Long time Prince George residents Ed and Muriel Olichny who recently celebrated 60 years of marriage were both born in Hythe, Alberta, which is half way between Dawson Creek and Grand Prairie. Here is their story.
Ed Olichny was born in 1933, the second eldest of the five children of Steve and Aranka Olichny. His father immigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1929; he married and moved to Hythe, Alberta which was also known as the end of the rail.
At the age of 17, his family left Alberta and headed west to Rolla, B.C. where his father purchased the local general store.
In the meantime, Ed was traveling to Dawson Creek where he worked for a grocery wholesale company.
He traveled back to Rolla the same day and then worked in his father's store.
This was his way of life until he decided to go east to attend bible college in Regina, Sask.
He went to the college for the next four years and as he drove back and forth to his home in Rolla, he stopped in his home town to visit Muriel Brandsather.
The relationship bloomed and Muriel, who was attending nursing school in Edmonton, soon became his wife.
Muriel's father immigrated to Canada from Norway in 1929 and married Christine Hornland from Wisconsin, who was also of Norwegian descent.
Ed said, "I proposed and Muriel and I married in 1957. We had both attended the same Sunday school, the same high school and we were the best of friends. We have been on a great lifetime journey ever since."
Muriel graduated from the Royal Alexander Hospital School of Nursing, worked at her profession in Grande Prairie for two years, got married and moved to Dawson Creek.
Ed was a traveling salesman and sold appliances for Ashdown Hardware Wholesale. Time went by and he was hired as an office manager for Electric Power and Equipment.
When he was offered a job with Erwin Homes, he took it and in 1968 they transferred him to Prince George.
Ed said, "I remember that trip well. We traveled to Prince George through a severe winter blizzard and because our house was not ready, Jake and Helen Esau graciously opened up their home to us. They had five children of their own and still they welcomed us along with our three children into their home for a total of 12 people in a small house."
Ed was put in charge of sales and marketing, which involved a lot of traveling.
He traveled to Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, Chetwynd, everything south to Williams Lake and everything west to Terrace.
Ed said, "Erwin Homes was a successful and aggressive company building 135 homes per year becoming the largest home builder in central and northern B.C. My job included sales, designing and overseeing the construction of the homes. Most of my life was spent in an airplane or driving back and forth for the next 12 years.
"A friend suggested a business opportunity and in 1977, along with my partner Steve Filan, we started Tropical Pool and Spa. We started out installing swimming pools and over the years the company installed 400 in-ground swimming pools in and around Prince George.
"When we started, our store was located on First Avenue and eventually we moved to West Central Street. We offered everything from water analysis to hot tub installations, pool and hot tub maintenance and pool supplies from Prince George west to Terrace, south to Williams Lake and north to Chetwynd and Ft St John.
"I sold the company in 1994 and semi-retired and now at the age of 84 I have finally fully retired."
Ed, Muriel and the three children moved to Prince George in 1968 and Muriel became a stay at home mom. Their three children; Lorne (Lanna), Dennis (Denise) and Carolyn (Terry) in turn gave them 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Ed explained, "Prince George was a great place to raise our children. We found many opportunities to enjoy water skiing in the summer and downhill skiing in the winter among many other activities.
"Muriel has always been a great wife and a wonderful mother to our children. The children always came first and when they grew up and graduated she worked in the office at the Tropical Pool and Spa. She has always been an asset to the business and enjoyed working with all of our customers.
"Over the years we sold a large number of spas; our motto was to give good service to our customers who in turn became friends. I am proud to say that nearly 40 years later, although now under different management, the company is still in business.
"We were blessed to be able to spend three months of our winter in warmer climates traveling south in our fifth wheel (and sometimes in extreme weather) along with friends and returning at the end of March."
Ed has held a volunteer board position with World Serve Ministries for the past 40 years. World Serve Ministries is a non-denominational, Christian ministry based in Canada that has and continues to equip churches in China, Ethiopia, Cuba and Myanmar with Bibles and literature for their ministries.
Ed and Muriel concluded by saying, "Our 60 years of marriage is a real milestone and we are grateful for one another and thankful for our reasonably good health.
"We lived in our home on King Drive for 43 years. It was a great neighborhood and we still treasure all the friendships we made with our neighbors over those many years.
"We are now enjoying living at Asher Place along with other retirees and new friends.
"We have had a great life together for the past 60 years; we always give thanks to God for the blessing of family, the blessings of a great church relationship at the Lakewood Alliance Church and blessings and benefits of living in a great city like Prince George."
