Howard McAskill was born in the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster on November 23rd, 1948. His family moved from Victory Heights in New Westminster to the west end of Rochester Road in the historic Burquitlam area in 1956. He attended Alderson, Mundy Road, and Brookmere Elementary Schools, as well as Como Lake High School before graduating from Centennial School in 1967 and U.B.C. in 1971.

A life-long enthusiasm for cars and motor sports developed as a youth, with many weekends spent with friends at the Westwood Race Track or the Arlington drag strip in Washington. McAskill had relatives who worked as British car mechanics or for firms that were sponsors of Westwood events and McAskill was inspired by his family doctor, C.C. Wilson who was an avid racer and President of the Sports Car Club of BC. Wilson was instrumental in getting Westwood Race Track built and served as its Director of Development for many years.

McAskill enjoyed multiple employment experiences dominated by a 25 year membership in the I.W.A. covering his time at Fraser Mills, followed by 20 years in operations with Catalyst Paper and predecessor firms before his retirement in 2010.

Fiona McQuarrie was born in North Vancouver. She studied at Simon Fraser University and at the University of Alberta, graduating from the University of Alberta in 1995 with a Ph.D. in organizational analysis. She was a faculty member in the School of Business at the University of the Fraser Valley and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2022. She moved to Coquitlam in 1995 and has served on several City of Coquitlam committees, including the Gender Equity Committee.

W. J. Moore was born in 1887 in Bryson, Quebec, one of eleven children of James and Elizabeth Moore. The family moved to De Winton, Alberta when Moore was in his early teens. By 1911 he had found work with commercial photographer Byron Harmon in Banff, Alberta. Harmon married Moore’s older sister Maude in 1907 and it is quite possible that Moore received his early photographic training from him.

Moore, his parents and several brothers and sisters settled in South Vancouver and Burnaby in 1912. Vancouver was then in the midst of an economic boom, but in 1913 it became a depression. Moore established a commercial photographic studio out of his home, first at East 21st Avenue and later on Sophia Street.

He bought a Kodak No. 8 Cirkut Outfit in 1913 and incorporated panoramic photographs as a specialty within his business, producing most of his work with this format in the first fifteen years of his career. After 1928, his use of this format was sporadic and production was solely by commission.

Moore worked on his own until mid-1915, when he formed a partnership with Wilfred F. McConnell, purchasing the Canadian Photo Company from O. J. Rognon and Fred P. Stevens. While in this partnership, Moore signed panoramic negatives under both his own name and the Canadian Photo Co. The partnership was dissolved in 1921, with Mr. McConnell operating his photographic business under the Canadian Photo Co. name until 1933.

In 1921, at the beginning of a decade of economic regeneration in Vancouver, Moore established his commercial studio out of the Winch Building on Hastings Street. William Read was hired as an assistant and worked with him for over thirty years, eventually purchasing the business in 1953 when Moore retired. He died in 1963.

Ronald Moyes was born in Vancouver on February 11th, 1926. His family moved to North Road, Coquitlam in 1929. Moyes attended Mountain View School and Coquitlam Junior High. He left Coquitlam in 1943, when training for the Royal Canadian Airforce took him first to Edmonton and then Quebec. Moyes served in the Second World War, and subsequent to the war continued his career in the RCAF in various roles around Canada and abroad. In 1974, Moyes left the RCAF to join the RCMP Forensic Laboratory as a firearms Technician. He retired in 1989.

James Walker Ollivier first ran for Council in 1940 but was not successful. He was later elected Reeve of the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam in December of 1942 and served in this role until 1944. At the Council Meeting of December 5th, 1944 he tendered his resignation because he had disposed of his property and was therefore ineligible to be Reeve.

William Ostenstad grew up in Coquitlam, attending Como Lake Middle School and Centennial High School. As a young man he worked at Fraser Mills while also attending Simon Fraser University.

Emeri Paré Sr. was born on April 8th, 1874 in Champlain in upper New York State. He became a Canadian citizen in 1895 while living in Sherbrooke, Québec. Circa 1910, he relocated to the District of Coquitlam with his wife Celina and family of seven children in order to work at the Fraser Mills as a blacksmith. It is known that his eldest son, Emeri Paré Jr. was born to his first wife, Elise Garneau. The mother(s) of his other six children is/are unknown. In January 1913, his wife Celina died and he married Lea Dault in June, 1913. On January 21st, 1911, the first Coquitlam Police Committee was struck in response to a complaint "that tramps and undesirables were being sent from Vancouver and Westminster to Coquitlam." Council moved that a committee be struck to "deal with the police question with power to appoint temporarily one or two men as constables to start their duties at once, and that the vagrants be severely dealt with and all possible means taken to protect citizens." (Council Minutes, January 21st, 1911) On February 11th, 1911, a call for applications for a police constable were sent out, promising a rate of pay of $80 per month. It noted that applicants were to state whether they were married or single. (Council Minutes, February 11th, 1911) There is no mention of a constable being hired folllowing this call, until September, when Council suggested that they "advertise in Columbian and Province for a constable at $75 per month." (Council Minutes, September 9th, 1911) Twenty applications were received and J.R. Edwards was elected at the September 18th meeting. An additional constable, J. (?) Wood was appointed on April 18th, 1912 but he was discharged on May 2nd, with PC Worrall being engaged as a replacement. A request was made on July 11th, 1912 to appoint a third constable, but no action was taken. On October 7th, 1912 Paré and a man by the name of Hunt were taken on retainer as special constables at a pay rate of $10 per month with an additional $.40 per hour when called for duty. In November, 1912 E.A. Round (likely Ernest Albert Round) was appointed as the first Chief Constable at a rate of $100 per month. In March, 1913, Paré was presumably appointed as a full-time constable as the Council Minutes for March 31st indicate his pay rate changed to $75 per month. In July of that same year, R.G. Marshall was appointed special constable at a retaining fee of $10 per month. In January, 1914, Paré was appointed Chief, though he continued to be paid at his same rate of $75 per month. In addition to his police work, Paré was charged with administering the volunteer fire brigade, and maintaining the jail, which was in the back of his house on Brunette St.. In 1927, the municipality contracted its policing services to the British Columbia Provincial Police, though Paré remained on the force until 1928, when he was transferred to the City of Mission detachment. He served in Mission until his retirement in 1933, when he returned to Maillardville and returned to his blacksmith trade. He died on September 3rd, 1952 at the age of 78.

Lea Dault was born on March 13, 1883 in Quebec. She married Emeri Paré on June 21, 1913 in Maillardville. She died on March 25, 1963.

C.W. Philp was elected to Council for the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam in 1915. He became the acting Reeve on May 3rd, 1916, when Reeve Marmont temporarily returned to England and served in this capacity until August when he became the Reeve, a position he held until January, 1918. Philp was born in St Thomas, Ontario but by 1897 he was in Seattle and then followed the Klondike Gold Rush to Dawson City. He tried his hand at gold mining until 1904, then returned to St Thomas before buying a plot of land along Marmont Road around 1910. He was a building contractor by trade and he re-built the Vancouver Golf Club several times after fire repeatedly claimed the buildings.

George Hector Proulx arrived in Coquitlam in 1910 with his family. Shortly after their arrival, the Proulx family bought a store which was the first in the small village that became Maillardville. He was elected Reeve in 1923, but was defeated the following year. He died on May 9th, 1934 and was buried in Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Cemetery in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Gordy Robson served as the Mayor of Maple Ridge between 2005 and 2008 and has served as a Councillor for Maple Ridge since 2014.

Gordy and his wife Mary Robson founded the "Maple Ridge News" in late 1984. When the Columbian Newspaper folded in 1985, staff started the Now group of newspapers and Robson decided to expand the News offerings into the Tri-Cities with "The Sunday News" to compete with the Now. About a year later, he started a Tri-City specific edition issued on Wednesdays, which later became the Tri-City News and was expanded to two editions per week. The newspapers were printed by Hacker Press in Abbotsford.

Around 1988, UK company Trinity purchased the Maple Ridge News and the Tri-City News. The collection of "News" papers became known as the News Group, which was eventually purchased by Black Press in 1997.

Donna Rodman is a registered landscape architect. Rodman is the founding principal of Our Designs Inc., established in 1992. Rodman holds a Diploma in Nursing (The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.), a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Geography (The University of British Columbia), a Certificate in Building (British Columbia Institute of Technology), and a Master in Landscape Architecture (The University of British Columbia).

Louis (Lou) Sekora was born in Hafford, Saskatchewan in 1931. He served as Mayor of Coquitlam from 1984 to 1998 and as a Coquitlam city councillor from 1973 to 1983 and 2005 to 2013. In 2014 he ran for Mayor again, but lost to incumbent Richard Stewart. He ran successfully for a seat in the House of Commons as the Liberal candidate representing the riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam, holding his seat from 1998 to 2000. Following his time in federal politics he held the position of citizenship judge from 2001 to 2004. As part of Coquitlam City Council, he served served as Chair of the Land Use and Economic Development Standing Committee, Alternate Director to the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors, Vice Chair of the Riverview Committee, Member of the Strategic Priorities, Administration and Protective Services Standing Committee, Member of the Recreation, Sports and Culture Standing Committee, Member of the Engineering, Utilities and Environment Standing Committee, Alternate Member of the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC), Vice Chair of the Multiculturalism Advisory Committee, and Vice Chair of the Disability Issues Advisory Committee.

Shyla Seller is an archivist and an editor. She was born in Vancouver, BC and grew up in Coquitlam, BC. She attended Parkland Elementary School, Como Lake Junior Secondary, and Centennial High School. Her first job was at the Hol 'n' One Donut shop in the Loughheed Mall, which was owned by her grandparents Bill and Nina Seller. She received her higher education at the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia.

Deborah Smyth was Miss Congeniality of the Miss Coquitlam Pageant in 1986.

Fabian Jack Stiglish, more commonly known as “Jack” was born in Leask, Saskatchewan and grew up on a farm in Leask. He left the farm in 1938 and moved to British Columbia and met his wife Helen Mary Pietrasko in Invermere. In 1940, Helen and her family relocated to Surrey and Jack followed suit. He became a fisherman with his own boat and also worked in a mill. The couple married on December 5, 1942.

In 1943, the couple bought a mushroom farm at 1050 Keswick Ave near the Lougheed Highway. The farm had been established by W.T. Money around 1928 and is thought to be one of the first mushroom farms in B.C. The farm consisted of 4 acres of land, with one and a half acres devoted to growing mushrooms. Mushrooms were sold by the pound under the name “Money’s Mushrooms,” and mushroom manure was sold by the sack.

Jack and Helen were entrepreneurs throughout their lives. They briefly raised chinchillas for their fur, owned a brick business, and owned the 4 Acre Trailer Court at 675 Lougheed Highway from the 1950s until 1979 when the trailer court was sold to Walter and Dennis Hohn.

The couple built their dream home at 703 Edgar Avenue in 1969. Jack and Helen were avid square dancers and were enthusiastic members of the Vancouver Heights Square Dance Club in Burnaby. Jack was very community-minded and was an active member of the British Columbia Motels, Resorts, and Trailer Parks Association for many years. He was also one of the founding members of the Coquitlam Rotary in 1967. Jack and Helen spent their summers at a summer home in Whatcom Meadows in Washington State. Jack passed away on October 15, 1994 in New Westminster.

Helen Mary Stiglish (nee Pietrasko) was born on March 30, 1920 in Coleman Alberta and grew up in Athalmer-Invermere, British Columbia. Helen met her future husband Fabian Jack Stiglish in 1938. In 1940, Helen and her family relocated from Invermere to Surrey and Jack followed suit. The couple married on December 5, 1942.

In 1943, the couple bought a mushroom farm at 1050 Keswick Ave near the Lougheed Highway. The farm had been established by W.T. Money around 1928 and is thought to be one of the first mushroom farms in B.C. The farm consisted of 4 acres of land, with one and a half acres devoted to growing mushrooms. Mushrooms were sold by the pound under the name “Money’s Mushrooms,” and mushroom manure was sold by the sack.

Jack and Helen were entrepreneurs throughout their lives. They briefly raised chincillas for their fur, owned a brick business, and owned the 4 Acre Trailer Court at 675 Lougheed Highway from the 1950s until 1979 when the trailer court was sold to Walter and Dennis Hohn.
The couple built their dream home at 703 Edgar Avenue in 1969. Jack and Helen were avid square dancers and were enthusiastic members of the Vancouver Heights Square Dance Club in Burnaby.

Helen was an accomplished homemaker. Her passions were crafting, gardening, oil painting, and experimenting with new recipes for all of the mushrooms that came from the family farm. Jack and Helen spent their summers at a summer home in Whatcom Meadows in Washington State. Helen passed away on July 3, 2009 in Burnaby.

Patrick Liam Sullivan was born in British Columbia in 1951. He grew up in Seattle before the family relocated to Canada in 1964. He was first formally educated in fine art studies at Vancouver Community College. He entered the program in 1974 and studied sculpture with Barrie Holmes. In 1981, he received a BFA in sculpture from Emily Carr university with a specialty in stone sculpture. From 1985 to 1987, he completed the Coquitlam Stone Sculpture Symposium on-site in Blue Mountain Park. He acted as project manager/sculptor/teacher on the project which resulted in a fourteen piece permanent outdoor stone sculpture garden.

Sharon Tokar is a founding member of Coquitlam Search and Rescue, and was one of the first women to be involved in search and rescue activities in the province. Growing up in Coquitlam, she attended Brookmere Elementary, Como Lake Middle School, Mongomery Junior Secondary, and Centennial Secondary School. As well, she worked as a nurse at Riverview Hospital and Woodwards in New Westminster. She was a trained archeologist and taught at Langara College. Sharon passed away in March 2024.

James Leonard (Jim) Tonn served as Councillor in 1971 and was elected Mayor in 1972, a position he held until he resigned in July, 1983. He was a former professional football player who played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the B.C. Lions between 1957 and 1959. He served as Alderman for one year before being elected Mayor. He served as President of the Union of B.C. Municipalities and was Deputy Chairman of the GVRD Board of Directors. He served on nearly all GVRD committees and was Chairman of several including Planning and Parks. After resigning he became the Municipal Manager.