Lorna (MacArthur) Dittmar was born and raised here is Prince George in 1943. She was one of three children; her parents were long time Prince George residents Neil and Ethel (Lyle) MacArthur.
In fact, her mother was born in the old railroad hospital on the Island Cache near Cottonwood Park; an area located near the confluence of the Fraser and the Nechako Rivers. Her uncle was
Dr. John MacArthur, one of the first doctors in Prince George.
Lorna has a huge history, enough to fill a book of her own; I will tell you in a nutshell a bit about this busy advocate for seniors and the mentally challenged.
Lorna went to school in Prince George and after graduation she continued her education at a career school in Vancouver.
She succeeded at taking business courses but when it was all said and done she decided she didn't like that career so she took bookkeeping courses and started a career in what was to become a very busy and fulfilling life.
She went to work for the Gulf of Georgia Towing Company as an assistant bookkeeper.
Lorna said, "I loved this job mainly because the sailors were of the same caliber as loggers. I came from a hard working logging family, so I was used to the ways of hard-working men. They were all surprised when they discovered that I could drive a truck and a D-6 Cat."
Lorna worked for the company for five years and then went to work in the same capacity for Saguenay Shipping. It was a typical rainy coastal day and Lorna was waiting for the bus to take her to work and of course the bus was late. When the bus finally arrived it was full; Lorna just called it a day and moved right back to Prince George.
When she arrived back in her hometown, she went to work for Thompson Construction and then later she worked for CN Rail as a bookkeeper.
Years passed by and Lorna was now a single parent; eight years later she met and married Wayne Dittmar.
Lorna did some catering on the side for dinner parties. She wasn't aware of it but the host deliberately set out to introduce Lorna to hockey player Wayne Dittmar and of course the rest is history.
Lorna said, "Wayne was a hit with me right from the start. We got married and we successfully blended our families and life became even more beautiful. We have been married for 32 years and between us both we have four children and nine grandchildren."
Wayne Dittmar was born in Oshawa, Ont. in 1943.
He worked for General Motors and was transferred to Prince George in 1977. Wayne liked his new location right from the start but felt he wanted a new career.
He took aptitude and interest tests at the College of New Caledonia and nursing skills were uncovered.
He took his nurses training and went to work at the hospital and later applied for a position at the jail. He retired in 2009 after a very successful 31 year nursing career.
He retired from playing hockey and took up curling, enjoys time on his ATV and loves to go fishing and hunting.
Lorna has always been a community minded citizen. She went to work at AiMHi in 1978 as an executive director.
For the next 15 years she developed a compassion and understanding of the diversified needs of people and the need for facilities here in Prince George.
It was part of her job at AiMHi to find housing in community living for clients as a result of the closing down of institutional living in the lower mainland.
She placed 25 clients in the first year of this project. She was responsible for purchasing seven houses, hiring and training the staff and then making sure all went smoothly in the client's new environment of community living.
Since the tender age of 13, Lorna has been an advocate for the mentally challenged.
She also started the Employment Action program for injured and disable workers and found the program to be challenging but very rewarding.
Lorna's other accomplishments are many. She was a director on the B.C. College of Social Workers and served on the Quality Assurance and Discipline Committee; as well as a member of the Patient Care Quality Review Board.
She served as the managing partner of First Stop, The Job Shop and served on the Community Living B.C. Advisory Board, Community Health Council, Central Interior Family Foundation, Healthy Community Committee, and the Association Advocating for Women and Children just to name a few.
All of these committees in my mind represent hours and hours of meetings and planning over many years.
Lorna and Wayne retired as the co-owners and managers of Hamilton House, an assisted living home for seniors in Prince George.
She currently chairs the Prince George Council of Seniors advocacy committee and is a co-chair of the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre Society (SOS).
Lorna worked for ten years as an adjunct professor in the Northern Medical Program - Doctor, Patient and Society Program (DPAS) and currently serves on the Patient Care Quality Review Board for the Northern Health Region
Over the years Lorna received the Top Service Award from the Prince George Brain Injured Group for advocacy work with people with head injuries, the Woman of Distinction Award Northern B.C. and the Canada 125 Medal for service to the community.
Lorna Dittmar is hardworking, reliable, compassionate, caring, friendly, humorous and full of energy and she makes a very good friend; once you meet this lady you are not likely to forget her.
Lorna good naturedly said, "We have taken time to travel and the grandchildren keep us both busy and we love it. I often tell my friends that I am getting all these community services groups in place so that they will be ready for me when I need them."
I asked Lorna for some parting words to end her story and she said, "Life in Prince George is good; going shopping at the grocery (store) is still a lovely outing for me. It gives me a chance to visit with people from all walks of life.
"People quite often say that they don't feel that they can change things but they certainly can. I tell them to just get involved and stick to it and just be kind to one another along the way."
