George Greenlees was born in 1929 in Thornhill, Alta. His parents sold the farm and everything that went with it, loaded up their eight children and, on the advice of family members, they headed to Vancouver with the promise of mild winters and plenty of work opportunities.
This all indeed came to pass and as time went by George ended up in Port Alberni working in the field of carpentry. He lived in a boarding house owned by Jean Scollon.
As it turns out he fell in love - at first sight - with the landlord's 16-year-old daughter Freda Scollon. They got married when Freda was 17 and two years later the first of four children arrived.
Freda (Scollon) Greenlees, one of three children, was born in 1932 in Meadow Lake, Sask. Freda said, "After being given a cow, two horses and 10 chickens my mother started farming and began raising her three children on her own. This part of my childhood life is a long story.
"We had a hard life and we didn't even know it; all I know is that my mother loved all three of us and made sure we were happy. She always reminded us that we were the lucky Scollons and we had no reason to not believe her."
Freda eventually ended up in Port Alberni and that is where she met and then married George Greenlees. Her life changed immediately and then changed once again when the couple moved to Prince George in 1949.
Before arriving in Prince George they found work in Quesnel.
George said, "My mom and my sister lived in Quesnel. I found work as a carpenter on a high school construction project; right after that job ended we moved to Prince George and we have been here ever since.
George and Walter and Myna Voell started Formrite Contracting, a form rental business and they all worked together and remained great friends and business partners for the next 14 years.
Time went by and George worked as a carpenter for Central Homes for 13 years and then started Greenlees Construction. His son eventually took over the business; George retired in 1995.
They lived on Blackwater Road off of Highway 16 West for over 40 years. Now they live on Aljean Road, off of Josephine Road which is also off of Highway 16 West. George spends many hours in his carpenter shop making canes, walking sticks and burl bowel's which he sells out of his shop.
George and Freda were both 40 year members of the Independent Order of Foresters, historically a fraternal group that actively helps out with needs and causes in their communities. They had many friends in the group and they all had fun together. They traveled on bus trips all over the place and did many worthwhile and helpful community projects.
Freda, who is now 83, worked at the Hudson's Bay Company both in retail and in modeling the Bay clothing lines for many years while also keeping the books for the family business.
She loved being a part of the drama club at the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre. Freda and Rose Doris were famous as far back as 1970 for their one act play called The Bag Lady.
Freda said, "We had so much fun with that skit. Millie Conklin is the bag lady now and she is carrying on with it. If you have ever seen the skit you will know what I mean."
With a great sense of humour Freda explained, "I went so far as dressing up as a bag lady for my grandson's wedding. They wouldn't even let me in the door.
"They were kind to me but they were not going to let me in until my grandson came to my rescue and introduced me as his grandmother. It was so much fun seeing their reactions to this supposed bag lady wanting to come in to their event that I started doing the skit every chance that I got. My family will testify to that!
"I did the skit at my granddaughter's graduation and then my daughter Judy and I took the show with us on a trip to the Yukon. We had loads of fun with it; we never got a good reception until they realized that it was a joke. Once we changed our clothes and got rid of our props the laughter always started."
Together George and Freda raised four children: Roy (Joan) and five years later to the day along came Susan (Mervin) Roberts, both live in Prince George, Glen (Irene) lives at Fraser Lake and last but not least Judy (Alex) Pearson who lives in Vanderhoof. They have 12 grandchildren.
George said, "Later this month we will celebrate 66 years of marriage. People ask me the secret of our long marriage and I just tell them it was never worth the time switching. It is easy to walk away when times get tough but neither one of us did that; we just stuck to it. My mother lived with us for many years and during that time Freda raised the kids and I worked long hours and brought in paychecks. We have a wonderful family and Freda and I are proud of them all. We all worked hard together, we did almost everything together and the next thing you know you're old!"
George laughed and said, "Even being old is not that bad. Actually it is good and I am thankful for every day. I am now 86 and my get up and go has got up and gone."
