Showing 14 results

Authority record
Person

Albert Clifford

  • 0165
  • Person
  • 1916-2008

Born in Atchelitz, BC, Albert (Bert) Clifford (1916-2008) married in 1939 and after the war studied photography before moving to Mission in 1947 to start a business with his wife Madge. Within a year of establishing The Clifford Studio, the devastating flood waters of the Fraser River in 1948 seriously impacted the business. Being one of the few photographers in the community, however, Bert set out equipped with his camera to document the historic event, capturing the catastrophic destruction in Mission and adjacent communities. A number of his images were published in Nature’s Fury: The inside Story of the Disastrous BC Floods.

In the ensuing years, he was able to rebuild his business and in 1953 opened a new studio claimed to be the largest one in British Columbia at the time. Due to the post-war baby boom, photographing babies became a primary focus of the business along with bridal photography. Bert supplemented his income with press photography providing the majority of the images for the Fraser Valley Record newspaper between the 1947 and 1959 which documented day to day life in the community and events such as celebrations, funerals and weddings. After Clifford Studios closed down in 1966, Bert embarked on a new career in real estate, retiring in 1984.

Brosseau, Harold

  • 0274
  • Person
  • 1956-

Harold Watson Brosseau Jr. (Bob) was born on April 4th, 1956 at Mission Memorial Hospital. He lived at the very west end of North Nicomen Road in Deroche BC until moving to Mission in 1973.

In September of 1962 Harold started attending Deroche School where he completed Grade 7. In the fall of 1969 he enrolled at Mission Senior Secondary School for grades 8 to12, graduating in June 1974.

Bryant, Mary

  • 0064
  • Person
  • 1959-

Mary Bryant (1959- ), a native of Mission, was raised on a dairy farm in Hatzic. The second of three children, she became actively involved in 4-H at age 6 and raised Ayrshire dairy cows. At age 15, Mary was introduced to the idea of flying during Career Days at school and with the support of her family, she started her training. In 1977, prior to graduating from high school, she obtained a private pilot license and the following year, a commercial one. Mary joined the military in 1981 and became one of the ten women selected over a 3-year period for a new program to train pilots. Earning her wings in 1983, she became the second woman in Canada to fly helicopters. Over the next 9 years, her assignments included search and rescue operations in Ontario and British Columbia and a peacekeeping tour in the Sinai Desert, Egypt. She retired from the military in 1991 and flew the air ambulance in southern Alberta. In 1993 Mary moved back to B.C., returning to her roots and family farm, and began flying for Interfor helilogging. She retired from flying permanently in 1995 and pursued a career as a business manager and consultant until 1997 when her two daughters were born.

Fowler, Louise

  • 0343
  • Person
  • 1930-

Louise Fowler (nee Constantine) was born in 1930 and was the 7th of 8 children. She lived in Silverdale from approximately 1942 to 1949 and she attended Mission Central High School. Louise moved to Mission in 1949.

Gunn, James Andrew

  • 0178
  • Person
  • 1916-1972

James (Jimmy) Gunn was born in New Westminster. He worked for the Motor Vehicle Branch of the B.C. Provincial Police and was transferred to Mission City in 1945. Gunn was active in a variety of community service and sports groups and headed a project under the auspices of the local Rotary Club to construct the first public swimming pool in Mission. He is most noted for being the founder of the Mission City Soap Box Derby, an annual event which ran from 1947 to 1973.

Hills, Doris

  • 0015
  • Person
  • 1926-

Doris Hills (nee Grinsted) was born in England and moved to Cedar Valley near Mission, B.C., in 1929. Hills worked for the Chilliwack Progress newspaper, taking leave during World War II to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division.

Hollister, Vic

  • Person
  • 1925-2006

Vic Hollister is a long-time resident of Mission who was a member of the District of Mission Library Committee.

Klenk, Carl William

  • 0116
  • Person
  • 1929-2020

Carl Klenk was born and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. In 1946, at the age of 17, he moved to Mission with his family and lived on the south side of Main Street at the foot of Stave Lake Road. At this time he developed his life-long interest in collecting postcards.

After working for various logging companies in the area he started his own business in 1954. Shortly after that he married (1955) Iris Boyd and they moved to the Caribou where he continued to operate his business and start a family. Following several other moves, they came back to Mission in 1964 and Carl retired six years later.

In 1979, Carl and his wife moved to Seattle where he lived for the next 15 years. While there, he began to earnestly collect old postcards and photographs. He joined the Seattle Postcard Club and the Vancouver Postcard Club where he both purchased and sold postcards. He also acquired postcards at old antique stores, photographic club shows and swap meets.

In 1995, Carl moved back to Mission where he continued to add to his collection over the next twenty years and in 2006, met with the Archivist to discuss arrangements to preserve them. In 2016, he received a Special Heritage Award from the Mission Community Heritage Commission in recognition for his substantial contribution to Mission’s heritage by collecting and preserving his postcards in the Mission Community Archives to ensure their accessibility for present and future generations. He died on January 29, 2020.

Kowal, Evelyn M.

  • 0341
  • Person

Evelyn M. Kowal is the daughter of Florence Inglis (1925-1997) and Andrew Russell Graham (1922-1973), both of Scotland.

Ogle, Doris E.

  • 0344
  • Person
  • 1906-

Doris Ogle was born in Port Hammond and moved to Mission in 1920. She worked as a nurse at Mission Memorial Hospital until 1934, when she married Sydney Salsberry, who was later killed in action in World War II. She married Phillip Swift in 1950 and since that time has lived in Abbotsford. She was active in a number of community women's groups.

Taulbut, Anthony S.

  • 0001
  • Person
  • 1875-1949

Anthony Samuel Taulbut was a native of Fareham, Hampshire England who settled in Mission with his wife Rozina and two children, Walter and Amy in 1908. He established a real estate and insurance business and soon became actively involved in the community, serving as the municipal and school district assessor (1917-1939), School Board secretary (1920-1946), and Mission correspondent to the Vancouver Province (1922-1949).

An avid collector with a keen interest in history, Anthony established a museum and archives in part of his house, serving as Mission’s first de facto curator and archivist. As his enthusiasm spread throughout the community, many people from the area contributed local artifacts and archival items to his collection. In later years, began work on a history of Mission, which was never completed due to his untimely death on August 16th, 1949.

Vogel, Harry

  • 0206
  • Person

Harry Vogel is a retired engineer in Mission, B.C., interested in local history. He was a member of the Construction Committee for the Rites of Passage Exhibition, which portrayed the history of Japanese Canadians in the Mission area.