The Nanaimo Electric Light, Power and Heating Company operated a coal-powered electric plant in Nanaimo built in 1888, primarily for lighting streets and homes. In 1904, the company, then owned in Victoria, built a hydro-electric plant and dam on the Millstone River. In 1907, No. 2 dam was built at Westwood Lake. The company was sold in 1926 to the International Utilities Corporation. In June of 1930 the company was acquired by the Commonwealth Corporation and in July 1934 it was amalgamated with Duncan Utilities Limited, creating Nanaimo Duncan Utilities Limited. William Lewis started as bookkeeper and collector for the company in 1897, and was manager of the Nanaimo operations until 1931.

John McLennan (14 May 1789-27 Aug. 1866) was born in Kintail, Scotland, the son of Murdoch McLennan and Christina McLennan, daughter of Alexander McLennan. John McLennan came to Canada in 1802 with his parents on the “Neptune” and settled in the province of Quebec before moving to Glengarry County, Ontario, after the death of Murdoch. John McLennan taught school at Williamstown until he retired in 1823. That same year, the family took up land on the 4th concession of Glengarry. They lived there until 1847, when John McLennan bought property on the shore of Lake St. Francis, east of Lancaster. McLennan rose to become a man of some importance in southern Glengarry County where he held various minor offices, including clerk of the court at Williamstown, and worked as a conveyancer. McLennan was in the Glengarry militia, serving as a lieutenant in the War of 1812 and a captain during the Rebellions of 1837. He married his first wife, Margaret Mackenzie, daughter of Duncan Mackenzie, on 18 January 1819 in Montreal. Together the couple had four children before Margaret died in 1827. McLennan married his second wife, Mary McGruer, daughter of Alexander McGruer, on 12 January 1830. The couple had one daughter before Mary died later that year. McLennan married his third wife, Catherine McRae, daughter of Christopher McRae, on 29 November 1830. Together the couple had five children before Catherine died in 1843. John McLennan died in Lancaster, Glengarry County.

Neil Stewart (April 1793-May 1881) was born in Carbost on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, the son of Ranald Stewart and Isabella McLeod, daughter of Roderick McLeod. Neil Stewart came to Canada on the ship “Mary Anne” in 1816 with his mother and her nine other children, his father having died in 1814. The family settled on two lots that were part of the 4th concession of Lancaster in Glengarry County, Ontario. In 1824 or 1825, he moved from Glengarry County to Vankleek Hill, Ontario, where he purchased a farm. During this time, Stewart was a store clerk and later a merchant. Stewart was also the first postmaster of Vankleek Hill, a justice of the peace, county treasurer, and a Crown land agent. Stewart was also a member of the local militia, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the Rebellions of 1837, he was active in rallying local support for the Crown. From 1844 to 1847, Stewart was a member of the House of Assembly for the Province of Canada, representing Prescott County, before he was defeated in the 1847 election. In 1878, Stewart established two prizes awarded annually to students studying biblical Hebrew language and literature in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University. Stewart married his first wife, Alice McCann, on 15 March 1828. Together the couple had four or five children (according to different sources) before Alice died on 15 December 1834. Stewart married his second wife, Anne MacLeod, in 1840, but the couple had no children.

Isabella Christine McLennan (30 Nov. 1870-5 Apr. 1960) was born in Montreal, the thirteenth child of Hugh McLennan and Isabella Stewart McLennan. Isabella McLennan attended Meadowbrook, a finishing school in Boston, from 1888 to 1989. She was a great philanthropist, her favorite cause being McGill University, particularly its library. In 1911, she helped to establish the Hugh McLennan Fund for the McLennan Travelling Libraries, which were started by her father in 1899, and later donated to the Libraries on a semi-annual basis and occasionally by special request. This included paying the salary of its first director, Elizabeth G. Hall, and donating money for its first bookmobile in 1950 and a second bookmobile in 1956. For almost two-thirds of her life, she kept the Travelling Libraries running almost single-handedly through her donations. She also established the Isabella McLennan Prize in the School of Architecture, the Isabella McLennan Scholarship Fund in Library Science, the Elizabeth G. Hall Memorial Scholarship Endowment, the Gould Lecture Fund, and donated generously to the Friends of the Library Fund. Among her other philanthropic interests were the Montreal General Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital, and the Royal Victoria College. McLennan also belonged to several different Montreal clubs between 1899 and 1930, including the St. Andrew's Society, the Ladies' Morning Musical Club, and the Women's Canadian Club. McLennan died at the Royal Victoria Hospital and was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery. Her bequest to McGill University funded the McLennan Library, which was officially inaugurated on 6 June 1969.

The Pediatric Nurses’ Group (PNG) was formed by members of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC) and interested nursing students on November 9th, 1982. It operated as a professional practice group under the auspices of the RNABC, currently known as the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC).

The mission of the PNG was to promote the development of standards, continual educational, resources, and research in Pediatric Nursing care, as well as to advocate the health care needs of children and their families through conferences, workshops, community lectures and nursing research. Conferences were generally held annually, with themes such as “The Winds of Change: Nursing in a New Reality” (1996) and “Caring for Children: Putting the Pieces Together” (1998). Standing committees were formed to carry out specific duties in the areas of membership, education, communication, and special interests.

With many specialist nursing groups becoming available, the need for this organization decreased. The PNG dissolved in 2004.

The British Columbia Operating Room Nursing Group (BCORNG) was established on May 5, 1966 to promote the development of standards and policies, resources, and research in operating room care, as well as to advocate for the educational needs for OR nurses through conferences, workshops, and community lectures. The first BCORNG Provincial Executive (1966-68) included Joan Flower (President), Anita Williams (Secretary), Corinne McGibbon (Treasurer), and Ellen Schrodt (Vice-President).

The BCORNG has operated as a professional practice group for over forty years under the auspices of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC), subsequently CRNABC. The BCORNG is administered by an executive board that is composed of the President, the President-elect, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer. Officers are nominated by the Nominating Chairperson, who selects two committee members to provide a list of candidates for consideration at the Biennial General Business meeting.

To better serve the needs of a diverse membership, the first BCORNG Provincial Executive created regional divisions: Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, East Kootenay, West Kootenay, Kamloops-Okanagan, Northwestern and the Northern Interior. Regional executives are responsible for promoting the highest quality of perioperative nursing care to patients, as well as promoting and facilitating educational opportunities for operating room nurses.

The BCORNG has over 600 members. In 1994, the categories of membership were expanded to include active, corresponding, associate and retired nurses. Annual meetings are held, with every second one in conjunction with the Biennial Institute Conference. This conference is known for the “cutting of the ribbon” ceremony that opens the exhibit displays. The BCORNG distributes its quarterly newsletter, News and Views, three times a year to its members, and also supports standing committees and task forces in the areas of membership, education, publications, research, and standards.

In 2009, the British Columbia Operating Room Nurses Group (BCORNG) incorporated as a non-profit association under the Society Act, and the name was changed to the Perioperative Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (PRNABC). In addition, a new logo was selected by the membership. Much of the transformation was guided by strategic planning that the executive and board embarked upon for the first time in 2008, which incorporated results from a membership survey. The executive are now known as Directors, with the Board continuing to be made up of the directors and two representatives from each of the eight provincial regions.

Mary Richmond was born in 1920 in Vancouver, British Columbia. She graduated from Vancouver General Hospital in 1943. After three years of general duty at VGH, she attended McGill University to obtain a diploma in teaching and supervision. She returned to VGH to teach, then several years later continued her studies at McGill to obtain a BSN. In 1951, she became the Director of Nursing Education at the Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH), Victoria, where she initiated programs in tuberculosis, public health, and psychiatric nursing. Mary Richmond left the school in 1955 to obtain her MA from Columbia University.

A year later, she returned to RJH as director of nursing from 1957 to 1960. During 1957-1958, she chaired the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC) committee on nursing education. She was western chairperson of the board of review in connection with the Canadian Nurses Association's (CNA) pilot study on the accreditation of schools of nursing in Canada. In 1960, Mary Richmond left the RJH to become an assistant professor of nursing at McGill University.

Mary Richmond returned to Vancouver to be the director of nursing at VGH from 1964 to 1973. She was active in forming the Council of Hospitals with the Schools of Nursing, a committee of representatives from all the nursing schools in BC. In 1967 the committee recommended that the training of nurses should take place in the post-secondary educational system.

In 1974, Mary Richmond returned to Victoria to take up the newly created position of Director of Educational Resources at RJH. That same year, she was appointed nursing consultant to the University of Victoria's new School of Nursing. From 1976 to 1983, she was adjunct professor at UVic, while retaining her job at the RJH. In 1984, she was appointed visiting professor at UVic, and from 1991-1992 was acting director of nursing at the School of Nursing. For her work with the university's School of Nursing, she was made an honorary member of its alumnae association. The Mary Lewis Richmond bursary was established by the University of Victoria in 1998. She died in 2002.

Vera Elizabeth McIver (nee Dombowsky) was born on May 11, 1916 in Avonlea, Saskatchewan. After graduation from the Regina Grey Nuns' Hospital in 1941, she became a special duty nurse.

She began a program for seniors in long term care at St. Mary's Priory in Victoria in 1967, where she had taken on the role of Nursing Director. At the Priory, Vera McIver revolutionized the care of seniors by introducing social and physical activity to enhance their enjoyment of life, and reduce their dependence on medications. She continued her work at St. Mary’s Priory until 1979. Her numerous presentations and publications on her innovative treatment of Seniors have included a presentation at the Gerontological World Conference in Jerusalem.

Her national and international recognition has included the Order of Canada (1986) and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). In 1987 she was asked by the Bishop to establish the Roman Catholic Diocesan Archives, in which she remained involved until 2006. She died on May 31, 2009 in Victoria.

Ruth Saunders was born in Camrose, Alberta in 1923, growing up in different parts of British Columbia. After high school she volunteered with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, and served with Kitchener, Ontario’s CWAC Military Band No. 3.

After the war she attended the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing in Victoria, graduating in early 1950. She worked for about a year at the United Church of Canada Home Mission Hospital in Cold Lake, Alberta. She joined the Church’s Missionary Deaconess School and was assigned to the United Church of Canada’s Home Mission Hospital in Manning, Alberta. After taking a short course in the Korean language at Yale University, she went to Korea as a nurse missionary for the United Church, working as a public health nurse in the hill country in southern Korea. She was particularly involved with the care of Koreans suffering from leprosy.

She became Nursing Administrator of the United Church’s newly built Wonju United Christian Hospital from 1955 to 1989. Here she developed a school of nursing, which is now associated with Yonsei University. She retired to live in Victoria and later Chemainus, dying in 2002.

Florence Jago was born in Vancouver on June 18, 1901. While she had always wanted to be a nurse, she received little support from home, so began working at the family farm in Port Coquitlam. She married and had five children, but was widowed at the age of thirty-six. Realizing she wanted more in her life and for her children, she started her journey to become a nurse by attending night school.

She graduated from the Practical Nurse program on March 23, 1952 at the age of fifty-one. Her family, including her first grandchild, attended her graduation. Florence proudly wore her cap with the traditional green cross indicative of practical nursing.

Florence started her nursing career at the Canadian Cancer Institute on Heather Avenue in Vancouver. She joined the Practical Nurses Association of BC, and with Kaye Gilchrist and Florence Deschner worked tirelessly to lobby the government to proclaim the Practical Nurses Act, which finally happened in December 1965. The three became the first three practical nurses of the BC Council of Practical Nurses, with Florence awarded License No. 1 for her leadership and hard work. In July 1974, on her retirement from her position as a member of the LPNABC, the Vancouver chapter of LPNABC honoured Florence Wilson for her dedication to her profession with a brooch and silver plate.

Florence later became a private nurse for clients in their homes. She worked as an LPN until she was eighty-three, and even after that remained busy. She drove her car until she was ninety-one, and lived in her own home until she passed away on May 27, 1991, just before her 89th birthday.

Sara “Sally” Staples (nee Matties) was born February 6, 1926 in Siberia, Russia. She attended primary school in Alberta and high school at the Sharon Mennonite Collegiate in Yarrow, BC, and graduated in 1953 from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She married Willett (Bill) Staples November 7, 1953.

Staples started work at St. Paul’s in the medical ward in 1953, and subsequently held positions of increasing responsibility in which she contributed to changes and development in the quality of patient care. She helped plan and design the first Intensive and Coronary Care Unit in the province in 1966. Her development of the extended work day and the master rotation concept greatly influenced nursing in BC. She became Supervisor of Critical Care Areas and Senior Director of Nursing Operations from 1982 to 1986. She was also involved with labour relations and contract negotiations, participating on a number of committees.

On her retirement July 1, 1986 she received the RNABC Award of Excellence in Nursing Administration. She describes her nursing philosophy: “To be a good nurse, first and foremost you must enjoy working with people. I see technology as a tool which enables the nurse to do a better job.” She died October 12, 2012.

Glennis was born April 5, 1935 in Parkman, Saskatchewan. She grew up in New Westminster, B.C. and attended Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia School of Nursing, graduating in 1957 and 1958 respectively. She later received a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University in 1969 and a Master of Arts in Communications from Simon Fraser University in 1981.

Glennis’s diverse working life has included positions at Maple Ridge Hospital; New South Wales, Australia; and the Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster (as an instructor). She was an Assistant Editor for The Canadian Nurse from 1963 to 1969 and an editor/reporter for the Canadian Press from 1969-1972. She states that she found the most interesting aspects of her career the combination of nursing and journalism for The Canadian Nurse and The Canadian Press, and later as a freelancer in medical journalism.

From 1973 she has been a freelance writer, editor and writing consultant, working mainly with individuals and organizations in health care areas. A special area of interest is history of nursing and health care. She has a long list of publications and other professional credentials, including editing eight volumes of proceedings published by various health care associations or universities. As a writing consultant she has been a resource person for many workshops and a guest speaker at public lectures and meetings. She has been active in many professional organizations.

Sheila Zerr was born and raised in Powell River, B.C., and graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. She continued her studies with a BSc in Public Health Nursing in 1967 and an MEd in Psychopedagogy in 1971 from the University of Ottawa. As a staff nurse she worked in Vancouver, Fredericton and Ottawa. She taught at the Ottawa General Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.

Sheila’s many achievements have been recognized in awards including a medal commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne. She also received an Award of Distinction in 1999 from RNABC for her outstanding contribution to nursing in Canada and a number of honorary life memberships.

Her community and professional involvements include chairing the Planning Committee for the International History of Nursing Conference in 1997, and Committee Chairperson for the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing, Learned Societies Conference, in 1989. She has been active as a consultant in the production of films and books.
Her own writing includes co-authoring Pharamacology and the Nursing Process and a chapter in Fundamentals of Nursing. She initiated ASA research to increase people’s awareness of the effects of non-prescription drugs and was active in the St. John’s Ambulance Child Care in the Home program. More recent interests include nursing in the north and a book on the pioneer nurse Gertrude Richards Ladner. Sheila has raised over $15,000 for HoN scholarships by handcrafting a collection of miniature historical nursing figures. Her creation of dolls has been a long time interest, with their costumes used to portray the development of nursing.

Sheila is a founding member of the BCHoN Society and was instrumental in initiating the oral history project. She has remained involved with the Royal Jubilee hospital and the School of Nursing Alumnae, and ensured Begbie Hall, at RJH, was selected as a residence worthy of National Historic significance. Sheila has been an active member of the community, serving on various committees to improve health care, particularly the Delta Health Care Association.

Charlotte was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in 1921. She attended St. Paul’s School of Nursing from 1944-1947, where she took general training at St. Paul’s, psychiatric training at Essendale Psychiatric Hospital and communicable diseases at Vancouver General Hospital. She was valedictorian for her 1947 class, but having nursed tubercular patients became tubercular and needed a year to recover.

After nursing briefly with the Victorian Order of Nurses and St. Paul’s case room and eyes, ear, nose and throat departments, she moved with her husband to Ottawa. Here she did General Nursing at Ottawa Civic Hospital, the Royal Ottawa Psychiatric Hospital and the Ottawa General. After raising six children, she rewrote her registered nursing exams and worked as a private duty nurse during the Aids outbreak. She retired at seventy, moved back to Vancouver, and now lives in a retirement home “where all my needs are met”.

“I bask in my memories of being part of a profession that cares for those in need.”

The Department of Philosophy dates from the beginnings of UBC, being founded in 1915 as one of the original departments in the Faculty of Arts. Its aim over its history has been to use the study of philosophy to develop students’ critical-thinking abilities for essential questions about life, thought, knowledge, and social and intellectual traditions and help prepare them to be successful in academic and professional fields. Today, the Department offers significant, minor, and honours degrees in philosophy and combined majors in philosophy and economics, philosophy and political science, history and philosophy of science, and cognitive systems. Masters and Ph.D. programmes are also offered.
James Henderson was the sole member of the Department from its establishment until 1920 when H.T.J. Coleman was appointed head. Coleman was succeeded by J.A. Irving in 1940, followed by S.N.F. Chant in 1945. The Department was re-named Philosophy and Psychology in 1936 to reflect the expansion of psychology course offerings. Psychology became a separate department in 1958, and Barnett Savery was appointed Head of Philosophy that same year and remained in that position until 1969. Other Department heads over the years have been Peter Remnant (1970-76, 1986-87), Robert J. Rowan (1976-80), James C. Dybikowski (1980-84), Edwin Levy (1985-86), Howard Jackson (1988-94), Earl R. Winkler (1995-98), Mohan Matthen (1999-2004), Margaret Schabas (2005-09), Paul Bartha (2009-12, 2017-18), Alan Richardson (2013-16), and Matt Bedke (2019- ).

In 1913 Harry T. Logan was appointed lecturer in Classics at McGill University College of BC (1906-1915). When UBC was established at Point Grey, the Board of Governors accepted the UBC President's recommendations on the disposition of McGill Staff. As a result, Hogan was appointed as Classics instructor at UBC in July 1915. Hogan was later joined by Otis J. Todd shortly after. Within ten years, UBC had three faculties and 24 departments; by 1925, L.F. Robertson was Head of the Department of Classics at UBC.

Doreen Nalos was born on September 26, 1921. She received her BA and MFA at UBC in the mid-1970s. During the 1960s, she taught private voice lessons while raising her two sons. After completing her Master's degree, she taught in UBC's Fine Arts Department for a brief time. Nalos was introduced to Geoffrey Riddehough by Pegeen Brennan in 1968.

Pearl Goon was born on March 17, 1910, in Vancouver, BC.

Her father, GOON Ling Dang, ran a store selling meat and Chinese groceries, as well as three fish canneries. Her mother, Jennie Goon, was the daughter of laundryman, WAH Chong, and the first Chinese person to attend public school in Vancouver.

Pearl’s family lived a relatively privileged life in a house with chandeliers and a piano; they were one of two Chinese families that lived outside of Vancouver’s Chinatown in the early 1900s. Pearl grew up with maids, took tennis lessons, and learned to play the piano and banjo.

Pearl and her family attended the Anglican Church half a block away from their home, where Pearl was baptized. Every Sunday, her mother would hold prayer meetings and tea with ladies from the church. In the evening, her mother’s Chinese lady friends would play mahjong.

Pearl attended Laura Secord Elementary School, where she was the only Chinese student below the eighth grade and was regularly teased and harassed. For high school, she attended Britannia Secondary, where she finally met other Chinese students.

When Pearl was 11, her mother died. Pearl and her father moved into her brother Tyson’s home, where she lived until she was married.

After graduating high school, Pearl took a commerce course and a typing test to apply for a job at the potato board, but the board would not hire her. She recalled, “[the employer] said, ‘We don’t hire Chinese.’ That was a slap in the face… It didn’t hurt me; it just made me mad and I made my mind up that some day I would work for a Caucasian company.” Instead, Pearl found work at a Chinese grocery store.

In 1931, when Pearl was 21, she was being harassed on a streetcar when Benjamin Wong, a 24-year-old bellhop came to her rescue. Pearl fell in love with him, and they married on October 17, 1931 at the Chinese United Church.

The couple settled into a house in Vancouver’s Chinatown, where they had four children: Rod (b. 1932), Carole (b. 1936), and twins, Roberta and Barbara (b. 1937). Their house was near the train tracks, and unemployed labourers laid off during the Great Depression frequently knocked on the door to ask for food. Pearl would make coffee and toast to feed them. She also would take her son, Rod, to the White Lunch restaurant on Hastings to enjoy a milkshake before a movie, even though the establishment was whites only.

Pearl and Ben were determined to move out of Chinatown. They lived with Ben’s father in Chinatown from 1942 to 1949, until Ben’s father passed away; then, they moved out of Chinatown to live on 57th Avenue.

In 1950, Pearl got a new job as a bookkeeper, finally able to use her commerce training. A year later, the family built a new home at Willow and 41st Avenue.

Pearl passed away on February 6, 1999.

Jean Lumb was born WONG Toy Jin in Nanaimo, British Columbia in 1919 as the sixth of twelve children; Jean’s parents, WONG Fun Gee (father) and MAH Hone Hung (mother), were Chinese immigrants.

Jean’s early childhood in Nanaimo and Vancouver was marked by discrimination. “As a child in Nanaimo, going to a segregated school, there were many times when I had a terrible feeling of guilt or shame that I was born Chinese. ‘Why are we being treated this way? Why can’t I do what other people do?’”, she recalled. This experience profoundly affected Jean, and shaped Jean’s desire to advocate for her community.

Jean had to quit school at age 12 to support her family during the Great Depression. In 1935, she moved to Toronto and opened Wong Brothers, a fruit store. The store became a success, and Jean brought her family to join her in Toronto.

In 1939, she married Doyle Lumb at the age of 20; Jean and Doyle would raise six children while running Eng’s Produce, their fruit store. Doyle was born in China; Jean was born in Canada and had status as a British subject which she lost when she married Doyle. At the time, when a woman married, she assumed the nationality of her husband who, in this case, was considered a Chinese national and an "alien" by the Canadian government.

After the Chinese Immigration Act was repealed in 1947, Chinese who lacked Canadian citizenship were still barred from bringing their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 18 to Canada. Jean, inspired by her own childhood experience of a loving family, joined a delegation of 40 Chinese and non-Chinese men lobbying the federal government to lift the restrictions. The delegation met with Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1960. As the only female delegate, Jean played a high-profile role during the meeting. She explained, “The questions from the floor were mostly directed to me because of the fact that I was a woman and the issue was family reunion.... I feel very lucky that I had the opportunity to be out front as an official spokesperson. Women have always had to be too much in the background.” After the meeting, the government allowed Chinese with legal residency to sponsor their relatives’ arrival in Canada.

One of the most lasting legacies of Jean’s activism would come in the 1960s, after Toronto demolished two-thirds of Chinatown to make space for a new City Hall and public square. In 1965, the city proposed further expropriation, and Jean formed the Save Chinatown Committee to preserve what was left. The Committee successfully fought back, and in 1969, Toronto committed to preserve the remainder of Chinatown.

Jean spearheaded numerous efforts to build bridges between Chinese Canadians and the rest of Canada. Jean and her husband opened the Kwong Chow Chop Suey House in Toronto’s Chinatown in 1959; it operated for 26 years as a treasured community hub. Jean also established the Chinese Community Dancers of Ontario, which performed lion and classical Chinese dances across the country. In 1967, the troupe performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Canada’s Centennial celebrations. Throughout her life, she represented Toronto’s Chinese community in various capacities: she held Chinese cooking demonstrations on television and radio shows, took on leadership roles in many organizations such as the Chinese Cultural Centre, and served as a citizenship judge.

Jean Lumb passed away in 2002, but her legacy of service lives on through the Jean Lumb Foundation, and the Jean Lumb Public School in Toronto. She is the first Chinese Canadian woman and first restaurateur to be inducted into the Order of Canada.

Born JEW Goong Hai, Mabel Chow arrived in Vancouver with her mother (Quon Shee) and a brother in October of 1912. She was 12 years old and was traveling to join her father, Yucho CHOW, who ran a commercial studio in Vancouver's Chinatown.

Being the eldest child, Mabel worked assisting her father in the studio. Mabel became her father's muse, posing for many photos as he honed his skills. She also worked at the studio helping with customers, equipment and photo development.

She married NG Dick Jong in Vancouver on February 24, 1921. On the marriage certificate, her new husband’s occupation was listed as an "automobile general agent" which was likely another term for "driver" or a "chauffeur."

Together they would have nine children. For many years, Mabel continued to work at her father’s studio, often bringing her young children to work with her.

Mabel’s husband would die on March 25, 1937 at the age of 43. Sadly, Mabel died on August 21, 1940 leaving behind a group of children without any parents or guardians. Four months after her passing, Mabel's second oldest-child, Beatrice, would pass away at age 17 on December 9, 1940.

Mrs. LEE Wou Sze was born in China in the [新會 Sunwui / Xinhui] county of 廣東 Guangdong province on March 6, 1882.

She arrived in Victoria, B.C. on November 23, 1914, with her son, Lee Wah Jong (1906-1929), Miss Lee Lan (1895-1987) and Lee Cheong Dai (c. 1903-1985). The group was exempt from paying the head tax; she arrived as a merchant’s wife. As shared by her grandson, Gerry Yee, “We believe [Miss Lee Lan] is a paper daughter… [and Lee Cheong Dai] is a paper son of Lee Wou Sze.”

Miss Lee Lan was born in China in the [新會 Sunwui / Xinhui] county of 廣東 Guangdong province on September 11, 1895.

She arrived in Victoria, B.C. on November 23, 1914 with Lee Wou Sze (1882-1964), Lee Wah Jong (1906-1929) and Lee Cheong Dai (c. 1903-1985). The group was exempt from paying the head tax; she arrived as a merchant’s daughter.

As shared by her relative Gerry Yee, “We believe she is a paper daughter of Lee Wou Sze [and Lee Cheong Dai] is a paper son.” Lee Wou Sze was Gerry Yee’s maternal grandmother, who also arrived on November 23, 1914.

She was married to YIP Kew Him.

She died on December 29, 1987 in Vancouver, BC.

She was the daughter of Lee Tan and his wife Lee Wou Sze. Lee Lan came over to Canada with her mother and her brother Lee Wah Jong.

Winnifred Lee was born LEE Jit Jew on January 1, 1920 in Victoria, BC.

She is the daughter of Lee Wou Sze (mother) and Lee Tin (father). She was the fourth oldest of eight children. Her father was the first to arrive in Canada in 1910, and her mother joined him in 1914.

She married Harry Ningnoon Yee on November 22, 1947 in Vancouver, BC. Together, they had four children, Gerry Lawrence Yee, Donald Harry Yee, Corinne Ellen Yee (Creaghan), and Philip Edward Yee.

Throughout her life, she was a homemaker, seamstress and a retail clerk at Eaton’s Department Store.

She passed away on July 10, 1999.

JUNG Suey Ying was born in 1912 as one of five children to Burnaby’s pioneer truck gardeners, JUNG Chung Chong and JUNG GEE Shee. The family owned a five-acre farm at Still Creek-Douglas Road which was conveniently located across the street from the Interurban Tramline.

Located a distance from the majority of the other market gardeners in South Burnaby’s Big Bend, the Jung farm, which included a piggery, thrived in its isolated North Burnaby location. The tramline across the road was the convenient link to friends and family living in Vancouver. Ying took the tram to make weekly visits to Chinatown. Her father, Chong, used the tram to attend meetings of the Hoy Yin Village Association of which he was an enthusiastic member. And sometimes, the tram brought the family's city friends out for weekend visits to the Jung farm.

Other than the odd name-calling incident, Ying and her siblings appeared to have had good relationships with their Douglas Road neighbours. In fact, in her later years, Ying often reminisced about the kindnesses of some neighbours such as Mr. and Mrs. Collins and her buddy, Sadie Bowie.

However, one story found in the collection of the Burnaby Village Museum suggests that it was not always easy for Chinese children and Caucasian children to become close friends. One elderly woman, who had been childhood friends with Ying, explained how even though they liked each other, it was difficult to be friends. “I was not allowed to bring her (Ying) home.” As a young girl, this woman had been "admonished to avoid the children as potential carriers of obscure Oriental germs.”

Back on the relative security of the farm, Ying was an independent, energetic and engaging soul. The youngest of three daughters, Ying was, according to her brother Gordon, “Grandma’s favourite and also worth two farmhands.”

Unlike many women of her time, Ying married relatively late in life. She stayed and worked on the family farm and did not marry until age 30. She wed a Chinese immigrant, CHAN Puy Yuen, a shingle packer who worked for Canadian Western Mills located in an area called Fraser Mills (today known as Coquitlam). Due to the wartime relocation of Japanese workers, a community of immigrant Chinese and Southeast Asian millworkers filled the single mens' bunkhouses while a few families were offered the luxury of rental houses. The couple was lucky to have secured one of the five houses in the Chinese section right by the river.

Eventually, the family found themselves living in Maillardville where Ying would raise her two daughters, Julie and June. She relished her role as a “stay-at-home mother” for her girls.

In 1978, tragedy struck the family: CHAN Puy Yuen died. He was 74 years old.

In the last 25 years of her life, Ying spent her days with daughter Julie’s family. Amongst her children, her grandsons (Rodney and Darin Lee) and even her great grandchildren (Tyler, Ethan and Aiden), Ying promoted hard work and the need for a well-rounded education.

She was 94 years old when she passed away in 2006. Ying never met her great-granddaughter, April. However, as her daughter Julie describes “…her energizing spirits continue to motivate the ensuing generations today.”

JUNG Yat Ching appears in Chinese Immigration records under many different spellings. He entered Canada in 1900 as 21-year-old labourer, Chan JONG, paying the $50 head tax.

Yat Ching was lured to Canada by stories of wealth associated with the Klondike Gold Rush but it ended just as he arrived. He worked as a carpenter and labourer in Victoria and married his wife through the Victoria Chinese Presbyterian Church where she taught kindergarten. While he never became fluent in English, he was active in the Church.

However, his three children all achieved significant career success and all three served in WWII.

The eldest son, Ross Jung, an excellent student, was sponsored by the Canadian Presbyterian Church to attend Medical School at University of Toronto and finished his internship at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He volunteered and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps but was later seconded to the US Army Medical Corps and then served with the CIA in Shanghai. After the war, he became an accomplished doctor in the United States; he delivered John F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy, at Georgetown University Hospital in 1960.

The second son, Arthur Jung, also volunteered in WWII and trained as a pilot in Saskatchewan as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Golden Wings, an award given to the most accomplished pilot of his graduating class. Posted to England, Arthur piloted the Lancaster bomber and successfully completed all his missions over Germany unscathed. He continued to fly commercially after the war as Captain and pilot of both passenger and cargo jets with Pacific Western Airlines.

The youngest son, Douglas Jung, also volunteered in WWII and was trained as a commando serving with Force 136 in the Pacific. After the war, he studied Law at UBC and then in a huge upset in 1957, won the Vancouver Center riding defeating the incumbent Liberal Cabinet Minister Ralph Campney, thereby becoming the first ever Asian Member of Parliament and first ever elected Asian federal politician in the British Commonwealth. He was also picked by Prime Minister Diefenbaker to represent Canada at the United Nations.

Yat Ching passed away September 9, 1962.

Charles/Charlie "Chuck" Lee was born LEE Suey Sing on December 18th, 1921 in Cranbrook, BC, to local merchant LEE Look and his wife Huey Shee. His family ran a number of businesses in the region, and he spent his early years living above the Sam Yick Co. rooming house and general store that they operated.

With the passing of the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act and the forced registration of his family in front of an RCMP officer, young Charles and his cousins and three siblings wore matching white sailor uniforms with blue stripes and trim for their identification photos.

When Charles was a teen, he moved to Kimberley, BC to work in the family’s Ritz Cafe, graduating from high school in 1939.

After attending school in Calgary for a time, Charles went to Regina during the war to visit relatives when he couldn’t decide whether to stay in Calgary or to “join up.”

In 1949, he married Jean Tai, eldest daughter of Jow TAI of Regina, a prominent early Chinese figure in the small community. Afterwards, Charles and his bride went into the restaurant business in Redwater, AB before joining family in Lethbridge in 1951. There they helped run Lee's Food Market alongside his brother George, who had returned from China after working for the United Nations during the country's civil war.

Charles and Jean had four children: Doug, Karen, Elizabeth, and Maureen, all born in Lethbridge. His extended Lee family operated multiple markets, stores, and a mall in Lethbridge until 1960, when they decided they would all be liquidated after the siblings moved to Calgary and Edmonton. Around this time, Charles worked at the Seven Seas Restaurant in Edmonton. In 1964, the family briefly moved to Calgary to run another restaurant, but returned to Edmonton in 1968, operating a well-established cafeteria in the Northgate Mall.

After working in various restaurant-related positions for most of his life, Charles retired around 1993. He was a lover of mahjong and golf, and especially enjoyed bringing the big Lee clan together for large banquets and parties in his restaurants. One of his greatest joys were his grandchildren. According to family recollections “he spoiled them immensely.”

In 2010, his wife Jean died, which was a difficult loss. Charles Lee died on September 8th, 2016 in Edmonton AB.

MA Wing Shung was born in China in 1889 in a small coastal village in the [新寧 Sunning / Xinning] county. The area would later be known as [台山 Toisan/Taishan].

He arrived in Canada in 1907 and landed in Victoria aboard the Empress of China at 17 years old. Ma was exempt from paying the head tax as the son of a Nanaimo merchant.

On December 2, 1921, Ma Wing Shung was issued a C.I.36 in replacement for his original photo-less C.I.5 certificate.

According to one of his relatives, he had a wife and three children in China.

By 1923/24, he had settled in Edmonton’s Chinatown and worked as labourer living at 9713 101st Avenue.

Some time after, he was joined in Edmonton by his brother Mah Wing Him 馬榮添, who in 1924 was working as a clerk in Nanaimo’s Chinatown on Pine Street.

Ma Wing Shung died on May 15, 1960 in Edmonton, AB.

Joe Shee 周⽒ was born in China in Nam Chun village in Panyu 番禺, in the historic Sam Yup district of 廣東 Guangdong province. Her given name has been lost in time: Joe Shee means “of the Joe clan.” She likely married merchant CHU Chan Wah (1878-1948) in Panyu at an unknown date. She stood 4’10” and had pierced ears. When she was about five years old, her parents began preparing her for a desirable marriage by calling a footbinder. She had the ultimate in feminine refinement and desirability: tiny feet.

Joe Shee was 37 when she stepped aboard the S.S. Awa Maru in Hong Kong with two of her husband’s relatives, ready to emigrate to Canada. The trip in steerage lasted 26 days, stopping in at Kobe and Yokohama before arriving at Victoria. The date was July 28, 1914 and WWI had just begun. She spent six days in the Victoria Chinese immigration shed while her papers were processed. Joe Shee and the boys were exempt from paying the head tax due to Chu’s status as a merchant.

Joe Shee and Chu Chan Wah had two daughters – Iva Hon Chu (1915-1933) and Iva Gaun Chu (1918-1942) – and one son, Harold Dit Young Chu (1916-1994). The family lived and worked at several addresses in Chinatown with their dry goods and tobacco business, the Wing Wah Company. They moved from 41 East Pender Street to 504 Main Street (1926-35), then across the street to No. 509 (1936-38), then to No. 506 (from 1936).

Of the three children, only Harold lived to have a family. He married Leila Soo Hing Young in 1935 and the couple bought their home on East 6th Avenue a few years later. After Chu died in 1948, Joe Shee moved in. She was 71. Leila took care of her mother-in-law for 15 years, often carrying her food and drink up the stairs.

Joe Shee died in 1963 age 86. Chu Chan Wah and Joe Shee are buried together at Ocean View Burial Park in Burnaby.