Family
by Harold "Bud" Gaunt

My Parents.

On September, 1944, my mother died of sugar diabetes. She was only 47 and I was only eleven. I didn't know my mother too well, because I was too young to remember her. My Dad said that she was a very strong willed woman. After her death my father brought me up until 1984, when he died of cancer. He was very good to me and I miss him very much. Every so often when I feel depressed I go to the cemetery and talk to him. Then when I get back home I feel better.

Brother.

My brother joined the navy as a leading torpedo man in 1941. He was in many battles but never wounded. After the war he joined B C Hydro as a bus driver. He worked for them for a year, and then he went on the DEW Line for a year. He also laid floor tiles until he got back on Hydro in the punching department in Vancouver. Then he was moved to disposal where he will be until the end of the month when he retires.

My Life.

When I was born in 1933, my mother, father, sister and brother were very happy. I was a very noisy baby. My mother said she would like to throw me away. I lived with my parents for eleven years until my mother died of sugar disease in 1944. My father brought me up for the rest of my life until he died in 1984. Now I live alone.

Dad.

My dad came to Canada in 1925. He landed in Vancouver with nineteen dollars. He came across the country on a freight train. When he got here, he knew no one. He had to count every penny he spent. Finally he got a job with Jack Eckersley as a cement finisher. He worked for him for sixteen years. Then he got a job at MacMillan Bloedel in the boiler room. He worked there from 1941 until 1965 when he had a heart attack and had to quit. He never made it to 25 years. If he had, they would have given him a gold watch.

Sister.

My sister is a very energetic woman. When we first moved here, she worked for Woodwards in the toy department. That was in 1938. Then she worked for C P A during the war as a riveter. After the war she went back to Woodwards part time in the grocery department. Then she became head of special programs until she retired.