• G9: Isabel Arletta Shiels 1924-1998 & John Kaye

Isabel Arletta Shiels was born August 31, 1924 at Vancouver, BC. She was the first child of James and Min (Coe) Shiels. She was always known as Bubbles.

She married John Kaye on August 5, 1943 at Regina, Saskatchewan while John was in training with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Four months after they were married, John was posted overseas and flew in the 408 Goose Squadron Bomber Command until 1945. Isabel returned to live at Cranbrook where first born daughter, Judith Maureen was born August 10, 1944. On his return to Canada, John and Isabel lived in Cranbrook while John tried a number of vocations from railroading, driving freightliners to commercial pilot in his transition to civilian life. At the same time, he was becoming acquainted with his daughter, Judy.

Finally, in 1950 he won a competition for a position as a Customs and Excise Officer at the border port of Kingsgate, BC. During this period, three more daughters were added to the family. Bexie Elizabeth was born on February 20, 1955 at Cranbrook; Patricia Jean was born on August 16, 1959 at Creston and Shelley Anne was born March 9, 1961 at Cranbrook.

Isabel and John were active members of the community. As an example, they were instrumental in bringing electricity to the small town of Yahk, where their children went to school, by forming a Parent-Teacher Association to lend political clout to the project.

In July 1962, John successfully competed to be awarded the position of Collector of Custom and Excise at the inland Customs Office of Prince George, BC. Judy was interested in a young man in Cranbrook where she worked at a pharmacy and elected not to go with the family to Prince George. This was at a time when Prince George was a boom town of development with three pulp mills under construction. Most of the machinery and equipment for the mills and related sawmills were imported from all over the world.

Isabel and John enjoyed the bustling activity of such a large, growing city and acquired their first home. They were also able to visit Isabel’s mother, Min, and her brother William’s family at Quesnel, about 60 miles to the south.

John was often required to attend management training and meetings in Vancouver and conduct audits at southern offices on his way up the career ladder. It was on his return from such a mission in warm, sunny Vancouver that he landed in Prince George during a stormy winter blizzard at 45 below zero. Isabel and John began to think of warmer climes for their retirement years which were not that far away at this time. When the position for the Area-Manager of Customs Operations with head offices at Kingsgate in the beautiful, balmy East and West Kootenays came open for competition, there was no hesitation in filling out the application forms and submitting their resume for the  job.

In June 1976, John and Isabel returned to the Kootenays with daughters, Patricia and Shelley. They lived for nearly six months in a family unit of a Creston motel. While John commuted to his office at Kingsgate, and regularly visited the many border operations under his command, Isabel went house hunting. She eventually found and closed the deal on the house of their dreams at Creston, BC in the Valley of the Swans and the fruit orchards. At the same time, Isabel took on the care of John’s aging parents, David and Rita Kay who then lived at Cranbrook. An addition was made to the dream house to accommodate David and Rita so that Isabel didn’t have to commute between Creston and Cranbrook and so that they could be cared for in the family at Creston. From this point, Patricia and Shelley completed their schooling. Rita died May 1, 1980 and David died November 26, 1988. Both are buried in the Old Cemetery at Cranbrook.

Isabel and John retired on January 11,1986 and took up genealogy as a hobby. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Aug 3, 1993 and continued to live in their dream home at Creston, BC and enjoy the balmy winters and bountiful summers in “Lotusland”. Their favorite pastime was visiting with their grandchildren.

Bubbles died on March 2, 1998, in Creston, British Columbia, at the age of 73. John died on December 28, 1998, in Creston, British Columbia, at the age of 76.