Margaret (Smith) Keibel was born in Lancashire, England in 1930. It was there that she trained as a registered nurse; after graduation she worked for a few years until Margaret and a fellow nurse - also her close friend - decided it would be great fun to seek further adventure in Canada.
Margaret said, "The Canadian government was quite keen to get people to come to Canada and we felt that we were just what Canada needed. We landed in Hamilton, Ont. in 1958. The deal was that Canada would pay our fare; we would work here for a year and then pay back the fare.
"After we paid back the travel expenses we were free to go wherever we wanted to go so we headed to Vancouver. There were no jobs available to us at that point in time so we headed to Ocean Falls. I liked Ocean Falls but it was too isolated for my friend so we headed off to Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert was too rainy, so we caught the train to Prince George in 1960 and I have been here ever since."
Margaret worked at the local hospital and liked Prince George right from the start.
The head nurse at the hospital decided that they should all go to a dance on a particular weekend.
Margaret objected but got talked into going and it was at this very dance that she met Alfred Keibel.
Margaret and Alfred got married the following year and together they raised three daughters who gave them four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Alfred owned and operated a service station and later another business selling tires, batteries and other automotive accessories; he passed away in 1992.
Margaret worked for 35 years in a very rewarding career as a nurse until she retired in 1995; after she retired she went back to her profession and taught pre-natal classes for nearly 13 years.
Margaret learned to play the ukulele and her retirement immediately took on a new meaning. She is now the teacher of her own ukulele class and teaches a weekly class at the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre.
She sings in the Forever Young Choir at the centre and her ukulele group entertains at times for their birthday teas.
They also play for shut-in seniors at many of the local senior retirement homes and anywhere else that anyone might want them to entertain.
Margaret said, "My class is fun and my students keep me on my toes. I participate in aqua fit classes three times a week and I am really enjoying being a retired senior."
August birthdays that I know about: Nicole Bell, Rita Svatos, Diana Myers, Barb Claffey, Marilyn Goetjen, Carol Stewart, Helen Dery, Dawn Thesen, Judy Dix, Supi Peter, Faye Meierhofer, Jeannette Goossens, Don Grantham, Joyce Unrau, Gord Babcock, Doris Holzworth, Lorraine Knight, Heather Couch, Jan Thompson, Gary Drake, Ted Haugland, Betty Townsend, Dean Cole, Marlies Greulich, Eileen Hughes, Margaret Johnston, Elaine Lamb, Malcolm Lamb, Shafeed Rahman, Irene Stahl, Alan Idiens, Howard Ure, Joy Warner, Walt Wessner, Donna Primrose, Muriel Lank, Don Wasnik, Wilma Carty, Leila Davis, Millie Helin, Barbara Iwaskow, John Kuharchuk, Hilda Morris, Oreal Plamondon, Donald Jones, Phyllis Anderson, Jack Stock, James Loughery, Edward Normand, Raymond Jubb, Linda Horwath, Myrna Regiudel, Gordon Horning, Wolfgang Jechow, Chris Hoath, Edna Davis, Sandra Simola, Fred Buchi, Eva Buchi and Rose Gaal will be 93.
July birthdays that I missed: June Barlow (90 years) and Evie Padalec.
August anniversaries: 69 years for Fred and Eva Buchi, 63 years for Lloyd and Barbara Iwaskow, 61 years for Laurent and Rita LeBlanc, 55 years for Cliff and Sharon Dezell, 50 years for Vern and Connie Lawrence, 51 years for Colin and Judy Dix, 43 years for Paul and Diane Duperron, 35 years for John and Iris Frenkel and 22 years for Larry and Lucy Young.
July anniversaries that I missed: 60 years for Rudi and Dorothy Pesserl, 60 years for Wil and Elsie Wiens and 50 years for Dennis and Pat Johnson.
PGSS 50th school reunion reminder submitted by Neila Ollinger:
My fellow Prince George senior school students (all those who attended PGSS for any length of time during the years 1960-1965); you are invited to join us in celebrating our 50 year school reunion.
Send in your registration form and fee before Sept. 1, 2015; you must be registered beforehand to attend.
If you haven't attended one of these events previously, you must come to this one. Imagine: 50 years since high school.
Where have the years gone?
Our 2015 Reunion will take place at the Coast Inn of the North in downtown Prince George over two days.
An icebreaker social is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. This will be followed by a mixer lunch at noon on Saturday.We will be closing by 3:30 p.m. or so.
This leaves your Saturday evening free to make arrangements to meet up with old friends from PGSS and to enjoy the city of Prince George. Those coming from out of town will be amazed at how our city has changed. By the way, your spouses, friends, and relatives are welcome to attend, as are PGSS alumni from other years.
We look forward to seeing you there.
For more information and the registration form see our website: www.pgss2015reunion.com or phone 250-964-4775.
