Doreen (Wrightman) Gray was born in the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster in 1930. She attended Queen Elizabeth high school in Surrey from Grade 7 to 10 and rode her bicycle two miles to and from school each day in all weather and remembers that it was mostly rainy and cold.
Doreen reflected back and said, "in Grade 10 I sang in the choir and with no bookkeeping experience I was elected treasurer of the student's council in a school of 400 to 500 students. The principal became my mentor and my auditor and noted that I was one of the students enrolled in a university program rather than business training.
"My last two years of formal school training were at Duke of Connaught High School in New Westminster and then on to Normal School where I took my teachers training. I went on to attend summer school and took University of B.C. off campus courses at night in order to earn my Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching."
Her first year of teaching was at Endako. There were 22 children who attended the Endako school from Grade 1 to 8; she taught all 22 of the children. Doreen said, "it was a rural school and all the children were great.
"I found the area to be more remote than I wanted and after a year I went back to the coast to be with my family and friends. After another year went by I decided that I liked the north after all and I moved to Prince George. I arrived in Prince George in 1952 and I have been here ever since. Here is a bit of history from my early teaching days.
"In the summer of 1952 I traveled to Prince George with a letter appointing me to a teaching position at the newly constructed one-room school on the Hart Highway and instructions to contact my supervising principal, Mr. John Cooke.
"Mr. Cooke proceeded to find room and board accommodation for me that would be within walking distance to the temporary classrooms being held at the West End Sunday School building. It was his intention that I would be transferred to the West End Sunday School Annex on Montreal Street (which is now Burden Street) because I had no transportation to and from the Hart Highway school. This school was to be an annex of KGV because of their diminishing classroom space created by the influx of people into Prince George.
"I room and boarded with Evelyn and Harry Bailey who lived at the end of Brunswick Street and across the street from where the Inn of the North is now located. I used to sit on their front porch dressed for winter and bundled up with scarves and mittens to watch the ski jumpers on Connaught Hill. The landing was just west of the current City Hall and between the present library and the Civic Centre.
"Over the next three years plans were being made to increase taxes and build new schools. The boom continued, causing new developments of subdivisions which created a need for even more schools.
"When I arrived, there were only four elementary schools in Prince George. There was South Fort George, Central Fort George, Connaught elementary and King George V; Ray Williston was the inspector for School District 57 at that time.
"I loved my job teaching and believed children required a taste of a well-rounded curriculum in their early formative years. This included music which often included a wheezy old pump organ to help children learn proper pitch for singing."
In 1953 Doreen met and married Allan Gray. Allan had been working at the damn site in Kitimat and then found work in Prince George as a carpenter. He worked for a company that built staff houses at the airport. Later he worked in the maintenance department for the school district. He became a skilled glazier tradesman and was responsible for cutting, installing, removing glass and repairing broken windows until his retirement.
They had one son, Gilbert (Kathryn) who in turn gave them one grandchild.
Sadly, Allan passed away in 2010.
When their son was old enough to start school, Doreen went back to teaching. She retired in 1990 after a total of 35 years in her profession as a teacher.
Doreen said, "I was teaching at the South Fort George elementary school when I retired and my teaching career came to an end. The parents and staff had a retirement party for me at the Moose Hall on Douglas Street. By the end of the month - that was it - my teaching career was complete.
"It was now time to turn to other interests such as walking with my life long friend Victoria Gutfriend (deceased) 40 to 50 blocks around town and stopping to visit with people along the way."
Doreen joined the Good Cheer Club, the Order of the Eastern Star, canvassed for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, rang the bell for the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign, participated in ballroom dancing and volunteered where help was needed.
Her all-time favourite activity was being a 15-year volunteer airport ambassador for the Tourist Bureau. She enjoyed meeting interesting people and providing friendly, helpful and personal assistance to visitors arriving at the Prince George Airport.
"My retirement years allowed more time for sewing or knitting until I started classes at the Artist's Co-op Workshop," said Doreen. "I have been a member for 12 years and there is no end in sight to the endless artistic possibilities in this dimension and I am still enjoying new variations. I always think back to a plaque that I have that says, 'age doesn't matter unless you are cheese', so I try to remember that and to stay active and involved.
"In looking back over the years, I am very thankful for the time we took to be a family and travel. We enjoyed many trips in our motorhome. A final thought reminds me of the times that we took the motor home to go on snowshoeing or cross-country skiing trips. There was always a warm cup of soup afterwards and each trip was especially rewarding in its very own way."
