Longtime Prince George residents Don and Marion Vaale have been a part of the history of this city for over 59 years.
Don was born in Maple Creek, Sask. in 1933. His father worked for the wheat pool so the family moved around quite often.
Don proudly explained, "I graduated from high school in Eston, Sask. in 1950. There was a total of two boys and 12 girls in my graduation class. I was lucky to have picked the best one of those girls and she is still with me today after 62 years of marriage."
Don and Marion Holmes dated throughout high school. Following graduation Marion attended nursing school at the University of Manitoba while Don worked full time as a grocery clerk in a co-op store earning $85 a month. He soon realized that he needed a better paying job.
He went to see the agent at the Canadian National RailWAY (CNR) and asked how he could get hired on as a telegraph operator. It was explained to Don that there were no more apprenticeship programs so he was basically out of luck. Don wasn't about to take no for an answer so he entered into an agreement to work one year with no wages in return for a promise from the agent to teach him the telegraph code.
Don lived off of his savings while he worked and one year later he was sent to Hague, Sask. for a special two-year program that was sponsored by CNR. Within six months he passed all the exams and was qualified for the job as a telegraph operator.
He signed a contract in 1952 agreeing to work for the company for two years and was sent to B.C. where he worked in Tête Jaune Cache, Mount Robson, Endako, Birch Island (north of Kamloops), Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Smithers and finally Prince George. During those years he fell in love with the natural beauty of British Columbia and decided to make Prince George his home.
He continued to stay in touch with Marion by mail. She graduated from nursing school in 1955 and went to work at the Winnipeg General Hospital.
"I rekindled my relationship with Marion in 1955, proposed in January of 1956 and we were married in September that same year," recalled Don. "Marion worked as a nurse until the children started to arrive and then she became a stay at home mom. We had three children; Gary (Sandy), Susan (Allan) MacDonald and Cathy (Craig) Gardner. They in turn have blessed us with eight wonderful grandchildren and one great grandchild."
Don and Marion arrived in Prince George in 1959 where Don worked for CNR as a telegraph operator. In 1963, Don and the railroad company agreed to disagree about work schedules. He took his written scheduling complaint to both the union and the company. In the meantime, he shared the document with a fellow telegraph operator in Winnipeg, who in turn - unbeknownst to Don - sent it across the country over the teletype system.
That same day the boss called Don to his office and asked him what he had been doing the night before. As a result of his actions he was suspended for 120 days. This suspension resulted in changing the trajectory of Don's career.
"I had a huge mortgage of $89 a month to pay so I was anxious to find employment. Two days later, I was offered a job at Prince George Motors. I sold cars for the Ford Motor Company for one year and soon after I was offered a job selling life insurance for Great West Life. I had a good boss and it was a great job. I enjoyed excellent advancement opportunities - which culminated in becoming a branch manager in Edmonton," said Don.
"In 197,3 I had to make the decision to leave the insurance business and apply myself to land development - a passion which began back in the early 60s."
Back in 1963, Don entered into a construction partnership with Kjell Martinson (who also worked for the railroad). Their first project was a six-suite apartment house on Central Street.
In 1965, he bought three lots on Central Street with the goal to build a 20-suite apartment next to where the Sandman Hotel is today. They needed financing however none of the major banks were willing to grant a young developer a loan so Don went to see Ben Ginter and successfully secured a six-month loan for $100,000.
They built the apartment on Central Street and paid back the loan. Don owned the Marval Apartment building for the next 50 years and then sold it in 2015.
Ironically and years later they negotiated with Ben Ginter to purchase his personal home which was located just above what is now Ginter's Field. The house deal did not go through and later they purchased Ginter's First Avenue parcel of land and the office where Don had negotiated his first loan.
In 1965, Don began motel construction in the north. By this time Herb Fichtner had joined the company. They built the Spruceland Inn and Econoline Motel (first phase of Esther's Inn) in Prince George, the Pine Cone Motor Inn in Chetwynd and the Aspen Motor Inn in Smithers. They also built warehouses around the city.
In 1974, Don turned to land investment opportunities in the states and bought a ranch in Santa Rosa, California which he eventually sold to Charles Schultz, best known as the Charlie Brown cartoonist. Next, he bought land in Arizona; one of the partners in the transaction being Roy Rogers, the American singer and actor in many popular western movies. They invested in land in Sun City, Arizona and later sold it to the Chrysler Corporation.
In the early 1980s, his company invested in Texas oil producing sites and oil settling ponds and started a drilling company in Oklahoma City.
They invested in Cascade Oil in Eldorado, Kansas and got caught up in a boom and bust cycle. Oil prices were at $40 a barrel and suddenly the price dropped to $10 a barrel.
Don said, "Obviously this had catastrophic results. These major setbacks in the United States caused significant impact on our Canadian investments as interest rates experienced a dramatic increase. Despite strong pressure from the banks we managed to work our way through the recession.
"In the late 90s we purchased the Fred Walls Dealership and the surrounding property. After extensive discussions with the Ford Motor Company, we were sure that we would secure the Ford dealership in Prince George. Unfortunately, Ford Motors decided to have only one Ford dealership in town. We were now saddled with this huge investment and no prospective tenants."
Brookwood Plaza was formed and the existing shopping plaza was developed to replace the Fred Walls sealership and the Startime Drive-in site. The Brookwood shopping plaza tenants consist today of Winners, Best Buy, JYSK, Harley Davidson and Boston Pizza.
Throughout the years the previous partners had all been bought out. Don and Marion are now enjoying their retirement.
Marion said, "Prince George has been very good to us over the years. We are involved with our church and the people in our community. In earlier years I enjoyed my volunteer work with the hospital auxiliary. I continue to value the time I get to spend with our children and their three families."
Don ended by saying, "I am the luckiest man in the world. We arrived in Prince George at the right time. We worked through many difficult times and it paid off. Our success would not have been possible without many great partners, lawyers, accountants and loyal employees.
"My family now runs Brookwood Properties and they are doing a great job. Over the years I had to take some calculated risks - and many times I had to pay the price for that. One risk that definitely paid off was choosing that girl from my graduation class. There were 12 girls in my class and I chose the best one of them all. We have been blessed with a wonderful family. Prince George has been a great place to raise a family and build a company. We have been blessed by many longtime friendships which we still maintain today."
