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Noel Bowman Booth was born in Nottingham, England on May 23rd 1897. He came to Canada as a 14 year old. He travelled a bit, became a commercial fisherman on the B.C. Coast and he served in the First World War. He married Gertrude Lillian Osterberg (1900-1973) in 1921 and they moved to Langley to operate the Fernridge post office. He grew the general store which was attached to the post office, expanding it to a fleet of five mobile stores. The Booth General Store was a community hub. Booth ran a library from his store, let adults and children gather around its fire, and for a time he had the only phone for miles. His business closed in 1970.

Outside of work Booth was a Reeve (1933-35, 1946-47), Councillor (1945, 1949, 1956, 1959, 1967), Alderman (1968) and School Trustee. Booth initiate the local Douglas Day celebration during his term in office and he started the Fraser Valley Regional Library. Booth also donated the land on which Glenwood School stands. He became a Freeman of Langley Township in 1977.

He had a daughter, Valara (Val) Nichols (1928-1994) and a son, Mark (d 1970). A local park and school are named in Booth's honour. He died on May 22,1979.