Hilary (Forrester) Crowley the youngest of two children was born in 1944 in the seaport fishing town of Grimsby, England in North East Lincolnshire. When she graduated from high school she knew she wanted to continue her studies to become a physiotherapist and she did just that.
She started her career as a physiotherapist however her career was unintentionally interrupted during a game of tennis with a colleague. The idea was dropped on the court service line that it would be a great idea to travel to South Africa and in less than 24 hours the decision was made. They made their plans, packed their bags and booked a flight to South Africa.
They fitst worked in the hospital in Durban and then traveled to Cape Town where they found one physiotherapist job that was available immediately. They simply tossed a coin to see who would take the job. Her friend won the toss and Hilary went to work in the mailroom for the Reader's Digest Company.
They worked, traveled and checked out Southern Africa for a year. Hilary's return air ticket expired at the end of one year so she traveled back to England on the last day that it was still valid.
Hilary said, "I returned to London but I was hooked on traveling. I immigrated to Canada in 1970 with a big desire to travel. I told my family that I would be back in six months but that did not happen because I am still here.
"I left Liverpool on a boat headed to Montreal. It just so happened that I shared a cabin with a senior physiotherapist and she got me a job in Montreal. I worked there for 10 months.
"My original plan to take the train across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver didn't happen the way I planned it. I changed my plan and I bought an old beat up Volkswagen for $300. I spent $400 on repairs during the two months of travelling around the states before I reached Vancouver."
In Vancouver, Hilary went to work as a physiotherapist for the Canadian Arthritis and Rheumatism Society (CARS). The society was desperate to fill a position in the north and being the junior recruit Hilary was sent to Prince George on a six-week locum. She agreed to go with a promise that she could return to Vancouver after the six weeks. That did not happen either because after two weeks she wrote her Vancouver office and asked if she could stay.
Hilary said, "I just loved it here. I loved the many outdoor recreation opportunities. I immediately joined the tennis, hiking and the canoe clubs and made many new friends.
"I was a traveling CARS physiotherapist and visited many small communities. I have to admit that the winter driving was awful so in 1973 I settled in at a full-time job as the first physiotherapist in Vanderhoof."
It was during this time that Hilary met Floyd Crowley. They were both spectators at a rodeo and Floyd invited Hilary to meet him at the rodeo dance that night.
The rest is history; they got married in 1975 and they have been dancing together ever since.
Floyd Crowley was born on a farm in Christopher Lake, Sask. in 1938. He graduated from high school in 1956 and the following week he was working in Fort St John.
His father and grandfather had moved to Fort St John a few years earlier due to continued crop failures in Sask. They urged Floyd to join them with the promise of plenty of work.
With his experience of hauling cattle and grain since he was 14, Floyd easily landed a job hauling cement for a concrete company for the construction of the industrial complex in Taylor.
In 1957, he applied for a job with Westcoast Transmission and they hired him on the spot.
In 1964, the company sent him to work at their complex in Woodpecker near Hixon. It was during this time that Floyd got interested in regional district politics. In 1966, he joined in and helped build the community hall in Hixon.
From 1966-68 he served as a volunteer representative on the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. He served as the regional district representative from 1976-86 for the Crooked River/ Parsnip area and during that time he served two years as their vice chairman.
In 1969, Westcoast Transmission put him in charge of their Summit Lake operation and in 1985 he was promoted to operations foreman for the southern district which extended from the Peace River to the U.S. border.
Floyd said, "I really loved the challenge but my family life suffered because I was on the road two weeks of every month. I retired in 1995 after 38 years of service."
Hilary and Floyd are avid outdoor people and enjoy hiking, canoeing, cross-country skiing, curling, slow pitch, hunting, fishing and gardening.
After they moved to Summit Lake, they built a new log house which they still live in today. They grow their own fruits and vegetables and hunt and fish for most of their food; they strive to be as self-sufficient as possible.
Hilary worked at the Prince George Regional Hospital for 30 years as a part-time physiotherapist.
She took a one-year leave of absence in 1994 to volunteer as a physiotherapy trainer in South India. In 1996 she set up Samuha Overseas Development Association (SODA) in Prince George to support this work; four years later they gained a non-profit charitable status.
SODA initiated an early intervention centre for disabled children and built a spinal cord injury unit which provides rehabilitation therapy for up to 15 clients for three months of residential therapy.
Hilary returns annually to continue this work and since 2002 she has been taking Canadian physiotherapy and occupational therapy students for a 6-week practicum as part of their training.
In 2013, Hilary received the Enid Graham Award, the highest award given by the Canadian Physiotherapy Association.
She enjoys writing and is currently writing a book on her experiences in India.
Hilary is involved in politics and said, "I went to my first Green Party meeting and came out as the candidate and since then I ran in two provincial elections and four federal elections. I currently serve as the president of the Prince George Green Party Riding Association and I am a strong advocate for a physiotherapy training program at the University of Northern B.C."
Floyd continues to be an active volunteer and serves as the president of the Senior Curling League based out of the Prince George Golf and Curling Club and volunteers on the Kelly Cup curling committee. He has represented Prince George curlers in the BC Senior Games for eight years.
Floyd said, I have served as the fire chief at Summit Lake for over 30 years.
"I served on the hospital board from 1980-84 and my main accomplishment was to get smoking out of our local hospital. I joined the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, invested $20,000 and thousands of hours of volunteer time to help in the battle against second hand smoke. We managed to get smoking out of airplanes and buses and since then the group has come a long way and many improvements have been made.
Hilary concluded by saying, "Floyd had four children from his previous marriage and now we have the joy of 11 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
"We keep active and fit and hope that we can live at Summit Lake for the rest of our lives. In the meantime, we have enough projects on the go to keep us busy until then."
