Retiree Stories

Ted Dillistone
Newcomer 1978, Brandon, Manitoba

Why did I decide to move to Campbell River to retire?

At the time we moved here from the Prairies, I had just turned 47, and expected to be working until age 65. We had three kids in Junior High and High School.

Why move?

During military service and 15 years as a Professional Civil Engineer for CNR, I had travelled and/or worked in every province west of Montreal. At the time we decided to move I had worked a further eight years in the City Engineering Department in my old home town, Brandon, Manitoba. Many of my school friends still lived there. Many activities were still going on there for me.

So why make the retirement move so early?

Here comes the sad part of the story. When I was a junior level official in CNR, I was expected to attend important CN functions, many of which were retirement parties.

Picture this: After being "on the road" for 40 years, "good old Joe," a locomotive engineman, would bring his engine to a stop in Winnipeg station at the end of his "last run." The Superintendent and many well-wishers would be waiting on the platform to shake his hand as he stepped down from the cab.The next night they would hold a big retirement party for Joe and his wife.

A day or so later "good old Joe" and his wife would be on a train heading west, after 40 years working in the brutal weather extremes of the Prairies, they could finally make their retirement dreams come true on Vancouver Island.

For a year or so, Joe and his wife kept in touch with old friends back home. Then one day a letter arrived from Joe's wife. Poor old Joe had passed away. "It wasn't sudden," she wrote, "he just sort of faded away." We didn't want that to happen to US!

In those days, year after year, our family had driven from Brandon to Victoria to visit the grandparents. While there, we explored Vancouver Island as far north as the sign on the Cape Scott Road which said "Four-wheel-drive vehicles only beyond this point." It was on our 1978 summer trip that we decided that we didn't want to "retire and GO to live on Vancouver Island." We wanted to "BE on Vancouver Island when we retired."

From Victoria up as far as Nanaimo and Parksville, the towns had seemed just a little too built-up and "commercial" for our liking. Port Hardy was a bit too remote. So on our '78 trip, we began looking closely at employment possibilities in the Qualicum Beach-Comox Valley-Campbell River area. I dropped in to see the various local Municipal Engineers to enquire about any vacancies.

Wonder of wonders! Campbell River was looking for someone, and I was hired. We moved to Campbell River in the fall of '78, bought a house, and except for five years in the Yukon, have lived here ever since. The friends we made, the musical and fraternal groups that I belonged to for years while I was working in Campbell River were still there to be enjoyed after retirement. I didn't have to uproot myself suddenly upon retirement, and begin to put down new roots the following week 1500 miles away. Even when we went off to Whitehorse for a spell, we kept the Campbell River house, because we knew we'd be coming back soon.

So here I am, happily retired, and living in a condo with a wonderful view which I have actually put into lyrics to the tune ."When It's Springtime in the Rockies"

WHEN IT'S SPRING IN CAMPBELL RIVER

"When it's spring in Campbell River, the trout begin to spawn.
The snow up on the mountains seems to blush to greet the dawn.
See the killer-whales start breeching, and the cruise ships gliding by!
It's the closest thing to heaven, and I'll live here till I die"