George Weinand was born in 1939 and raised on a farm near the small northern town of Tisdale, Sask. He is a 40-year resident of the City of Prince George and is a well-known and respected commercial real estate agent with Royal LePage.
Prior to his real estate career. George worked for the Bank of Nova Scotia. He was with the Bank of Nova Scotia for 17 years and during those 17 years he was transferred and moved 17 times until he ended up in Calgary.
The Bank of B.C. offered him the opportunity to spearhead the opening of their newest branch in Prince George so he quit the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1977 and moved to Prince George. He was an avid outdoorsman so he was excited about the move.
George successfully opened the new branch in April of 1978; business was exceptionally good and it wasn't long until the Prince George branch had more resident shareholders than any other branch in BC.
George said, "We had many resident shareholders because the local businesses of the day were well managed, forward thinking and aggressive; as a result, the branch was very successful and well capitalized.
"Prince George prospered and the bank grew until 1981 when the economy was impacted by rising interest rates. The federal government of the day introduced the Anti-Inflation Board. The idea was to control wages, price increases and to cut inflation by raising interest rates. The policy of using interest rates to cut inflation culminated in 1981 when the bank rate rose above 21 per cent and the prime lending rate was 22.75 per cent.
"The high interest rates eventually caused the failure of the real estate industry and destroyed a generation of entrepreneurs. It took the real estate industry 10 years to recover from the recession but they eventually got back on their feet.
"The Northland Bank in Calgary and the Canadian Commercial Bank in Edmonton went into receivership and the Bank of B.C. eventually sold out to HSBC. I worked for the receiver for three years and then I chose real estate as my new career.
"When I first became a realtor, I worked with Vern Gatzke and later Dirk Lodell at the Sutton Group and, after 18 years, I joined Remax with Bill Lynch. Two years ago, when Rod McLeod offered me an opportunity to work with him and the other great people at Royal Lepage I jumped at the opportunity."
George married long-time friend Sandra Rees in 1995.
Sandra said, "I born in Wales. My mother, Glenys, was a Woman's Air Force driver who had fallen in love with and married Canadian Flyer RCAF Wing Commander, Doug Hagerman, a Saskatchewan farm boy."
When the war ended, Sandra and her mother, like thousands of other war brides, came to Canada. They arrived at Pier 21 in 1946 and then took the train across the country.
The young family first settled in Dinsmore, then Saskatoon and eventually moved to Edmonton where Sandra grew up
After high school Sandra completed a secretarial program at Alberta College and found work with the Alberta government in the personnel office before becoming an assistant to the Minister of Consumer Affairs.
Sandra said, "I moved to Calgary in the early '70s and found work as a recruiter for BP Exploration. It was an exciting time when recruiting meant bribing and luring professionals to switch employers and even to immigrate to Canada from other countries.
"When the '80s downturn in the oil and gas industry in Alberta hit, I enrolled in the University of Calgary and received my BA/Commerce Degree in 1989. Upon graduation I joined the human resources department of the Alberta Central Credit Union.
"I moved to Prince George in 1993 and accepted the position of senior manager in the human resources department with Prince George Saving which is now the Integris Credit Union.
"Our 1995 marriage took place in Taxco De Alarcon, Mexico. Mexican judges are political appointees so the following year, when the government changed, the judge reverted to his previous profession as a piano player in a bar. We joke that the marriage was only valid during the short time when he was legally a judge.
"I left Integris in 2009, enrolled in the executive coach program with Royal Roads University, earned my executive coaching certificate and worked as an independent coach/HR consultant for the next seven years. Mostly retired I still take on small projects."
Throughout her career Sandra had been an active participant in the BC Human Resource Management Association (HRMA) and served as an advisor to the provincial board and as chair of the northern chapter. She served for 12 years as a trustee for the B.C. Credit Union's Benefits and Pension Trust.
In 2011 Sandra and her therapy dog Dixie began their joint volunteer career at Gateway Lodge. Dixie recently retired from her therapy duties at the age of 10 and after an interesting, challenging and productive career working with Alzheimer patients.
Sandra and George have traveled all over the globe but a recent Canadian trip to Halifax was especially memorable for Sandra. She re-visited Pier 21 which is now an UNESCO site honouring the Canadian immigrant experience. Pier 21 provided information about the Queen Mary; the refitted troupe ship on which she and her mother had travelled to Canada, as well as many other details of the war bride experience.
Sandra explained, "Taken together, George and I have three sons and a daughter who have given George three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Son Trevor and daughter Tracey, live in Brooks, Alberta.
"I have two sons; Troy (Barbara) in Terrace and Greg (Jill) who lives alternately in Fernie and Kiawah Island, SC." She laughed and said, "Since I have no grandchildren of my own George and I had to get married because I needed grandchildren."
George is a 40-year member of the Prince George Rotary Club and a past treasurer and director for the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.
He is an active participant in the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company with its own charitable foundation which is dedicated exclusively to funding women's shelters and violence prevention programs. Since 1998 the Shelter Foundation has raised more that $24 million through national partnerships. Royal LePage agents donate a portion of their commissions to the Shelter Foundation.
George concluded by saying, "I have watched Prince George boom and then suffer and then grow again. The University of Northern BC was exactly what our city needed. The arrival of UNBC prompted the College of New Caledonia to grow and increase its support of our natural resources industry. Both UNBC and CNC brought many new skill sets and a diversity of people to Prince George and there are still many benefits to come in the future.
"Our downtown continues to improve and there is not a city anywhere the same size as Prince George that has as many good quality sporting facilities like we have.
"Over the years I have established excellent long-term relationships with local business people, contractors, developers, investors and financiers. I love what I do and I have no intentions of retiring any time soon."
