Viewing Object

Object Description

Object Name

Transparency, Slide

Object ID

2009.031.004

Title

Gathering of people at the opening of the restored Lochiel schoolhouse.

Date

[1989?].

Description

Colour slide of a gathering of people outside the front doors of the restored Lochiel schoolhouse. There are men and women standing on the top step outside of the double front doors of Lochiel School. Lochiel is a yellow building with white trim on the doors and windows. The people gathered are standing in a loose line with some facing the camera and others facing to the left of the photograph. On the left is an unidentified woman with brown hair and glasses who is partly cut off by the edge of the photograph; next to her is a woman in a white patterned dress and black patterned jacket, in the centre of the group is a man wearing brown pants, jean jacket, and black cowboy hat, who appears ready to tip his hat; behind him and to the left is Mayor John Beales; to the right of them are three men; two are unidentified but Fred Pepin is standing sideways in a brown sports jacket. There is a woman standing lower than the rest of the group by herself on the right, wearing a white jacket.

People/Subject

Beales, John Huson

John H. Beales was born July 25, 1924 in Winnipeg and moved to Langley in 1933. He graduated from Langley High School in 1942 and joined the RCAF. He returned after the war and married Marjorie Graham. They had 8 children: John, Bob, Ann, Ted, Ian, Bruce, Barry, and Russell. A local businessman, John was a School Board Trustee, an Alderman in the late 1970s - 1980s, and served two terms as Mayor of the Township of Langley from 1987 to 1993. He was an accomplished pilot. John died in 2003.

Campbell Valley Park

Lochiel School

The first school was built in 1889 and known as Biggar Prairie School on the Richard Thomas Biggar homestead. On February 23, 1892 the name was changed by Alexander Cameron to Lochiel School. In 1896, a red school house was built with lumber floated from Bum Gartner's Saw Mill on Old Yale Road to the building site on North Bluff Road (now 16th Ave.). The original school was replaced in 1924 with a one room building--the old wing of the current building. The school operated for one year after which students were bussed to Murrayville. In 1937, the school was reopened. In 1950, the school was moved to a three acre plot on 224th Street just south of 16th Ave. On February 20, 1975, arsonists set fire to the school causing major damage. It was then moved to Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley, BC.

Pepin, Alfred E. (Fred)

Alfred (Fred) Pepin is a grandson of Thomas Alfred Pepin, a pioneer settler of the Langley, B.C., area. He is married to Maureen Sankey. He is involved in the P. Y. Porter Tailgate Programme, and the Langley Heritage Society. He was awarded the Freedom of the Municipality in 2006.

Opens in a new window.

Argus v4.4.2.32 - Langley Centennial Museum