Lois (Allen) Keim was born in Prince George in 1942; the fourth child of the five children of Enid and Walter Allen. She married Melvin Keim (deceased in 2011); Melvin came to Prince George from St. Lina, Alta. in 1953.
Lois and Melvin had four children: Bryan (Janice), Trent (Lori), Lana (Ross) and Colleen (Roy) all of whom live in Prince George. Lois said, "I had three of my four children before I was 20 years old and now I have nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren."
Lois was a stay-at-home mom right up until her youngest was six years old and started school. She worked in retail and over the years she worked at the Bay, Hazel Archer Dress Shop, Reitman's and Woolco. Now she is busy doing volunteer work, dancing and spending her time with her family and especially with her grandchildren.
Lois has been involved with the Pineview Recreation Commission for many years and served as the chairperson from 2000- 2011. She also does a lot of volunteer work at the Pineview Senior Centre.
The Pineview seniors meet on the lower floor at the Pineview Hall on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Wednesday is pot luck and the main drop in day for seniors and Thursday is when the floor curling group gets together.
Lois explains, "There are no membership fees at our senior centre. We are a drop in centre; we have a pool table, a shuffle board, floor curling, and we play cards. The seniors can rent a movie or a book for a mere 25 cents, work on a puzzle or just sit back and visit. We are self sufficient and everything runs smoothly with everyone helping out as needed. On Wednesdays Marilyn Kamp plays the piano and we quite often have a jam session. There is plenty of free parking and everyone is welcome."
Lois currently lives on 80 acres in Pineview. If she moved off the 80 acres she would have to move into the city and leave behind all of her lifelong friends and neighbours and basically start a new way of life in a new community in the city. Lois is not alone in this dilemma. There are many other seniors in the regional district in a similar situation.
Lois and a committee of other dedicated seniors are currently working on establishing the first rural seniors housing complex in B.C.
There are many seniors in the Pineview, Ferndale, Six Mile Lake, Buckhorn and Hixon areas that have a need for a rural seniors housing complex in the Pineview area. They have all lived, worked and raised their families in the area around Pineview and they would like to stay in the area.
In fact they are defined by their rural life and they want and need to stay in their rural setting; moving into senior housing within the city would constitute immediate isolation and a total change of environment as they leave behind a life that they cherish.
If you would like to know more about the Pineview Senior Centre or the Pineview seniors housing project just phone Lois at 250-963-7056.
