Kirk Gable recently introduced me to his parents Bob and Kay Gable because he wanted to share with me the fact that his parents were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.
Here is their story as I wish them a happy belated wedding anniversary.
Bob (Robert) Gable, a Second World War veteran and the youngest of three children, was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1925. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy at the age of 17 and shortly after that he boarded the HMCS La Hulloise and went off to war in the north Pacific.
The HMCS (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship) La Hulloise was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. The River-class frigates were one of the first navy warships equipped to carry a sonar transmitter with the capability to find and track enemy submarines.
The warship was commissioned (placed in active duty) in 1944 at Montreal with the pennant K 668; when the war ended she was decommissioned or "paid off' in December 1965 and retired with honour from our country's military forces.
Bob was one of the youngest sailors on the ship and it is believed that today he is one of the last remaining seamen who reported for duty on the HMCS La Hulloise.
Bob was on shore leave when a friend of his set him up on a blind date to meet Kathleen (Kay) Forster.
Kay who has an entertaining and a good sense of humour said, "I was born in Forestburg, Alberta in 1927. I used to laugh and say 'I am Kay Forster from Forestburg'.
"Yes, I met Bob through a friend when he came ashore. My teenage girl friends and I used to talk about boys all the time. Some of my friends liked airmen, soldiers or marines but not me I liked sailors. We always had fun arguing about their uniforms. I loved the bell bottom trousers and all their creases. I learned later on that they had seven creases, one crease for each of the seven seas and that they were cut bell-shaped and full enough to be pulled up over the thighs to keep them dry as the sailors swabbed the deck of the ship."
Their first date went very well. Bob had it all figured out; he would drive everyone else home first and then take Kay home. To make a long story short Bob and Kay got locked out of the car. Bob was worried about getting Kay home late so he decided to take the hinges off the car door of his dad's 1934 Plymouth in order to open the door. Apparently car hinges were on the outside of the car back then.
He was busy taking off the hinges when the police came by so he had to take the time to explain all of this to the police.
When they finally got home it was 2 a.m. and Kay's mother was up pacing the floor.
That was in 1945. They were engaged for two years and Kay married her sailor in August of 1947.
They lived and worked in Edmonton until 1957. With a twinkle in her eyes Kay reflected back and said, "I worked at Munro's Hardware store for ten years. I left when the children started to arrive and several years later the store burned to the ground.
"I packed up the kids and we were on our way to see the fire. I took the kids aside and told them not to tell anyone that we were on our way to see the fire. We got on the bus and Kirk told the first person that he saw that we were on our way to see the fire."
Meanwhile Bob was working as an apprentice welder for Dominion Bridge on a vessel riveting crew.
Bob reflected back and said, "It was a tough job joining two pieces of ship metal together using old school technology. First you heated the rivet, tossed it to the next crew member who caught it with a metal scoop, placed it and then it was hammered into the hole from both sides by two more workers making sure that all of this was done before the rivet cooled off.
"A rivet vessel could have thousands of hand hammered rivets that are needed to put a ship together so you needed a good team with a lot of speed to avoid trying to drive a cold rivet."
In 1957 Bob decided to head west to Fort St John; Kay and the children followed six months later.
The oil industry was booming and both Bob and his brother Don owned welding rigs. They started their own business and worked side by side from sun up to 3 a.m. day after day. They were busy all the time.
In 1965 Bob and his family moved to Prince George. The Pulp Mills were arriving and there were construction jobs everywhere. Bob worked for construction contractors and the Local 170 Welders & Pipefitters Union for the next 40 years. In fact Bob is proud to show off the 50 year watch that he received from the union when he retired.
He has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion since 1946. He first started out as a sea cadet learning how to tie knots and then he joined the navy as a dry land sailor.
Kay worked for Canada Manpower on George Street, across from where the Keg is now located, for many years. She always enjoyed the job and the people she worked with.
She was part of the 1977 BC Provincial Senior Women's Curling Championship team that went on to compete at the nationals in Newfoundland. She said, "My teammates were Jean Dorgan, Isabel Brigham and Doris Bueckert all of whom are deceased. When we got to Nfld. we won five games and lost five games. I can remember it as an exciting and fun time for all of us."
They had four children; Kirk (Kathie Scouten), Brock (Mandy), Murray (Suzanne) and Laurel (Wes) who in turn gave them 11 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Bob said, "We lived here before the Spruceland, Parkwood and Pine Centre Malls and the Coast Inn of the North arrived in Prince George.
"We built a house on Garvin Street and raised our family here. Kay and I were all about the family and our children were always our priority.
"We vacationed, traveled and camped together and enjoyed our summer vacations at Kalamalka Lake along with Kay's sister and her three children. We spent many happy hours at our cabins at Charlie Lake and Bednesti Lake.
"I am 92 years old and I have certainly seen this city grow and become the great city that it is today."
Kay and Bob still tease one another good naturedly and it is fun to watch them together.
She smiled and said to Bob, "It has been a long time now that I have been married to you. I am still alive and loving it!"
Bob laughed, agreed and said, "Well, I am still getting the dinner for us. I am still walking - even though it is not as fast as it used to be and I just want to say that it has been a great life. I have a great wife and a wonderful family. I just don't know where we would be without our wonderful family."
August birthdays that I know about: Barb Claffey, Rita Svatos, Diana Myers, Marilyn Goetjen, Carol Stewart, Helen Dery, Dawn Thesen, Judy Dix, Supi Peter, Jeannette Goossens, Don Grantham, Joyce Unrau, Gord Babcock, Lorraine Knight, Heather Couch, Gary Drake, Ted Haugland, Betty Townsend, Dean Cole, Marlies Greulich, Margaret Johnston, Elaine Lamb, Malcolm Lamb, Shafeed Rahman, Irene Stahl, Alan Idiens, Joy Warner, Sharon Stene, Joy McKeller, Lyn Thibault, Ray Demily, Walt Wessner, Betty Wessner, Eileen Hughes, Victor Lavallee, Shirley McDermid, Beverly Campkin, Lorea Reimer, Fred Buchi, Eva Buchi, Barbara Iwaskow, Muriel Lank, Leila Davis, Millie Helin, John Kuharchuk, Donald Jones, Jack Stock, Edward Normand, Myrna Regiudel, Bob Horning, Wolfgang Jechow and Jack Bradshaw from Williams Lake.
August Anniversaries: 71 years for Fred and Eva Buchi, 70 years for Bob and Kay Gable, 68 years for Harold and Doreen Hewlett, 65 years for Dr. Eldon and Marjorie Lee, 63 years for Laurent and Rita LeBlanc, 62 years for Bob and Marvina Nikkel, 61 years for Ron and Louise Backman, 58 years for Jim and Noreen Rustad, 57 years for Cliff and Sharon Dezell, 53 years for Colin and Judy Dix, 52 years for Gerry and Mai Dulmage, 52 years for Vern and Connie Lawrence, 46 years for Paul and Diane Duperron, 37 years for John and Iris Frenkel, 32 years for Clarence and Marie Harmon and 24 years for Larry and Lucy Young.
