Retired Certified General Accountant Mons Aase and his wife Elsa, both of Norwegian descent, arrived in Prince George in 1959 and have lived here ever since. Here is their story in a nutshell.
Although Mons Aase and Elsa Lovaas had never met they had many things in common. They were both born in Norway in 1934 just a few kilometres apart and they were both 20 years old when they boarded a ship to Canada Via New York. In fact, in 1955 they both boarded the same ship and it wasn't long until they met up with one another and started to tell each other about their lives in Norway.
They discovered that Elsa was born in the city of Stavanger while Mons was born on a farm just a few kilometres away and later moved to Oslo 600 kilometres away.
At the age of 20, he decided to go to Canada to help his mother's uncle on his dairy farm in Richmond, B.C.
Elsa and another girl agreed to travel together and originally, they decided to apply for a work visa in the U.S. The process involved a one year wait and was complicated so instead they applied for a work visa in Canada which at the time only took one month and required a medical and proof of a destination with a place to live. The other girl had relatives in New Westminster who gave them an address and helped them find employment.
Mons had booked his trip to New York and bought a train ticket to New Westminster.
Elsa and her traveling partner had booked their trip to New York and a five-day bus trip to New Westminster.
After spending eight days on the ship and getting to know each other it was a simple decision for Mons to cash in his train ticket for the same five-day bus ticket with stops in Chicago, Butte, Montana, and Seattle and ending up in New Westminster.
When they arrived in New Westminster they reluctantly split up at the bus depot; Elsa gave Mons her new address before she and her friend took a taxi and went their way while Mons took a taxi to the uncle's farm in Richmond.
Elsa said, "I actually thought that I might never see him again. Before a week went by, there he was paying me a visit. One month later, Mons left the dairy farm and moved to New Westminster."
He found work with a bridge crew, did some cement work and he also worked in a slaughter house.
Jobs were hard to come by that year but he was able to land a job in a bank because of his banking experience in Norway. Mons had previously taken a three-year course at a business school in Norway which prepared him for the correspondence course he would take to earn his accounting certificate.
In Norway, students start to learn English in Grades 6 and 7 so fortunately he spoke very good English.
Elsa said, "During this time, I worked at a plywood plant and made $2.35 an hour - the same wage as the men because it was a union shop.
"Six months later I put a down payment on a car. By this time Mons and I were engaged so I put the car in his name and paid for it over time. We still laugh about that today. I told Mons that I figured if I couldn't trust him with the car then I couldn't trust him with my life. It was a good investment and we are still going strong since we met 63 years ago. We got married in 1956."
Elsa and Mons enjoyed meeting other people through the Sons of Norway meetings in New Westminster. Mons had long conversations with Bert Braeten, a visitor from Prince George who attended meetings while on business trips to Vancouver. He told Mons about the wonderful cold and snowy winters in Prince George as compared to all the rain at the coast. Mons was intrigued and in 1957 they took a one-week vacation and traveled to Prince George. They left the next day because they were told that there was no work in Prince George for an accountant.
They spent the rest of their vacation hunting in the Cariboo.
In 1959 a fellow that Mons knew told him that Art Bell of WM Tire in Prince George was looking for an accountant.
Mons caught the morning Greyhound bus and left for Prince George, was interviewed and hired and then took the night bus back to Vancouver to get ready for the move to Prince George. Mons, Elsa and their eight-month-old baby arrived one month later in November.
Mons said, "We were coming down the hill on the old road which was above where the prison is now located. It was minus 20, our baby was asleep in the back seat of the car in a laundry basket and we pulled over to take in the view of the beauty of the winter frost. We thought this was paradise on earth and it reminded us of our homes back in Norway. We looked at one another and said 'let's go down and conquer' and we did. We never looked back and we have been here ever since."
They checked into a motel on Queensway and later moved into a duplex owned by Mr. and Mrs. Fichtner on Ewert Street and proceeded to sub rent three rooms. This rental arrangement is what really helped the young family get a start in Prince George.
During this time, they built a cabin on Bobtail Lake. Two other Norwegian families liked this idea and also built their cabins near by. The cabin turned out to be a wonderful holiday place for family and friends both locally and from Norway.
Time went by and they made a contract with Erwin Homes to build them a new house. Once again, they sub rented three rooms in their basement which helped them pay their mortgage.
They purchased a 152 acre farm out at Buckhorn in 1970. They moved to the farm in 1977 when they finished building their house and continue to love their life in the country.
Mons worked for WM Tire for nine years and slowly (making monthly payments) he bought into the company as a shareholder. He eventually sold his shares and started Mons Aase APR Ltd. in 1968. Years went by and the company changed from Accredited Public Accountant to Certified General Accountant. He retired in 2017.
Elsa, who managed the office all those years, retired as well.
Mons said, "There were about 10,000 people in Prince George in 1959 when we moved here. The pulp mills arrived and brought more people to the city and that in turn provided more work and our company grew. Now we have this wonderful university and that will be great for our great grandchildren."
Mons and Elsa have always been active members of the Sons of Norway. Elsa attended her first Sons of Norway meeting the same evening that she arrived in Canada. She is currently holding the position of president and in fact Elsa started the ladies part of the Prince George Sons of Norway in 1961.
Mons has been active in the Yellowhead Rotary club for many years. He is a past president and was named the Paul Harris Fellow to receive the Service Above Self Award, the highest award an individual Rotarian can receive.
They had three children; Christine (Bill) Sullivan, Mons Jr. and Erik (Heather) who in turn gave them nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Elsa fondly said, "Every year on the anniversary of our meeting on the ship to Canada Mons gives me a bouquet of carnations. This year my bouquet consisted of 63 carnations. Mons is so romantic and always has been."
Mons explained, "Over the years my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews traveled to Canada many times to visit. With no exception they all loved it here.
"My mother came here about nine times and on her first visit she stayed for one year. Elsa's parents came about seven times and stayed five months on each of their first three visits. Later on, as they grew older it was just a six week stay.
"I left Norway to see the world. I used to love to read the wild west books and I learned that fishing and hunting was widely available in Canada. That was my dream when I left Norway. All of that left my head when I met Elsa on that ship in 1955. That was the day that changed my life the most. I was so happy when Elsa told me that it changed her life as well. I celebrate that day every year by giving Elsa carnations. Every year I add one more carnation for every year since the day I met her and Elsa really seems to like that idea.
"My parents always said, in their language, 'like barn leker best' which translated means
that children that came from the same background usually play well together and I believe it."
