Dad’s dad Earnest (young farmer) was successful courting the new American school teacher and they had a thriving farm with hired help at one point. Gary was the youngest of 7 and was cared for with help from his 2 older sisters. The 5 boys slept in an unheated bunkhouse under buffalo robes with the farm animals in the early days. Dogs pulling sleds or wagons to school or jumping out the window of a truck after a rabbit. Happy childhood other than early days in Grade 1 at a one room school with the yelling Mr. Avery. “Not at you, Gary!” from sisters to console him. Horse and sleigh to railroad for coal to cook meals for 12 where Gary learned to eat every last bite on his plate.
The Depression ruined the market for grain to the extent that they shovelled their house full of a crop they could not sell and moved North to make a living cutting firewood. After about a decade of hard times they gave up and packed up the flatbed truck and moved West to what is now Tsawwassen, but was then a pile of gravel slightly above the quality farmland they could not afford. Rented a cottage across the road from Boundary Bay and plugged air leaks because they figured they would freeze, and then ended up shovelling sea water away from the front door! This was 1946 and Gary missed his friends. The family bought 5 acres at what is now the town centre in Tsawwassen and Gary hated real estate developers after his father sold the land for a song and the community grew around our childhood home.
Gary learned to love the Coast when working a summer job after Grade11 for the Department of Fisheries tagging salmon on the Upper Pitt River. Back then it was real wilderness that close to Vancouver, and boats and bears and fish and mountains was an eye opener to a boy from the flatlands! Even Delta was away from the mountains, but Ladner was an old farming and fishing community on the big river too. In his late teens he worked helping survey valleys for their timber value and being the last to enjoy them before logging. Bushcraft. Camping.
Other family joined the exodus and the Prairie people missed having ice. They converted a hangar, at the Boundary Bay Airport into a short rink for hockey and figure skating, curling rink (and smoky lounge), and archery and hay bales in the far end. Coulters were playing hockey again and Delta was one of the few places with a rink and we got clobbered when we played the private clubs from the North Shore and Burnaby and at the Kerrisdale Arena. Gary later became the Chair of the Civic Properties Commission in Delta and oversaw the building of 3 rinks and swimming pools in the fast-growing municipality.
Gary worked installing antennas for new VHF technology and met Mona in the office of Spilsbury Communications. They were married and went on a wild trip that family did not approve of. Bought a VW Beetle when a new thing and drove around the 48 States! Sprayed by a crop duster on a road in Texas (like a bug) and tried pizza in New York City (“this will never catch on”). Came home and bought a lot in Tsawwassen from his Dad who helped build a little house on the edge of a shopping mall development in later years. Three children were born, all boys. We had a good life playing in houses under construction and roaming the beaches of Tsa and Point Roberts. Gary took us fishing in a rowboat to catch big salmon near the ferry terminal and we went for family camping trips in the Interior to fly fish for trout. Wonderful adventurous father, though a bit too much for Mona sometimes.
Gary was so popular in our neighbourhood that children would knock on our door and ask if he could come out and play! Road hockey or hide and seek, or down a cliff trail to have a beach fire and try to get us to appreciate oysters. Always game and good to go. Great Dad.
His real career began working for a non-profit society providing medical and dental coverage for union members. Some family vacations involved business as he was calling at fruit packing worksites. In the early days Gary gave Tommy Douglas a ride during an election campaign, and he was proud. Later he “did business” with the likes of Jack Monroe (President of the IWA) with a hospitality suite in the Bayshore Inn during a Labour convention. This involved throwing the bottle cap away upon opening. The advent of computers was too much for him and he was given an early retirement and enjoyed a well-planned retirement for more than 30 years. Moved to Salt Spring Island and was President of Men’s Golf, made wine, and seemed to think Hawaii was the perfect place during winter.
The move to Salt Spring was a result of his love of sailing and hatred of traffic on summer trips. Gary bought a 25-foot trimaran which was kept moored near the Tsawwassen ferry and holidays began 10 minutes from the house. The boys made use of the boat alone from age 15 and the Southern Gulf Islands became more familiar to the family, culminating in the purchase of the current family home (near the Fernwood Wharf). We are fortunate for his vision and love of adventure.
The Marine Thing seems to have corrupted his sons as all three worked on boats and showed little interest in wearing a suit and lining up at the south end of the Deas Island Tunnel early 5 days a week to sit in an office. Gary didn’t like it much either.
Garold Garth Coulter was born into a time of hardship, change, and opportunity. His family are lucky for his work ethic, and his love of mountains, oceans, sailing, and catching fish (even trout trying to survive in high elevation lakes). He is very loved and survived by his wife Mona, and three sons (Ross, Ryan, and Rob) and seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.
There will be an afternoon gathering to celebrate Gary’s life on October 19 at the family home located at 1120 North Beach Road.