Maxine Wilson has lived in Prince George for 78 years.
Things tend to change over time and Maxine, who just turned 98 on Aug. 8, thought it might be time to share some of her experiences as a longtime resident of the city.
Moving here from North Battleford, Saskatchewan in 1946 at 20 years old, Maxine found work washing dishes at the hospital for $1 a day.
Maxine remembers the doctors stationed at the army hospital, recalling that there were four great doctors, including Dr. Lyons, Dr. McArthur, Dr. Chambers and Dr. McKenzie.
The hospital still standing in Prince George was built in 1958.
“While I was washing dishes one day a young man walked in and asked me where the storage room was,” Maxine recalls how she met her beloved husband, Andrew Wilson.
“As I helped him unload the produce, I asked him where he was from.”
He was from Saskatchewan, too. He came from Nipawin.
A few weeks after their first meeting the pair ran into each other on the corner of Third and George while they were both with friends. They decided to go for coffee at the Shasta Café on George Street and the rest, as they say, is history.
Andy and Maxine married on Aug. 20, 1948 and rented a little two-bedroom house in South Fort George on Queensway for $30 a month.
Maxine went to her very first movie in 1949. She and Andy saw Disney’s Lady & The Tramp.
Soon the young couple saved up enough money to buy their first home on Hamilton Street in South Fort George. It cost $500 and had three bedrooms.
On Dec. 2, 1950, their first son, Norman, was born. When Norman was two months old, the little family sold their house and moved to a farm and in exchange for Andy’s labour got a room there. Maxine was able to grow a wonderful garden and entered exhibits into the fair for prize money.
Soon after that they moved to a small house at the corner of Queensway and 20th Avenue while Andy sold sewing machines in Williams Lake. Their daughter Jean was born on Aug. 1, 1952.
Andy built a bigger house on the corner lot while he was working for Singer. They sold the house and moved to an army house on Ninth Avenue close to Duchess Park.
As life went on they eventually moved into a large acreage in Pineview on Graves Road, known then as the Old Shelley Road, in 1955. The following year Maxine ordered 100 chicks, some to produce eggs and some for butchering and lucky she did as the following year things took a turn no one could have predicted.
In the fall of 1956 Andy put a pulley system in the top of the barn that would lift the hay from the wagon into the loft.
Unfortunately, something went very wrong while he was working with his brother one day and Andy fell from the loft, breaking his back, foot and ankle. He was in a full-body cast for several weeks.
Maxine was able to sell chicken eggs around town and after Andy recovered enough he starting working for a real estate firm. Andy continued to sell real estate on and off for years and he sold cars, too.
The family moved away from Prince George for a few years, spending some time in Penticton where they had their third child, Allan, who was born March 16, 1959. They moved back to Prince George and lived west of town.
Andy was working at Commonwealth Trust and Maxine sold encyclopedias. They moved back into town to Hemlock Street and bought a house for $18,000.
Their late-in-life baby, Helen, came along on April 16, 1969 and the house on Hemlock Street was where she grew up.
Andy decided to change careers and went from pressed suits to work clothes when he bought his first truck to haul wood chips from Lakeland Mill to the pulp mill.
“Wilson Trucking made our first real money,” Maxine recalled.
That was after they were married for more than 30 years.
They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary at their Hemlock Street home and soon after Andy sold the trucks.
Unfortunately, Andy passed away in 1986 and that spurred Maxine to move to Panorama Place, an apartment complex on 15th Avenue.
She started to travel after that, going to Hawaii, taking cruises, and driving around B.C. and to Saskatchewan to visit family.
“I loved to drive and really enjoyed my trips,” she said.
When Maxine turned 92 she decided to move to Gateway Lodge.
“I thought it would be nice to get a little help,” Maxine said. "Surrounded by four children, eight grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren, I feel lucky to have such a wonderful family.”
