James Edward (Jim) was the second child born to the couple. The first child, Eileen, had been born in 1914, but Jim's father’s service in World War I delayed them having another child right away. Jim's birth was followed by that of two brothers: Vincent in 1921 and Henry (Harry) in 1923.
In 1928, the family — parents and four children — emigrated to Canada. They departed Liverpool, England in 28 March 1928 on a ship called the Regina, setting foot on Canadian soil in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since their last address in England was in the town of Halifax in Yorkshire, technically they travelled from one Halifax to another.
The family was sent to Alberta to work in agriculture. In the following year, however, Jim applied for a soldier's land grant and received a parcel of land in the Peace River region of British Columbia where they became homesteaders. The rule for immigrant settlers was that they had three years to build a structure and plant a crop before the land they were assigned became theirs and they received resident status. The couple accomplished this, but having grown up in the city in England, they were not cut out to be farmers. So in 1935 they moved to Vancouver.
Jim was about 15 at the time of the move to the city and he began attending Vancouver Technical School on Broadway studying mechanics and cooking. Jim also joined the militia when they moved to Vancouver. In January 1936, two months before his 16th birthday, Jim joined the Duke of Connaught's Own British Columbia Regiment (DCOR). This was a rifle brigade, and his two younger brothers joined when they were old enough also.
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| Jim and his brothers in their DCOR band uniforms. |
When he finished his education and with war in Europe imminent, Jim joined the navy. It is not known why he chose the navy over the army having already served for three years in the DCOR.
Jim signed up for the navy in early 1939 for a seven-year tour and in July was moved to the permanent force. He probably began navy training in the summer, but was also still part of the DCOR until September 9, so there was crossover.
| (See separate post on Jim's military history) |
In 1942 he married Joanne Cornelia Bader in Vancouver, British Columbia. Joanne's family owned Bader's Dutch Bakeries, which by the mid-1930s was a thriving commercial cookie factory.
The couple had been dating for at least a couple of years before their wedding. Joanne had even followed Jim to a navy posting before they were married, where she got a job working as a driver. It is not clear exactly how they met, but rumour has it that they knew each other "from the neighbourhood" since both Jim's family and Joanne's family lived in the same area of Vancouver (Cedar Cottage). The two families were also Catholic, so they may have attended the same church and met there. Another possibility is that since he had been trained as a cook and a baker, Jim got a job working at Joanne's family's bakery.
As Joanne came from a family of bakers and Jim had been trained as and worked as a cook and baker in the navy, the couple decided to open their own bakery after the war. Lowe’s Bakery opened in the Jubilee neighbourhood of Burnaby, BC in 1946 and operated until 1950. Running a bakery as a young couple was challenging and it was difficult to make a significant profit. After Joanne had their first child, it became even more difficult, and they eventually decided to shut the business down.
Over the next few years Jim worked different jobs while he and Joanne had five more children. Jim eventually went to work with his father as a bartender at the Quadra Club, a posh nightclub in downtown Vancouver. When his father retired, Jim took over for him as head bartender. He remained in that job until the night club closed. Jim then worked as a bartender at the Steveston Hotel.
In the 1970s, Jim became a Commissionaire working security at the Ocean Science Institute in West Vancouver until his retirement in the mid-1980s. He enjoyed boating and built several small boats in his later years, frequently sailing the waters around West Vancouver in a small sailboat that he designed himself.
Jim’s retirement saw him move to Cloverdale where he grew tomatoes on his patio. He enjoyed road trips and often visited his children who were spread across Canada from Victoria, BC to St. Catherine’s in Ontario. He was an active member of several Royal Canadian Legions and navy and army alumni associations in the Greater Vancouver area. Jim died in 1995 after a year-long battle with lung cancer.
Prepared using information available as of 1 November 2015.
The couple had been dating for at least a couple of years before their wedding. Joanne had even followed Jim to a navy posting before they were married, where she got a job working as a driver. It is not clear exactly how they met, but rumour has it that they knew each other "from the neighbourhood" since both Jim's family and Joanne's family lived in the same area of Vancouver (Cedar Cottage). The two families were also Catholic, so they may have attended the same church and met there. Another possibility is that since he had been trained as a cook and a baker, Jim got a job working at Joanne's family's bakery.
As Joanne came from a family of bakers and Jim had been trained as and worked as a cook and baker in the navy, the couple decided to open their own bakery after the war. Lowe’s Bakery opened in the Jubilee neighbourhood of Burnaby, BC in 1946 and operated until 1950. Running a bakery as a young couple was challenging and it was difficult to make a significant profit. After Joanne had their first child, it became even more difficult, and they eventually decided to shut the business down.
Over the next few years Jim worked different jobs while he and Joanne had five more children. Jim eventually went to work with his father as a bartender at the Quadra Club, a posh nightclub in downtown Vancouver. When his father retired, Jim took over for him as head bartender. He remained in that job until the night club closed. Jim then worked as a bartender at the Steveston Hotel.
In the 1970s, Jim became a Commissionaire working security at the Ocean Science Institute in West Vancouver until his retirement in the mid-1980s. He enjoyed boating and built several small boats in his later years, frequently sailing the waters around West Vancouver in a small sailboat that he designed himself.
Jim’s retirement saw him move to Cloverdale where he grew tomatoes on his patio. He enjoyed road trips and often visited his children who were spread across Canada from Victoria, BC to St. Catherine’s in Ontario. He was an active member of several Royal Canadian Legions and navy and army alumni associations in the Greater Vancouver area. Jim died in 1995 after a year-long battle with lung cancer.
Prepared using information available as of 1 November 2015.
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