theodore Kruger the following year, travelling to the Okanagan by way of the Hope-Princeton trail. She was the only white woman in Osoyoos until Judge Haynes remarried in 1875.

Beinder, Frank
Person · 1910-1994

Frank Beinder, often referred to as the father of the college system in B.C. was born in Surrey, England on April 24, 1910. As a young man, Beinder worked in a motorcycle factory and attended night courses in engineering and business. Leaving England in 1928 and arriving in the Canadian West, he worked as a farmhand for three years and completed the first year of an Agriculture degree at the University of Manitoba but returned to England in 1930. After WWII, he returned to Canada with his wife and two children. Employed by Cominco in the field of Public Relations, Frank Beinder lived in Roseland, BC. An active member of the British Columbia education community since 1953, Beinder was elected to the Trail School board (School District No. 11) where he served for twenty years, the last five of which he was Chair. During this time, he was elected President of the British Columbia School Trustees Association (B.C.S.T.A.) for two terms, from 1966 to 1978, Chairman of the Education Committee, BC Chamber of Commerce from 1968 to 1972, director of the Education Research Institute of BC from 1969 to 1972 and was a founding member of the Provincial Teacher Qualification Board. Frank Beinder has been particularly identified with British Columbia college education since its earliest days. He was chairman of the Selkirk College Council from 1970 to 1975, a member of a government appointed Community College Task Force and a founder and Executive Director of the British Columbia Association of Colleges. Frank Beinder's career of public service and leadership in education was unique. His particular concern for the potential of community colleges in and for British Columbia prompted Simon Fraser University to confer upon him an honorary doctorate degree in 1984. Shortly afterwards, Beinder published a history of the development of the British Columbia college system entitled "Recollections of a Layman". His efforts were recognized by the province in 1991 when he was presented with the Order of British Columbia. Frank Beinder died in Richmond, BC in 1994.

McGregor, Gordon
Person · 1948-1986

Born in Penticton, B.C., Gordon Douglas McGegor graduated from UBC with a B.A. in French and Theatre in 1970. He completed graduate work at Princeton (M.A. 1970, Pd.D. 1978). After teaching French at Colgate University, he joined the Department of French at UBC in 1981 where he remained until his death in 1986.

Faris, Bob
Person · 1923-2001

Robert Andrew Faris was born in Vancouver, BC on December 25, 1923 to Kathleen “Kitty” (nee Litch) and Andrew Faris. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, met and married Celia Eileen Brown in London, England, and settled in Vancouver where Bob worked as a traveling hardware salesman for 19 years. Faris entered the ministry in his 40s. Ordained by BC Conference in 1967, his charges included Hazelton (1967-1970); First United, Victoria (1970-1973); Central Mainland Marine Mission (1973-1978); Bella Bella (1978-1983); and Sunnyside United Church, White Rock (1983-1990). He continued as Minister Emeritus at Sunnyside, and served with Celia as caretaker at Camp Kwomais in White Rock until retirement in 1993. Bob spent his retirement with Celia in Victoria, where he died in 2001.

Anderson, Val
Person · 1929-2006

The Reverend Valentine Jackson Anderson (known also as Val Anderson) was a United Church Minister, professor of Pastoral Theology at Union College (now Vancouver School of Theology), avid community volunteer and a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

Val Anderson was born on February 14, 1929 in Saskatchewan. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1950, a Diploma in Theology from St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon in 1953, and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1963, also from St. Andrew’s College. Val also did post-graduate work in Princeton and Boston (1963-1964).

Val married Joyce, who is also from Saskatchewan, on July 16, 1952 when they were both student ministers at St. Andrew’s College.

Valentine Anderson was ordained in 1953 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. As a minister, he served in three United Church pastorates in Saskatchewan – Smeaton (1953-1955), Gravelbourg (1956-1958) and Regina (1959-1962). He was also a weekend supply minister while attending graduate school in Princeton and Boston (1963-1964). He was also a part-time associate minister at Japanese Nisei UC, at South Arm UC in Richmond and at Knox UC in Kerrisdale. Val served as Minister of Grace United Church and Marpole United Church, the latter being his final pastorate and where he became Minister Emeritus of Marpole United Church.

Val started the first Conference insert in the UC Observer and chaired the Vancouver South Presbytery, where he was a member for 40 years.

He spent seven years at Union College as professor of Pastoral Theology (1965-1971). During his time there, Union College amalgamated with Anglican Theological College to form Vancouver School of Theology (VST).

Val sat on and chaired numerous committees, both lay and as a UC Minister.

Val was involved in numerous ecumenical and inter-faith activities. He was the first coordinator of P.O.E.M. (People’s Opportunities in Ecumenical Action). He helped to found the Vancouver Inner-City Service Project, the Airport Interfaith Ministry, the Pacific Interfaith Citizenship Association, edited the Canadian Ecumenical News for eight years. Val also helped to found Canadian Ecumenical Action (now Multi-faith Action) of which he was the Coordinator from 1997-1980. He was also the first Executive Secretary of the Vancouver Council of Churches (1972-1976) and served on The Ecumenical Forum of Canada.

Val was also involved in numerous community service projects. He was the founding chair of the Vancouver Food Bank, chaired the Pacific Youth and Addiction Services Society, and was a founding Board member of Brock House, Elders House and the South Granville Seniors Centre. He helped to organize the BC and Vancouver Council for the Family. He served on the Federated Anti-poverty Group, The United Way of Vancouver, the Pacific Youth and Family Addiction Society and the Vancouver City Council Youth Committee. He also chaired the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Association, the Marpole Citizens Planning Committee and the Marpole Historical Society.

Val received many awards and honours in recognition of his contributions to his community. Among them was an award from the Social Justice Foundation of BC as well the Good Neighbour Award from the Greater Vancouver Association of Neighbourhood Houses.

Val was elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 1991 and served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for 13 ½ years.

Valentine Anderson died on March 30, 2006 in Vancouver, B.C.

Card, Charles Ora
Person · 1839-1906

Charles Ora Card was born November 5, 1839, in Ossian Allegany, New York. He and his family moved to Utah in 1856 and eventually settled in Logan, Cache Valley. Charles was an active member in the militia and achieved the rank of major. He and his father, Cyrus, were one of the first settlers to engage in industry by starting two saw mills. Charles became an expert sawyer. In 1886, he and three other men searched British Columbia and Alberta to find a place to start a Mormon colony. They chose a spot by Lee’s Creek, now named Cardston. Charles moved to Canada in 1887, starting another saw mill. After settling in Canada, Charles also oversaw the construction of irrigation ditches, his greatest accomplishment being the construction of the Kimball Lethbridge Canal. He died September 9, 1906. He left thirty-nine journals dating from December 11, 1871 to July 9, 1903 describing his experiences in Canada. During his travels, he met Judge Haynes from Osoyoos.

Lacey, Katie
Person · 1900-1963

Katie Helps was born in Bristol, England in 1900 and her family moved to Osoyoos in 1911. In 1918 she married Ed Lacey and they made their home on Kruger Mountain, west of Osoyoos.

Ed and Katie moved to Osoyoos in 1928. Katie Lacey was recognized by the Osoyoos Board of Trade as Good Citizen for 1954. Over the years, she contributed many historical articles to the Okanagan Historical Society Reports. She was also instrumental in founding the Osoyoos Museum. A lookout on the Richter Pass Highway, overlooking Osoyoos Lake, is sited on part of the old Lacey pre-emption. Katie Lacey died in Oliver in 1963.

Faris, Bob
Person · 1923-2001

Robert Andrew Faris was born in Vancouver, BC on December 25, 1923 to Kathleen “Kitty” (nee Litch) and Andrew Faris. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, met and married Celia Eileen Brown in London, England, and settled in Vancouver where Bob worked as a traveling hardware salesman for 19 years. Faris entered the ministry in his 40s. Ordained by BC Conference in 1967, his charges included Hazelton (1967-1970); First United, Victoria (1970-1973); Central Mainland Marine Mission (1973-1978); Bella Bella (1978-1983); and Sunnyside United Church, White Rock (1983-1990). He continued as Minister Emeritus at Sunnyside, and served with Celia as caretaker at Camp Kwomais in White Rock until retirement in 1993. Bob spent his retirement with Celia in Victoria, where he died in 2001.

King, Al, 1915-2003
Person

Albert King was born March 3, 1915 in St. Anthony's, England and moved to Canada in 1928. In 1937 Al King was hired at Consolidating Mining and Smelting (CM & S). King quickly became involved with the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers. At this time, the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers was struggling to reestablish itself in Trail, reviving a union tradition started with the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). The WFM became the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in 1916 and was generally known as Mine Mill. However, the dream of an independent union died with Ginger Goodwin at the end of the first world war. In 1941 King enlisted with the Canadian Air Force and was overseas until 1944. While he was gone, Local 480 of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (Canada) was certified. King resumed employment in Trail in 1946. Elected vice president of the Canadian Legion, Branch 11 and chair of the Canadian Legion Housing Committee, he was also chairman of the Labour Progressive Party from 1946 to 1949. In 1950, King became the president of Local 480, Trail BC a position he held until 1960. In 1960 he was elected Secretary, Western District of Mine Mill and in 1966 was named to the National Executive board as representative for Western Canada responsible for all hard rock mining and smelter operations. In sympathy with the Italians he worked with at Cominco, he changed his name to Albert Lorenzo King in 1966. When Mine Mill and Steel merged in 1967 Al King was demoted to Staff representative. Later, in 1972 he became compensation officer and was released from all other union duties so that he could devote his full attention to Workmens' Compensation Board matters. (Later called the Workers' Compensation Board) In 1968 King joined the Compensation and Safety committee of the BC Federation of Labour, an association he was to maintain for almost ten years. King became chair of the committee in 1972 withdrawing in 1976 to make room for Marianne Gilbert. In 1977 the renamed Health and Safety committee presented a report titled Perspectives for Health and Safety. One of the services offered by Mine Mill, and subsequently Steel, was the Western District Union Death Benefits plan, a fund enabling widows of miners to apply for assistance after a mining fatality. Al King became the administrator of the Western District Union Death Benefit plan in 1972. King served on the Regulations Advisory Board of the Workmen's Compensation Board in 1970 and chaired the BC Federation of Labour's Workers' Compensation Board Committee in 1975. Steel identified the education and certification of miners as a priority and King became responsible for schools and workshops throughout the province. King became the Director of the Medical Services Association (MSA) in 1972. After his retirement from the USWA in 1981, King continued to advocate for WCB claimants, and teach courses on the WCB appeal process. He published his memoirs in 1996 in collaboration with Kate Braid. Al King died in April 2003.

Millmore, Iris
Person

Iris Millmore was born in Britian. When she served with the Royal Air Force she learned to roller skate and was a bronze medal holder. In the 1960’s when she relocated to Campbell River she began teaching roller skating to local children. In 1963 this lead to the establishment of the Campbell River Roller Skating Club. Operating from the local community hall the club was involved in giving lesson to local children as well as holding annual roller skating shows for the public. Iris left Campbell River in 1967 (the club operated unti l the mid 1970’s) and in 1991 she was involved in organizing a club reunion.

Flett, Agnes
Person · 1917-1993

Agnes Maud Flett (nee Jones) and husband Alfred were photographers and journalists on Vancouver Island and operated their photography business, Flett Studios Ltd.
In 1956 Agnes was contracted to CBC Vancouver with reports broadcast locally and on the national CBC network. She was also a long-time columnist with the Nanaimo Daily Free Press and a correspondent for the Victoria Daily Colonist.
Agnes was born in 1917 and died of cancer in Nanaimo Regional Hospital on December 9, 1993.

Flett, Alfred
Person · 1912-1991

John Alfred (Alf) Flett and his wife Agnes Maud Flett were photographers and journalists on Vancouver Island. Alf Flett was a descendant of one of the Cowichan district's first pioneer families; he farmed and logged before becoming a photographer. The Fletts operated their photography business, Flett Studio Ltd., in different locations, including Duncan (at 35 Station Street), Langford and Lantzville. As journalists they were regular contributors to television news for 25 years.
The Fletts moved to Nanaimo in 1960 , where Alf was active in civic affairs and served as an alderman from 1980-1984. He was also a well known ornithologist.
Alf Flett was born in Duncan in 1912 and died in Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, on March 11, 1991.

Conway, G.S.
Person · 1896-1968

G. S. Conway was an engineer for the British Pacific Properties Limited and for the First Narrows Bridge Company LimitedGilbert S. Conway was a civil engineer for First Narrows Bridge Company Limited and British Pacific Properties Limited. He played a significant role managing the construction of Lions Gate Bridge, overseeing the work of three hundred men, and also in the development of the Capilano Estates residential area. From 1937 to 1938 he kept detailed diaries in which he recorded daily weather conditions and progress of the work on Lions Gate Bridge, and included newspaper clippings relating to the project. In later years, Gilbert Conway worked in West Vancouver as an independent contractor, consulting on a variety of engineering matters including cost estimates, development plans, investigations and reports, construction supervision, and waterworks installation.

Chree, Anna
Person · 1907-2002

Anna Chree was born Anna Sass on August 3, 1907 near Vienna, Austria. Her father Danylo emigrated to the north end of Winnipeg in 1910, with the rest of the family following in 1912. Anna graduated from business college in Winnipeg in 1924, and then worked at a variety of secretarial jobs in Philadelphia, Toronto, Timiskaming, and Montreal. Her longest held position was eight years with the Canadian National Railway.

Anna arrived in Vancouver in June 1937. After World War II she also spent some time working in London, England, at Canada House. She married William Ian Chree in May 1951 at St. Francis-in-the-Wood Anglican Church in West Vancouver. Ian Chree worked on sound systems for stage productions through Vancouver, especially Theatre Under the Stars.

Anna Chree was a woman of many talents. She had an excellent memory for names and events, kept a diary written in shorthand, and was an acccomplished Cordon Bleu trained cook who enjoyed music and theatre. However, her main passion was roses. She founded the West Vancouver Garden Club in 1962, and was president of the West Vancouver Rose Society for a period of time.

She also served as secretary on the Air Pollution Committee, Chair of the Environment Committee of the North and West Vancouver Council of Women, and was actively involved in other community organizations including the Vancouver Folk Society, Canadian Folk Society, Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver Camera Club, Opera Guild, Chrysanthemum Society, Vancouver Parks Board, West Vancouver Social Credit Association, and West Vancouver Little Theatre Guild.

Another of Anna Chree's passions was the establishment of a fountain in West Vancouver, for which she lobbied beginning in 1960. Her desire to do something lasting and beautiful for the community she had lived in for almost 50 years, led her to bequeath her estate to the municipality of West Vancouver. She chose the general elements of the fountain before she died which will be constructed in a plaza adjacent to the expanded aquatic and community centre.

Ian Chree died on November 9, 1968 at the age of 59. Anna Chree died in March 2002 at the age of 94.

Sotvedt, Anne
Person · 1904-2004

Anne Sotvedt (nee Adair) was born March 23, 1904 in Swan River, Manitoba. In 1919, she moved with her family to British Columbia, and in 1922 began her long time career as a teacher at Douglas Road School in Burnaby. In December 1934. Anne met Henry Sotvedt, a young ski jumper from the Norwegian silver mining town of Kongsberg, on Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver. They married in 1935, and after living in several places throughout BC they eventually settled in West Vancouver.
The Sotvedts loved skiing and were active members of the Vancouver Ski Club and the Cypress Ski Club. Henry ran a successful ski supply store in Vancouver with Gus Johnson called "Two Skiers" for many years, and was an active ski jumper and ski-jump instructor on both Grouse Mountain and Hollyburn from the 1930s to 1950s. He also competed at the elite level in both Nordic and Alpine events, winning a number of championships throughout North America. Anne temporarily interrupted her teaching career to raise their two sons, eventually retiring from teaching in 1969.

In later years, she and Henry travelled extensively throughout Canada and Europe and indulged their love for skiing, golf, contract bridge, and sharing time with family and friends. After his retirement from active competition, Henry became a technical consultant and spokesman with the Canadian Amateur Ski Association. He was also the first Canadian to be certified by the International Ski Federation as an international judge, coach, and manager of the Canadian team for the 1964 Olympics, as well as the first Canadian to judge in a European championship. Henry Sotvedt died April 21, 1982 at the age of 74. After Henry's passing, Anne continued to travel and was actively involved in the Eastern Star, and West Vancouver Seniors Centre. Anne Sotvedt died April 15, 2004 at the age of 100.

Gray, Beryl
Person

Beryl Gray was a resident of West Vancouver in the 1930s and 1940s, who lived at 2595 Mathers Avenue in Hollyburn. She wrote short stories for women's journals in England and Australia. There is little information available about her. It is possible her full name was Inezlie Beryl Gray, and she may have died on April 14, 1950 in North Vancouver.