Ken Dawson was born in Vancouver in the year of 1923, moved to Prince George in 1961 and started a very successful career as a vocational school welding teacher at the College of New Caledonia. Here is his story and that of his wife Joyce (Thibodeau) Dawson.
Ken was raised in Vancouver. He first worked in construction and then took a job working for the City of Vancouver.
At this same point in time Joyce Thibodeau, who was born in Vancouver in 1933, was attending the Moler School of Hair Dressing. It was just another ordinary day at school and it was decided that they would use Joyce to try out a hair bleaching technique - which ended up in disaster. Things went from bad to worse as the students tried to fix the failed bleach job on Joyce's hair. Joyce said, "In the end it was the prettiest emerald green color that I ever saw. I didn't get upset I just took it all in stride. I liked it!"
This story gets better because Joyce was scheduled to go on a blind date that very same evening with Ken Dawson. She said, "Ken never said a word about my hair on the date and I had no idea what he was thinking. It wasn't love at first site for either one of us that night. It all worked out in the end, we got married and eventually started our family. We are both happy to say that we just celebrated 58 years of marriage."
Ken was an experienced welder working for the City of Vancouver; he taught welding at the Burnaby Vocational School a couple of nights each week. The chief instructor at the vocational school recognized Ken's talent and urged him to apply for a teaching position in Prince George.
Joyce said, "We listed all the pros and cons about the idea of Ken quitting the City and taking up a new career teaching welding. The move meant a real cut in pay but the pros won out over the cons and we moved to Prince George. I stayed behind to sell the house and to prepare for the move. We sold our family home in the Lynn Valley area of North Vancouver for less than the price of a new car. Real estate prices have certainly changed over the years."
When Ken retired in 1988 he was considered an "Old Timer" at the College of New Caledonia (CNC). He progressed from a popular instructor to the chief instructor and finally the coordinator organizing vocational type classes for the entire CNC northern region. He had a successful 27 year career teaching (never taking a sick day) and changed the lives of an endless amount of trade's people and also positively influencing the trades in northern BC.
In fact Ken was one of my husband's welding instructors in the late 60s. Lino Nadalin went on to a 38-year career in the welding trade. During that time Lino also took the time to teach night classes in welding at CNC. He did this for nearly 15 years, simply because he was inspired by Ken Dawson.
Ken no sooner retired and CNC talked him into coming back to work on a part-time basis. He retired again in 1998 and now spends his time with the grandchildren.
Joyce changed her career path as well back then and ended up working full and part time for the hospital here in Prince George; she retired approximately 34 years later.
Over the years Joyce worked on the wards as a nurses aide; she worked on Medical (3S), surgical medical and the children's ward. She moved on to the sterile supply department and studied medical terminology at the same time. When an opening came up in medical records she successfully applied and worked as a medical records technician until she retired in 1998 at the age of 65.
Joyce said, "Even back then the hospital was a great place to work. The opportunity was always there to take additional courses to advance your career."
Joyce served as a shop steward, a bargaining committee member and served two terms on the Provincial executive for the Hospital Employees Union.
Joyce said, "I started out by just being curious and wanting to understand what my union was all about. I found it all to be very interesting and I ended up on the executive. I learned a lot about diplomacy and that there was a great need for unions. These days' unions are under attack however I feel that unions are necessary. It is ultimately important that both sides need to understand the negotiated contract to avoid misunderstandings."
Ken and Joyce raised six children: Wayne and Keira live in Burnaby, Lorraine and Elaine live in Prince George, Bruce of Prince Rupert and Sandra who lives in Grand Prairie, Alberta. They have nine grand children that are all sports minded (two of them are welders) and sadly one grand child passed away.
Over the years Ken was very involved in minor sports and served as president with a local football group. He also competed in the BC Senior Games in the track and field events until a hip injury and a broken bone, causing him to have to wear a leg brace, put an end to that type of competition.
Ken says, "I always enjoy hearing from my past students. I averaged about 14 students per year during my career and I am always interested in hearing how their schooling affected their careers. Right now I'm pretty slow but I am still mobile. I walk the track at the Northern Sport Centre and soon I intend to join Dick Voneugen and Tom Masich at the outdoor track. I am 92 years old and I am aiming for 100."
