Last week my Seniors' Scene column was about 95 year old Jose Fernandes Ferreira who at the age of 38 emigrated from Portugal to Canada; as with many other immigrants back then, Jose left his family behind as he ventured off to Canada seeking a better life for his family.
Jose Sr. arrived in Giscome by rail and went to work for Eagle Lake Sawmills. In 1960 his wife Elvira and his then five children flew from Portugal to Toronto. From there they boarded a train that took them west; three days and three nights later his family finally arrived by rail in the middle of the night and in the middle of a hard winter. Eventually the Ferreira family grew from five children to eight children.
This week I would like to introduce you to Joe (Jose) Nelson Ferreira, the eldest of these eight children.
Young Joe was 16 years old when the family arrived in Giscome. It was a new adventure for sure. The family no longer had the luxury of running water but he quickly learned what it took to pack water and the many other skills needed to live in a home in the wilderness as compared to his home in Portugal.
Joe said: "It was a very different way of life from what we were used to but our family was together again and that was all that mattered. It was a challenging time for me personally because my English skills were not strong. I could read the language and I could write it but my pronunciation needed quite a bit of work.
"When I arrived in Giscome I spent one week in school, but all I really wanted to do was work so I left school to go to work at CN Rail, where at that time I was earning $1.43 an hour. I worked the Eastern Line to Hutton (which was just past Sinclair Mills) for about a year and then at the age of 18 I went to work for Eagle Lake Sawmills."
Joe learned quickly to adapt to his new life, however there was one major problem always on his mind. When he left Portugal with his family he also had to leave behind his girlfriend Manuela - the love of his life. His goal was to work hard and to bring Manuela here to Canada as his wife.
It was his only goal and he never strayed off that goal. Joe traveled back to Portugal, got married, waited three months for Manuela's passport and then brought his bride back to Canada in October of 1965. They will soon be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary along with their four children and four grandchildren.
Joe was determined to get ahead so he went back to school to continue the studies he had started before he went away to get married. He continued on with his schooling while working at Eagle Lake Sawmills and successfully graduated to become a lumber grader.
In 1971 he took over as the quality control supervisor at Eagle Lake Sawmills, which eventually became a part of Northwood.
In 1974 the Eagle Lake saw mill shut down so he transferred to Prince George Sawmill, another branch of Northwood, here in Prince George.
He worked at Prince George Sawmill and then at Rustad Sawmills for his last four years of his career until 2003 when he retired at the age of 60. Joe, who just recently turned 71, is currently semi retired and does contracted work inspecting lumber, in particular treated lumber.
When the last of their four children started school Manuela joined the workforce. She worked at the hospital for many years until she retired.
Now the couple travel as much as possible and in fact they recently returned from a long trip to Portugal.
Here is yet another success story of people who came to Canada for a better life and more opportunities for their family.
When the Ferreira family arrived, English was even less than their second language because their basic education did not take place in Canada.
Joe and Manuela not only survived it but like many other immigrants like themselves they stuck it out, they worked hard, they never gave up, they excelled and they went on to accomplish great things.
