Bob Harrower and Hazel Harding.

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salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

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Object Description

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Object Name

Photograph

Object ID

2018.034.002

Title

Bob Harrower and Hazel Harding.

Date

[194-].

Description

Black and white photograph of Bob Harrower and his future wife, Hazel Harding. This photograph was likely taken before their marriage in 1946. Hazel is on the right wearing a knee-length light coloured coat and holding a purse and stole in her left hand, while Bob has her arm linked through his and is holding her hand. He is wearing his R.C.A.F. uniform and holding a wrapped package in his right arm as well as his jacket. They are walking down a city street.

People/Subject

Harrower, Hazel (née Harding)

Hazel Harding was born in 1921. She came to Langley with her parents, Joseph (Joe) and Lily Harding, and her brother Bernie in 1937, from La Fleche, Saskatchewan when the Depression drove them to move. They settled on what was then called Winchester Road in Murrayville and began a small dairy farm. She finished high school by doing part of junior high by correspondence and finishing senior matriculation courses at Abbotsford. She went to normal school in Vancouver at age eighteen, and some of her classmates included Les MacDonald (the judge) and Norman Sherritt (the principal). She went to school to become a teacher, receiving a teacher's specialist certificate, even attending summer school in Victoria to get 15 credits. She taught at County Line School, where she remembered having four Japanese students that were taken in 1941 to the Hastings Park internment camp and moved east. She late taught at Murrayville School. She married Robert (Bob) Harrower in July 1946 at Sharon United Church, after he returned from overseas where he had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) as a navigator during World War II. Hazel and Bob had met the very first Sunday Hazel was in Langley in 1937; they were introduced by Ron Cockett, who was the choir leader at church, and Hazel was in the choir. Before marriage, Hazel worked as a teacher for six years: three at County Line School, and three at Murrayville Elementary. She left teaching after her marriage. She and Bob continued to farm until 1957, when Bob began to work for the customs service. The couple had three children: Jim, Lillian, and Rob (d. 1981).
Term Source: Oral history interview with Hazel Harrower; Langley Advance article "Pioneer Mourned" May 15 1996; handwritten document, "Mrs. Robert Harrower," in Harrower family reference folder.

Harrower, Robert (Bob)

Robert (Bob) Harrower was born September 8, 1917 on Roberts Road, near Livingstone Road (232 Street) on his family's farm. He went to school at Murrayville Elementary and Langley High School. He took over the family farm when his father died of Lou Gehrig's disease in 1937, and worked to put his two sisters and brother through school. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) during World War II and became a navigator with the rank of Flying Officer. He returned to Langley after the war to continue running the farm. He married Hazel Harding in July 1946 in a ceremony at Sharon United Church in Murrayville. The couple had three children: Jim, Lillian, and Rob (d. 1981). They farmed until 1957, at which point Bob joined the customs service and worked at Huntingdon, Aldergrove, Pacific Highway, and Vancouver. He was one of twelve investigators with the Customs and Excise Investigations Branch in B.C. He was an active member of the Langley community, serving as chairman of the Langley Recreation Commission, and helping ensure new recreation facilities were built, including Al Anderson Pool and the track at Langley Secondary. He was a longtime proponent of the Langley Walk. He was a president of the Langley Cribbage League and played on the Murrayville Cribbage team for at least fifty years. He taught bridge at night school and served on the executive of the Murrayville Community Hall Association. He was an active member of Sharon United Church, a member of the Douglas Day committee, and a member of the Langley Heritage Society.
Information source: newspaper article "Pioneer Mourned" Langley Advance May 15 1996.

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was the air force of Canada from 1924 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Armed Forces. The modern Canadian air force has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command (AIRCOM) since 1975, but still refers to itself as the "Air Force" and maintains many of the traditions of the RCAF.

street photographer

Popular for sometime, street photographers would take a photograph of you as you walked down the street and then sell it to you. Most in our collection were taken in Vancouver.

World War, 1939-1945

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