Here is a summary of the seniors profiles I did this year:
Bob (Gordon) and Patty Horningwill celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in December. He met Patty Fleming at a dance in Nukko Lake in 1960 – they got married and the rest is history. I asked them the secret to their 60-year marriage and they simply explained, “No one wants either one of us so we just have to stay together and that is okay by both of us.”
Findlay Young(deceased October 2020) was born in 1928 in Glasgow, Scotland where he practically grew up on a golf course. He married Nancy Adams in 1955 and they immigrated to Canada in 1957. Sadly, Nancy passed away in 2017. Findlay worked for an insurance brokerage company handling sawmill and professional liabilities. He retired at the age of 65. Over the past six decades, Findlay was involved in the sport of golf not only as a player but as a coach and administrator. He was inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Wayne Dobsonretired after a successful 36-year career with the Jim Pattison Broadcasting Group. He attended Humber College in Toronto and studied for a career in radio broadcasting and management. He was invited to attend the B.C. Association of Broadcasters convention where he happened to meet Gordon Leighton, the general manager of CKPG radio 550 and CKPG TV in Prince George. He accepted a job offer and the rest is history. In 2014, he applied and successfully became a marriage commissioner. Since then, he has married over 250 couples.
Doreen (Stone) McFarlane,was born in 1933. She took her nurses training at the Royal Alexander Hospital in Edmonton, worked as a general duty nurse in Alberta, accepted a job offer in Alert Bay and went on to a successful operating room nursing career that brought her to the Prince George Regional Hospital. She had many achievements and along the way she became the first oncology nurse in Prince George. She retired at the age of 63.
Emery and Geraldine (Ditto) Cawseywere both born in Alberta. After high school, Emery worked for the Beneficial Finance Corporation, married his high school sweetheart Gerry in 1963 and moved to Prince George to open a new office for his company. Gerry worked as a nurse in the surgery unit until the children started to arrive. When they were in school, she went back to work and retired in 2003 after a rewarding career as an enterostomal therapy nurse at the ostomy and wound clinic. Emery worked for Beneficial for 39 years and retired in 1999.
***
This is my ninth and final annual year-end in review.
It is with deep emotion that after writing this column for over eight years, I am announcing my retirement, effective today.
When I reflect back over these past years, many great columns and even greater people come to mind. Thank you for trusting me with your stories.
I consider myself so very fortunate to have had this experience and this opportunity to work with hundreds of seniors and the wonderful staff at the Citizen and in particular Neil Godbout.
Neil, this has been a positive working relationship right from the start and I thank you once again for this opportunity. Thank you for all your help and support over these past many years. Thank you for providing this platform for our Prince George seniors. You are among the best.
I am going to miss all of this, however I am looking forward to retirement and no weekly deadlines.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
