Let’s start with your great grandparents John and Jane. Great Grandpa was born in England and Grandma was born in Scotland.
Great Grandpa was an English Bobby (policeman in London) before and just after WWII. During the war he was a Navy Stoker (engineer), at one
point during the war his warship was torpedoed and he spent time in a life raft. Our family knew little or nothing of his war time as he
very seldom, if all talked about it. Great Grandma was working in a wirework factory, building radios, where she lost an eye when a wire spool
went out of control, something I didn’t know about until I was around your age. I would always think she was watching me in her sleep, LOL.
In 1955 Great Grandpa joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Military policeman and they immigrated to Canada, with my 3 brothers who were
all born in England. The first base they lived in was Mont Apica Quebec, a NORAD radar station, where I was born. From there they moved to
another radar station in the east before moving to Moose Jaw SK and then Saskatoon where he retired from the military. We moved to a small
town called Luseland SK, where he was the “town cop”. We then moved to Saskatoon SK where he started working at Simpson Sears, eventually becoming
the Head of Security for Western Canada. After retirement he and Great Grandma moved around SK and AB to be closer the family. He passed away
Nov 2018 at 92 years, grandma passed away Jan 2021 at 94 years.
Now on to me, I don’t have many memories of the first 6-7 years, my first recollections were of Saskatoon, where I attended kindergarten and
recall Great Grampa had me sweeping up aircraft hangars on the weekends. Strange how that memory stays with me. I spent grade 1-4 in Luseland SK
then we moved to Saskatoon. We had a stock car that we raced on weekends, so I spent a lot of my teens working on cars, motors etc. It was this love
of cars that caused me to skip school to work on them, eventually I quit school in grade 10. (Don’t quit school, I had 15 jobs in 2 years before
joining the military, it was extremely hard). At 13 years I joined Sea Cadets and stayed with that until I joined the Canadian Military in 1977.
As a cadet I went to Comox on course every year until becoming an OJT, training the younger cadets.
When I joined the military my main trade job) was as Air Weapons Technician, loading aircraft with bombs and bullets as well as overhaul and repair
of electronic equipment. I was also fully qualified as an EOD operator (Explosive Ordinance & Disposal). During my trades training I took a
Radio/TV course at Moose Jaw Technical Institute and have loved working within that field around the house and at my present job. During my military career
I was posted to Greenwood NS, Comox BC, Baden Germany (was there the same time as your dad was) and finally Cold Lake AB. I worked on the CP107 Argus
and CP140 Aurora in Greenwood, I worked on CP121 Argus in Comox and accumulated 300+ hours in the back seat of a CT133 as a tow target operator,
in Germany I worked on the CF18 as well as being a Weapons Tactical Evaluator for NATO, travelling to NATO countries and carrying out inspections
on their bases and operations. It was in Germany that you step Uncle and Aunt were born. When they closed the base in Germany I was moved to Cold Lake,
so for 8 years I oversaw operation in the M61A1 Gun shop where they completely disassemble, cleaned and rebuilt the gun system in the CF18 aircraft,
also spent a good portion of that time as a Weapon Tech Load Crew Chief Trainer, where I trained guys/gals to load the weapons on the CF18.
I retired in 2000 and moved the family to Courtenay (city attached to Comox). I went to North Island College and took Small Business and Computer Sciences.
After graduation I took a job as the Operations Director for a company called Island Ink-jet, a kiosk type business in malls that would fill a printer ink cartridge.
Because of my background, in training, I wrote all the training manuals and cartridge refill instructions for the company as well as oversaw the design,
building, shipping and setup of kiosks in malls all over North America. We were very successful and opened 578 kiosks in Canada, US, Mexico and
Porta Rico in under 5 years. Like a lot of quick success people, the Owner and CEO took to drugs and ran the business into the ground in less than 6 months.
It was then that both Grandma and I took jobs with NorthWest Company as Store and Grocery/General merchandise Managers. We flew into First Nation Communities
all over AB, SK, MB and Northern Ontario and ran their grocery stores for them. We took our training in Pickle Lake ON, then moved to Southend, SK to run
a store there. During that time, I was also carrying out Relief and employee training at various stores (I would take over a store to either allow the store manager
the time to have a holiday or to re-train the staff to better the store and of course profits). I spent many a night/day in 40-50F below weather. It was a
good time but after a while you get tired of all the flying into Northern communities and being away from home.
I retired from that job and started working with a friend at his business, repairing home appliances. Both Grandma and I have been there for 5-6 years,
but time may come soon for me to retire from that as well. Getting old you know and doing most of your work from your knees wears on you after a while.
So, there you go, Dejian, a bit about me. Here are a few of my accomplishments:
• Cadet
o Became Corps Chief Petty Officer and then Sub-lieutenant. (Note: I met your dad’s mother at sea cadets) I won numerous Rifle competitions against other cadets from all across Canada.
o Participated in sailing regattas and sports competitions yearly
• Military
o Won the Skill at Arms trophy, achieved the high score against other recruits in shooting rifle and sub machine gun.
o One of the first Technicians in Canada to be qualified to work on the CP140 Aurora
o Received 3 awards for Flight Safety submissions. Suggesting safer ways to work on aircraft that were implemented
• Life
o Starting and coaching a Youth Soccer league (indoor and outdoor) in Cold Lake AB
o Participant and finalist at Canadian Nationals Darts held in Newfoundland
o Working 12-14 hours a day for 2 years to open all those kiosks for Island Ink-Jet, it was a tough go but the end result was very satisfying, only to have someone else ruin it all.
• Things I like
Darts and Golf (age is making it more difficult to be at my best)
Basketball and Soccer (although not for years now)
Fastball and SlowPitch – pitcher and/or 2nd base, retiring this year
Fishing, is my favorite pass time, can’t get enough. Go 2-3 times a week here
Woodworking in my workshop, would love to teach you, it is enjoyable to me
There it is in a nutshell. A bit about myself. If you have any questions, at all, do not hesitate in asking, as no question is dumb or stupid.