Second World War Veteran and former prisoner of war Frank Porter was born in 1925 in Waterloo, Quebec.
He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army, and specifically the Queens Own Riffle Battalion, in 1943 at the age of 18. He was sent overseas in May of 1944 and by October that same year Frank was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war; he was freed shortly after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the spring of 1945. During his captivity Frank worked in the salt mines in Germany.
Unfortunately Frank contacted tuberculosis (TB), a serious disease caused by breathing in a bacterium called mycobacterium. He was a very sick man and he was sent back to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec where he remained in hospital for the next two years before being released from the army and then sent back to his hometown of Waterloo, Quebec. The illness affected Frank for the rest of his life.
He married Melba Tracey and together they had five children. He eventually moved to Prince George in 1983 and sadly his wife of 28 years passed away in 1986.
Evelyn (Palmer) Porter was born in 1932 in Kingston, Ontario. She lost her father at the age of six and 14 months later her mother also passed away. Evelyn and her brother were taken in and raised by their grandparents. Her grandmother passed away when Evelyn was 15 and then an aunt and an uncle took in Evelyn, her brother and her grandfather.
Evelyn got married in 1950 and had eight children.
Evelyn said, "I was a nave city girl and I was put on a farm and told I would now be using a wood stove to heat the home and cook the meals. Things did not go well at first because I did not know how to start a fire in this new type of stove. Eventually I learned and after 20 years and eight children we separated."
Evelyn ended up in Prince George in 1987 to help her daughter who was about to have a baby.
She was working as the cook at the Prince George and District Senior Centre on Brunswick Street when she met Frank Porter at a dance at the centre. They were married in 1990 and the rest is history.
The newlyweds volunteered at the centre as needed with Frank serving on the board as one of their directors. It was Frank and Evelyn that started the still popular monthly Sunday dinner at the senior centre over 15 years ago. Evelyn said, "I did the cooking and Frank did the set up. It has always been a great event and the monthly dinners are still being served."
Frank is now 91 and Evelyn is 84 and they both have health issues that have really slowed them down. Evelyn said, "We just lead a quiet life but we both like it that way."
Evelyn raised her eight children and has done volunteer work most of her life. She excels at sewing stuffed animals, hooking rugs, crocheting, quilting and knitting items of all shapes and sizes all of which are usually donated to a senior centre to help in their fund raising events.
Over the years Frank and Evelyn have been active members in three of the five senior centres here in Prince George. She is the first to say that senior centres are a wonderful place to meet new people.
April Anniversaries: 63 years for Joe and Sophie Chartrand, 58 years for August and Loretta Thibault, 55 years for Mike and Evie Padalec, 53 years for Greg and Alice Friend, 53 years for John and Anne Hiebert, 52 years for Armand and Doreen Denicola, 51 years for Hans and Roberta Johansen, 51 years for Cyril and Irene Fortin, 50 years for Derek and Ester Swanson and 15 years for Leonard and Mary Duperron.
April birthdays that I know about: Bruna Valentinis Nadalin, Donna Bosnich, Patrick Stapleton, Fern Roberts, Judith Elmquist, Lois Boone, Ken Stahl, Lillie (Khin Sein) Sein, Laurie Rustad, Barb Endean, Frank Porter, Spence Baker, Patsy Patterson, Joan Millns, Gertrude Lansing, Diane Duperron, John Frenkel, Lothar Hirt, Charlie Burkitt, Joyce Burkitt, Shirley Green, Terry Carter, Marion Watt, Shirley Gratton, Hilliard Clare, Allen Soltis, Angie Hoksbergen, Lloyd Clay, Sharon Hurd, George Kos, Alexis Maikapar, Stan Cook, Mary Ellen Duperron, Joan Frechette, Joyce Grantham, Avril Barr, Sandy Moseley, Robin Earle, Alice Friend, Sharon Talkington, Gert Lefebvre, Beverley Horne, Kathy Balcom, Sharon Ford, Dorothy Wood, Anne Crawford, Margaret Cosh, Harold Hewlett, George Kivi, Rosemary Burns, Andres Norum, Ginny Parsons, Art Carter, Leona Nyberg, Roderick Herd, Grace Spears, Maxine Valpy, Edwina (Babs) Watt, Darlene Forbes, Bill Chappel, Ken Yarocki, Lynn Boomer and David Dowe.
