Kenneth Bown Thomson (1890 - 1978)

Born 15 Apr 1890 in Brantford, Ontario

Ancestors

Husband of Camille Winnifred (Johnston) Thomson — married 1 Oct 1919 in Peace River, Alberta

Descendants

Died 26 Dec 1978 at age 88 in Summerland, British Columbia

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Biography

Kenneth was born 15 April 1890 in Brantford, Brant, Ontario, Canada. ^{[1] [2]} He worked for the Imperial Bank of Canada between 1910 and 1920 as a relief accountant and manager. In that job, he worked at Montreal; several points in Ontario; Cranbrook and Nelson in British Columbia; and Edmonton (1916), Calgary, Athabasca, New Sarepta and Bear Lake in Alberta. ^[3] He was assistant manager in Peace River in 1917, and became manager of the new bank at Bear Lake with Luther Blackberg as assistant in 1919. ^{[4] [5]}

K.B. and Winnie Johnston were married 01 October 1919 in Peace River, Alberta. ^[6] "Mr. & Mrs. K.B. Thomson arrived this week from Spirit River and will spend a couple of weeks at Bear Lake, where Mr. Thomson will relieve Mr. [Blackberg], who is visiting Edmonton." ^[7] K.B. could see no future for himself in the bank when the Bear Lake branch was closed in 1921, so he decided to partner his brother-in-law George McRae in the McRae Lumber Company.^[8] He joined the company in June 1921 and continued there until he retired. McRae Lumber had mills at "Mile 9" (9 miles west of McLennan) and Driftpile before moving to Faust about 1930. While at Driftpile, he had a crew of up to three men to help load boxcars with lumber. ^{[9] [10]} Driftpile had no school, so Winnie and the children returned to Peace River when it was time for them to start school. The separation was hard on the whole family. K.B. and Winnie did what they could to ease the strain. They bought a cottage on Peace River Beach where Winnie and the children lived in the summers. K.B. had a car, a Star, with crank starter and canvas roof. Every weekend, he drove to the cottage at Joussard when Winnie and the kids were there. In addition to the work he did for McRae Lumber, K.B. served as the postmaster at Driftpile between 11 May 1929 and 7 July 1932. ^[11] K.B. did the accounting and other office duties at Faust.

When he retired, K.B. and Winnie went to British Columbia for a gentler climate. They settled in Summerland in 1951, where they bought a double lot on what became Jubilee Road. ^[12] K.B. and Winnie enjoyed gardening and were active members of their parish. They welcome family and friends in the summer. K.B. died of cardiac failure in his room at Park Place, Summerland, a retirement home he had worked to develop for his community on 26 December 1978. ^[13] His ashes were buried in the Memorial Garden of St. Stephen's Church, Summerland. ^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ entered in the Bible given to M.C. Bown (his mother) by her father, Christmas, 1874
2. ↑ Ontario. Birth Registration.
3. ↑ 1916 Census of Canada, Alberta, Edmonton
4. ↑ Land of Hope and Dreams, Grimshaw and District Historical Society (Grimshaw, Alberta; [1980]), page 511.
5. ↑ Sir Alexander Mackenzie Historical Society, Peace River Remembers, p. 373
6. ↑ Peace River Record (Peace River, Alberta) Friday, October 3rd,1919, page 1, column 3.
7. ↑ Edmonton Bulletin, 4th November, 1919, page 4 column 2 (headed Social Side of City Life) from the Peace River Record
8. ↑ Mary H. Dixon (Grimshaw, Alberta) to Margaret Johnstone, letter, 20 Mar 1979; privately held; citing Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce archives
9. ↑ J.H. McRae, A Forest of Years (unpublished memoirs)
10. ↑ 1921 Census of Canada, Alberta, Edmonton West, Peace River (town).
11. ↑ Post Offices and Postmasters, National Archives of Canada database entry for Driftpile, Alberta.
12. ↑ British Columbia. Municipal District of Summerland tax roll ,1951, book 2, p. 76
13. ↑ British Columbia Registrations of Deaths
14. ↑ Burial Register of St. Stephen's Church (Anglican), Summerland