Long career with gov’t took McIntyre all over B.C.

Retired federal government employee Rae McIntyre was born in Trail in 1935. The eldest of five children, he grew up and attended school in nearby Rossland. His first job out of high school was with Canadian Pacific Rail at Trail and from there he landed a summer job with the Government of Canada's Water Resources Branch engineering crew working at Mica Creek.

Mica Creek, located on the Columbia River and upriver from Revelstoke was one of two locations being examined as a possible location for a hydroelectric project. The nature of the work entailed placing drilling equipment on a raft to drill test holes in the river bed to find suitable foundation support for a hydroelectric dam. It was Rae's job as a clerk to clean up and copy the drill test results and related field office duties for the engineer in charge of the project. When the onset of winter ended the project at Mica Creek, Rae returned to his home in Rossland.

Having obtained federal government work experience, Rae applied for a position with the Federal Indian Affairs Branch. He was hired as a clerk and assigned to the Vanderhoof Stuart Lake Indian Agency in February 1956 where he began his lifetime career of over 34 years of work with the federal government.

During subsequent years, he was transferred to the Nicola Indian Agency in Merritt and promoted to assistant superintendent followed by another promotion to agency superintendent at Burns Lake. Further promotions and transfers to other First Nations Programs continued until he retired in 1990.

Rae was 14 years old when he met Elaine Oakley who was 13 years old at the time. Elaine lived in Fernie which was about 335 km from Rossland where Rae lived. He happened to meet her again three years later. Another four years passed and after a courtship mainly by mail they were married in 1957. The newlyweds settled in Vanderhoof and started their family with the birth of sons Ken in 1960 and Gary in 1962.

Over the years Elaine worked as a stenographer for the provincial government in Vanderhoof, a clerk for the City of Merritt and an auto plan clerk for Porter & Howat Insurance which is now known as Porter & McMillan Insurance.

Sadly, Elaine passed away in November 2014. Rae and Elaine celebrated 57 years of a happy marriage and her passing has been a severe loss to both Rae and his family. Their son Ken resides in Orland Park, Illinois and son Gary lives in Nanaimo. Rae has three grandchildren.

Rae is an active volunteer with the Prince George Community Foundation and has served on the board of the Prince George Branch of the National Association of Federal Retirees for many years.

There was a time when beekeeping kept Rae busy on an almost daily basis. He said, "I kept bees for over 30 years and it was a great hobby. I would say that on an average I was able to harvest approximately 65 pounds of honey per hive each year".

Rae used to enjoy hunting moose, deer and grouse and fishing in local lakes. Now he travels to visit family and friends and enjoys golf, his volunteer activities, some fishing and maintaining his home.