Mary (MacDonnell) Jarbek was born into a family of 13 in Cape Breton, N.S. in 1949. She moved to Chilliwack where she eventually met and married Andy (Bob) Jarbek who was born and raised in Chilliwack. In 1974, the young couple moved to Nova Scotia.
Representatives from the pulp mills in Prince George flew to Nova Scotia and were interviewing people qualified to work in their pulp mills. Andy was a qualified pipe fitter, he had family in the city and he needed work so they moved to Prince George in 1976 with the hope of finding work and to start a new life. Andy was hired at P.G. Pulp the same day that he arrived in Prince George.
Mary said, "We were told that Prince George was a vibrant and growing city with great opportunities. We came here with hope and excitement and we were not disappointed.
"The second day that we were here I went down town to check out our new city. I happened to walk into the Town Talk Uniform Store (next to Northern Hardware) and found a lady sitting at the counter crying.
"To make a long story short, she was the owner of the store, lived in Kamloops and had come to Prince George to attend the funeral of her store manager who was also a close friend. It had been a sudden death so by the time she made the trip to Prince George she wasn't able to arrange for someone to watch over the store while she attended the funeral.
"I felt so sorry for her that I volunteered to look after the store while she attended the funeral. She could not believe what she was hearing and she took me up on my offer. She told me what she figured I needed to know, explained that it was her busiest day of the week, handed me the keys to the store and she left for the funeral.
"I was busy selling nurse and doctor uniforms and lab coats and when she came back she was so pleased that she hired me as the new store manager."
Mary managed the Town Talk Uniform Store for the next seven years until it was sold. From there she worked in a variety of very interesting jobs; she worked in the Land Title Office from 1981 to 1988, she was the fundraiser and volunteer coordinator for the Child Development Centre/Cerebral Palsy Association from 1989 to 1991 and in 1993 she worked as an executive and constituency assistant for the Minister of Government Services.
She wanted a change so she and Andy purchased a landmark restaurant in 1994 named the McCloud 9 Eatery. It was a family restaurant that also provided a catering service, seated 125 in the restaurant, 125 in the banquet and meeting area and employed a staff of 45 people.
Mary said, "We operated the restaurant for 10 years and hosted the New Caledonia Rotary Club for most of those years. I was a founding member of the club and served as president from 2003-2004 and received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Rotary International.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful customers who supported us year after year. Thank you to the employees - you were all long-term employees and you were always there when we needed you. Thank you to the regulars because you certainly made it a family restaurant. I hope you miss me because I certainly miss all of you."
In 2004, Mary was going to retire but she was offered a job as the resource development director for the Child Development Centre. Her focus was a $1.5 million major building expansion project and to raise funds for the CDC. She forgot about retiring and took the job because of the challenge. Mary also worked with Employment Action, assisting people with disabilities to find valuable work for real pay, and helping senior's over 65 to find suitable and rewarding work.
During the past 30 years, Mary volunteered for many non- profit associations serving as director, chair, coordinator and volunteer of numerous organizations and special events. She assisted with the Today's Women Show, Chamber of Commerce 80th Anniversary Gala, Annual Dutch Auction, Kris Kringle Luncheon, Prince George Community Foundation Citizen of the Year Gala from 1999-2005 and also chaired their Annual Golf Tournament from 1999-2003.
She was a director on the Initiatives Prince George committee from 2003-2005 and a board member of the College of New Caledonia. She was appointed by the City of Prince George to serve as a director for Tourism Prince George in 2014 and currently sits on the board as the governance chair.
Mary served on the Prince George branch of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association hosting many events such as the Phantom Dinner and the Taste of PG. She was honored as a Life Member of the Provincial British Columbia Food & Restaurant Association and received the Restauranteur of the Year Award.
Mary said, "The most interesting project I ever worked on was the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform which was the first of its kind in the world. Our job was to examine the province's electoral system. The assembly had 160 members with two being chosen from each of British Columbia's electoral districts. The members of the assembly were selected by draw from a list of previously submitted names. I was invited to take part in this historical event, and to my delight my name was chosen. We spent nearly all of 2004 holding meetings to prepare a final report on whether British Columbia should propose replacing the province's existing First Past the Post (FPTP) system; and if so, to recommend a system that the people of B.C. might consider.
"On October 24, 2004 the Citizens' Assembly chose the single transferable vote (STV); the recommendation was put to the electorate-at-large in a referendum held along with the 2005 provincial election. The final vote received 58 per cent, just short of the required 60 per cent needed to pass the referendum."
Mary said, "I lobbied the assembly and was successful in holding the Organized Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform Conference here in Prince George in 2005. The event brought nearly all of the 160 assembly members to Prince George for the very first time. It was a great event and I was proud to host it for our great city.'
Mary concluded by saying, "When we came to Prince George in 1976 we arrived in an old 1949 panel truck that Andy restored. It wasn't capable of going any faster than 55 miles per hour but we drove it all the way and we got here in one piece, it was an eventful trip.
'We both found jobs and we worked hard, raising two children; Trevor who lives in Prince George and Melissa who lives in Chilliwack and we have four grandchildren.
"Prince George has been a fabulous place to live, work and to raise a family. We are thankful for our family, our friends and the community. Our motto has always been 'Give something back' and in our minds we did just that."
