Ellen (Vance) Jameson, one of four children, was born in Fort St. John in 1937. Her parents homesteaded in the Taylor area as far back as 1930.
In 1945, there were no schools in Taylor so the family moved to Crawford Bay on the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake near Nelson. Ellen attended school from Grades 1 to 10 in Crawford Bay.
Her father found work at logging camps and then at the Bluebell Mine at Rionde. He worked there for 10 years until the mine closed. The family knew they would have to move to find work somewhere else.
In 1954, Ellen's father, brother and her boyfriend Bill Jameson went north looking for work. They found steady work at the McBride Timber Company west of Prince George.
Ellen married the boy from across the road in Crawford Bay. She said, "I was 13 years old when I met Bill. He told me that he was going to marry me. I was determined that this would not come to pass because Bill and the other boys always teased me so I told him no, because I hated boys and especially those that teased me. We got married six years later in Prince George in 1956 when I turned 19.
"I finished Grade 11 in Prince George. In 1955, I went to work full time at the Bank of Montreal and worked there until I retired in 1992 after 36 years in the banking industry.
"My parents first lived in the Mud River area. In the mid 60s they moved into Prince George, bought property in the Peden Hill area and developed a subdivision on the land near where Costco is now located. Prince George was booming and, at the time, all you had to do to develop a subdivision was to have it surveyed, put in the roads and then sell the lots. The first roads to go in were Vance Road and Pederson Road.
"My father gifted a subdivided lot to each of his four children. We built our first house and lived there for 28 years. We had space for a huge vegetable garden and lots of flowers. I have fond memories from those days that include our many wonderful family fishing and camping trips."
Bill worked as a truck driver for various trucking companies and then went to work for Ocean Cement. The winters were hard on truck drivers and quite often he had to work out of town. When he was laid off, at the age of 53, Ted Moffat hired him to manage the fishing equipment department at Northern Hardware for the next 14 years. He retired in 1998.
Sadly, Bill passed away in 2015 at the age of 84 and after 59 years of a good marriage.
The couple had one son Jerry (Cindy) who in turn gave them three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Ellen said, "Bill was an accomplished outdoorsman and always tied his own flies. It is well known that his flies worked every time.
"At first, Bill went fishing with his buddies until I joined him. I became his fishing partner and claimed the title of chief cook and bottle washer. I became very good at fishing and he didn't mind that one bit.
"We were square dancing partners for over 20 years. We traveled to Square Dance events and met many new friends, saw quite a bit of British Columbia and had a lot of fun along the way. In 1997 we travelled to the Yukon and Alaska for six weeks. It was the best trip ever.
"We volunteered together for over 15 years with the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. For some reason, I always got the banking job and they wanted me back year after year. At Christmas, we generally adopted a family and had fun together as we shopped for the family knowing that we were going to make someone happy.
"Now, I live at River Bend and I am very happy here. The staff is great and I made many new friends here. I have the space I need to do my crafts and my quilting in my suite. I was relieved when I found out that I could bring my very best furry friend Magic to live here with me. Life is good."
December birthdays that I know about: Chuck Chin, Bill Bosnich, Elaine Swaykoski, Adrian Girard, Marion Valle, George Weinand, Sandra Rees, Wendy Girard, John Husberg, Bob Raine, Erika Harder, Judy Schlesier, Ingrit Gohl, Dirce Pandolfo, Dr. Phil Staniland, Marg McLachlan, Wilfred Vogt, Terry Burgess, Shirley Byman, Alcide Gauthier, Elaine Sokolowski, Belen Pankonin, Denise Baldock, Larry Herbert, Robert (Archie) Nicholson, Lucy Young, John Warner, Faye Sibley, Joan Watt, Donalda Carson, Simone Kwast, Shirley Michaud, Bob Michaud, Maureen Bricker, Jean Durston, Carol Haugland, Doris Banzer, Erich Bertram, Margaret Leveridge, Wendy Foresterling, Esther Monroe, Catherine Halladay, Ralph Chappel, Norm Sevigny, Angel Holden, Trish Barnes, Albert Gendron, Arthur Cardinal, Fred Bagg, Duncan Gouchie, Sandy Sitter, Lauri Karjaluoto, Nora Larsen and very special greetings for Gus Krauza who is 90, Delbert Wood is 94 and Molly Rustad turns 98.
December anniversaries: 69 years for Ivor and Joan Buchi (nee Perry), 65 years for Eldie and Georgina Ward, 64 years for Jack and Avis Cook, 63 years for Don and Marion Vaale, 63 years for Alcide and Margaret Gauthier, 63 years for Larry and Anna Herbert, 62 years for Charlie and Joyce Burkitt, 61 years for Gerry and Jewel Bates, 58 years for Malcolm and Elaine Lamb, 57 years for John and Eva Werlberger, 57 years for Roy and Shirley Green, 55 years for Bill and Donna Bosnich, 53 years for Mario and Emma Mauro, 52 years for Bill and Shirley Smith and 36 years for Armand and Gert LeFebvre.
