Bonnie Meikle was born in 1937. She was raised on a farm in Manitoba, the eldest of six children and the only one in the family to leave Manitoba.
Over the next 60 years she lived, traveled and worked in various places but at the end of the day, there was no place like Prince George. She was widowed in 2004 and the call of her family brought her to Prince George in 2005.
Bonnie met and married Lyle Meikle in 1955. She was in nursing school and Lyle was a returning Korean soldier; they met on a blind date in Portage La Prairie, Man. and were married shortly after.
They arrived in Mackenzie in 1969 where her husband worked as the manager for the Mackenzie Co-op and later he became the manager at the Shoppers Grocery Store.
Bonnie was working at Scotiabank and when the opportunity came along she started her own business in the 1970s.
She opened a small grocery store that specialized in after-hour sales. The store included the Sears mail order desk and the Greyhound bus depot. She proudly named her all-in-one store Bee Jays and began working a 12 hour day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. until she sold the business in 1984.
She said "The 12 hour day was just the time that we were open to the public. Many hours of work were put in prior to those store hours. It was a lot of hard work but we did it.
"Lyle and I still took the time for our friends and family. In fact one day, after a long day at work for both of us we met some friends for an evening out at the Legion. They told us about this old trapper that had disappeared and the authorities announced that they had recently found his bones. The story was that he had been attacked by a bear and his property was now up for sale.
"The property was located in an isolated area 30 miles north and on the west side of Williston Lake. The man had lived in the bush for 18 years trapping in the area.
"We put in a bid on the property the very next morning and by the end of the day the property was destined to be ours.
"We sold the business and moved out to our new ten acre isolated paradise complete with our very own waterfall on the property. We had a beautiful big yard and a lovely cabin all thanks to the old trapper.
"We lived there for 18 years when Lyle got sick and was diagnosed with leukemia. We sold the place in 2001 and moved back to Kamsack, Sask."
Bonnie and Lyle had four children who in turn gave them seven grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, with one more on the way.
They were married for 49 years when sadly Lyle passed away in 2004. Bonnie was lost at first and then her daughter convinced her to move to Prince George to be closer to the family. She settled in Miworth in 2005 and lived there until she found the perfect place in the Hart area in 2006.
Bonnie discovered a new life when she was introduced to the Hart Pioneer Senior Centre. She is now 80 years old and volunteers at the centre nearly full time.
She volunteers for the Cancer Society during their daffodil campaign and the Legion during their poppy campaign. She volunteered at the hospital as a greeter and has given over 50 years of volunteer service to various hospital auxiliaries depending upon where she lived at the time.
She has been a member of the Red Hat Society group called the Vintage Supremes for nearly ten years.
Bonnie concluded by saying, "I am so thankful that I moved to Prince George when I did. I have met so many wonderful people and my life is full. I am so thankful for all the great people that I work with at the Hart Senior Centre. I love what they do and I am interested in all of it. Sadly I had to deal with the loss of my husband who was also my best friend. My life changed dramatically when he passed away but now I am happy and content."
