Charlie Burkitt, one of seven children, was born in 1937 in Quesnel. His parents moved their family to Reid Lake shortly after Charlie was born. His father worked in the bush while his mother managed the home, did all the gardening and raised the children. Charlie went to school in Reid Lake and finished Grade 9 by correspondence.
His father gave him a choice to continue going to school or to work with him in a sawmill. He chose to work so his father bought a two-man sawmill operation and at the age of 14 Charlie and his father used a cross cut saw in the bush and horse logged the logs to the sawmill for the next two years.
Charlie met Joyce Brown, the new Reid Lake school teacher, in 1957.
Joyce, one of four children, was born in 1937 on a farm near Vanderhoof. She was raised in Hixon and after Grade 8 the family moved to Castlegar where she took Grades 9 and 10. Their interdenominational church put out a church prayer letter looking for a donor to sponsor students who wanted to attend Grades 11 and 12 at the Prairie Bible Institute but could not afford the tuition. A man answered the prayer letter saying that he would make the donation and pay the entire two-year tuition. Joyce was selected and has been grateful for that gift of education ever since.
After graduation, Joyce and her mother moved to Vancouver. She worked odd jobs, saved her money, learned to ride the city bus and eventually started her teacher training. Generally, students took their teacher training at Normal School but Joyce was in the very first class of teachers that took their training at the University of B.C. She finished her training and applied for a position in Prince George.
Joyce said, "I admit that I knew nothing about Prince George. I only knew that I wanted to go north and I knew that I was going to love teaching children. The telegram arrived saying the school at Reid Lake was mine if I wanted it. I was thrilled.
"When I arrived in Reid Lake, it didn't take long and I knew it was not going to be an easy school. There were 29 children from Grades 1 to 9 and I was the only teacher. Right off the bat, many of the boys were unruly, naughty and they challenged my authority. They figured it out that I was young and inexperienced. It was very difficult until I got the situation under control and soon it all worked out and I started to enjoyed my class. Whether they enjoyed me or not is another story.
"My only source of paper duplication was a jelly pad duplicator. The hectograph, gelatin duplicator or jellygraph is a printing process that involves the transfer of an original document, prepared with special inks, to a pan of gelatin. The gelatin absorbs the image which is then transferred to a clean sheet of paper.
"It wasn't long until I met Charlie Burkitt. He had just turned 20, he was underweight but he was a good worker.We got married in 1958 and I invited all my students. The children seemed to have more respect for me after I got married and they had to start calling me Mrs. Burkitt.
"I transferred to the two-room school on the airport hill and I taught Grades 1 to 3.
"Throughout my career, I taught school at Edgewood, Island Cache, Highland, Van Bien, Miller Addition and at the Catholic school. I substitute taught for many years and retired in 1998 after 41 years of teaching."
Charlie worked in the logging industry for a total of 13 years and then the young family moved to Edgewood where he got his scalers license.
They moved back to Prince George in 1964. He first worked as a scaler for McDermid and Lofting and then found work at Liquid Carbonic for the next eight years.
He got a job at the jail and worked as a guard for 25 years. He applied for a transfer as an instructor at the Hudta Lake Forestry Corrections Camp and taught the youth in the detention centre for nearly 15 years. Charlie retired in 1998 at the age of 61.
In his retirement, he first took up small engine repairs and two years later Charlie and Joyce went into the South Fort Heritage House Bed and Breakfast business. Being that their house was built in 1912 they thought this was a perfect name for their business. They have lived there since 1966 and they enjoyed hosting people in their home for 16 years.
Charlie and Joyce have three children: Tom (Susan), Bev (Glen) Misch and Roy (Benita) who in turn gave them six grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Joyce has always been willing to give back to her community. Over the years, she has volunteered with their church, a Christian senior's group, Pioneer Girls, the Child Evangelism Fellowship Kids Club and the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre.
Joyce said, "I enjoyed my many years as a teacher. I was always an old-fashioned teacher. My goal was that the students would succeed to the best of their ability and then show improvement. That was all I expected of them and they learned to be proud. I am always happy when a former student recognizes me and says hello.
"We will soon be married for 61 years. We must have done something right because one of our sons followed in his father's footsteps and works at the jail as a guard and our daughter is a school teacher.
"We live in the best country in the world, the best province in the country and in the best part of the province. We are grateful for our family, our friends, our freedom and for one another; after a lifetime together, we have become one and we are happy to be growing older together."
