Don Cunnings (1931–2023) was an educator and recreation leader who established numerous associations and organizations toward the promotion of physical education and recreation in Coquitlam. He was the City of Coquitlam’s very first Parks and Recreation Director.

Cunnings was born on February 17, 1931 in Vancouver, B.C., to Effie and Leslie Cunnings. Cunnings and his family lived in Collingwood in east Vancouver, were Cunnings attended Sir Guy Carlton Elementary School. There, school officials discovered he had congenital cataracts on both eyes, whereupon he was transferred Sight-Saving Classes at General Gordon Elementary School and later to Kitsilano Jr. Sr. High School.

Cunnings enrolled in a Provincial Recreation (Pro-Rec) class at Sir Guy Carlton Elementary, because even with his limited vision, Cunnings could still see the tumbling mats, springboard and vaulting box. He excelled at gymnastics, catching the attention of Pro-Rec instructor, Alex Strain. Under his training, Cunnings won the Provincial Jr. Boy's Pro-Rec Gymnastic Championship when he was just sixteen years old. Cunnings also became a Sea Scout patrol leader, and attained his 'Queen Scout' badge, which allowed him to command a 27' whaler boat with a sighted crew.

With endorsements from both his Pro-Rec Instructor and High School PE teacher, Cunnings was accepted into the Pro-Rec Instructor Summer Training School at the BC Normal School. After graduating high school he became a Pro-Rec Instructor and was assigned a Pro-Rec class in Maillardivlle in Coquitlam, B.C.

When Cunnings was twenty-one years old, he underwent eye surgery and regained his sight. After this surgery Cunnings began his career as a physical education teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary and Secondary School from 1950-1953. He became the Division Head of Essondale's Crease Clinic Recreation Therapy Department in 1953 before taking on the position of Recreation Director for the District of Coquitlam's Recreation Commission in 1955, then Recreation Director in 1958, then Inter-Municipal Recreation Director from 1962-1965, until his appointment as the Director of the Leisure and Parks Service in 1966, which he held until 1994. By the time he retired, he had served the Coquitlam’s recreation department for nearly forty years, and then acted as a consultant for the City.

Cunnings also received a senior gymnastic coaching diploma from the Canadian National Gymnastic Association in 1959. While he held his position as Recreation Director for the City of Coquitlam, he attended the UBC School of Physical Education & Recreation and graduated in the class of 1962, and completed an Executive Development Program for Parks and Recreation at Indiana University in 1970.

Throughout his life, Cunnings held numerous memberships and took on many leadership roles in his community. He was one of the founding members of the British Columbia Recreation Association (1958), and served as President for the association through 1963-1964. He also held the position of Vice President of the Canadian Association of Physical Education, Health Education & Recreation (CAPHER). After receiving emergency planning, command and control, and search and rescue management programs, Cunnings created and directed the first Search and Rescue team in Coquitlam in 1973. From 1977 to 1987, Cunnings was appointed as Acting Municipal Manager during the Manager’s annual leave. Notably, Cunnings led the visioning team that developed the City of Coquitlam’s “Town Centre” park during 1980-1994. After his retirement, Cunning focused much of his time engaging with the community and volunteering for local organizations. He was Vice President of the Douglas College Foundation Board in 1997 and served as President of the Board of Directors for the Douglas College Centre for Sport, Recreation, and Wellness Society from 2005 to 2007.

Additionally, Cunnings acted as a guest speaker and lecturer at local, provincial, and national conferences in Canada and the USA and had guest appearances on television and local and provincial videos. He published numerous newspaper articles about recreation and parks.

The City of Coquitlam, Douglas College, and School District #43 jointly named "Cunnings Field" in Coquitlam in his honour in 1999. Cunnings was inducted into the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame on June 22nd, 2012, recognizing his contributions as a gymnastics coach, his achievements as a gymnast, and for his work as Coquitlam's very first Parks and Recreation Director. Cunnings was also awarded the City of Coquitlam’s Freedom of the City award on May 5, 2014.

Colonial settlement of the area between New Westminster and Pitt River along the Fraser began in the 1920s in the pursuit of trapping, fishing, and logging. Industry and more intensive colonial settlement began with the opening of the Fraser Mills sawmill on the north bank of the Fraser in the last years of the 19th century.

Coquitlam comprised an area of approximately sixty-five square miles that had been surveyed by Royal Engineer A.L. Breakenridge in 1863. In the late 1880s, the landowners and pre-emptors living in the area petitioned the province to incorporate as a Municipal District.

The area was incorporated by letters patent dated July 25, 1891 as the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam. The letters patent called for the nomination of five councillors and a reeve and the first meeting of a municipal council were assembled in Kelly’s Hall on August 22nd, 1891 at Westminster Junction, now within the City of Port Coquitlam. The first reeve was R.B. Kelly and the first councillors were E.A. Aitkins, James Fox, S.W. Lehman, James Morrison, and J. Shennan. The first City Clerk was R.D. Irvine.

In 1894, a portion of the Maple Ridge Municipality between the newly formed Corporation of the District of Coquitlam and the Pitt River was added to the Coquitlam municipality, following a petition by the landowners to the province.

In 1913, the land owners in the area known as Westminster Junction wished to limit their tax liability for the development of the rapidly growing district and to establish their own tax base. A petition was sent to the province and the area seceded from the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam, forming the City of Port Coquitlam.

In the same year, The Canadian Western Lumber Company decided to incorporate the area surrounding Fraser Mills and the Corporation of the District of Fraser Mills was incorporated by letters patent in 1913. The Corporation of the District of Coquitlam and the Corporation of the District of Fraser Mills amalgamated in November 1971, when both districts revoked their letters patent and new letters patent was issued incorporating the area as the District of Coquitlam. Supplementary letters patent were issued in 1973 and 1986 to reflect changes in municipal boundaries.

Effective December 1, 1992, the District of Coquitlam’s status was changed by new letters patent to that of a city municipality and it became known as the City of Coquitlam. Today, it is bordered by the municipalities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby, and New Westminster as well as the Fraser River to the south, the Pitt River to the east, and the Coastal Mountains to the north. It includes the community of Maillardville, a region near Fraser Mills settled by French Canadians in the early part of the 20th century.

History of the municipality’s bylaws indicates both the perceived remoteness of the region and its rapid urbanization. Road taxation began in 1897, the sale of liquor was first regulated in 1909, and municipal health regulations were first passed in 1912. Coquitlam had electricity by 1911, and plans for running water began in 1916. The building of a separate fire hall in 1946 and expansion of water service in the mid-1950s indicate a particularly vigorous period of population growth. The municipality assumed responsibility for paved roads and sidewalks by 1961. Zoning changes in the 1970s and 1980s reflect a change in land use from agricultural to single-family suburban residential and low-density apartment housing. An average of two development permits was issued every month by the early 1980s.

The town centre, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, provides cultural and recreational facilities and includes the Coquitlam Centre Mall, the Evergreen Cultural Centre, the Public Safety building, City Hall, the Pinetree Community Centre, the City Centre Aquatic Complex, the Coquitlam Public Library, the City Archives, and Douglas College. The population of Coquitlam has more than doubled from the 1970s to the present day.

City Clerks, District and City of Coquitlam
R.D. Irvine 1891-1899
John Smith 1899-1913
A. Haliburton 1913-1917
Robert Newman 1918-1927
Alan M. Shaw 1928
William Russell 1928-1947
F.L. Pobst 1947-1972
R.A. Leclair, acting clerk, 1965, 1966 1967
H.F. Hockey, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, 1972-1991
Sandra Aikenhead, 1991-1994
Warren Jones, 1994-2000
Trevor Wingrove, 2000-2002
Sonia Santarossa, 2002-2008
Jay Gilbert, 2008-present

Reeves and Mayors, District and City of Coquitlam
R.B. Kelly 1891-1896
E.A. Atkins 1897-1903
Ralph Booth 1904-1908
D.E. Welcher 1909-1910
James Mars 1911-1913
L.E. Marmont 1918-1922
George H. Proulx 1923
R.C. MacDonald 1924-1941
J.W. Oliver 1942-1944
L.J. Christmas 1945-1969
J.L. Ballard 1970-1971
James L. Tonn 1972-1983
Louis Sekora 1984-1998
Jon Kingsbury 1998-2005
Maxine Wilson 2005-2007
Richard Stewart 2008-present

Established in 1999, the Dogwood Lifewriters' Group is a seniors group of around twenty core members that meets every fourth Monday at the Dogwood Pavilion seniors centre. It began as a course taught by Russell Hellard to help seniors write their memoirs. The group comes together to share life stories, write personal histories of place, and preserve family history. The stories are periodically published by the Group.

The Dogwood Veterans Group is a seniors group at the Dogwood Pavilion seniors centre for veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War. The Group sets up the display, Veterans on Parade, at the Dogwood Pavilion where the public and school children visit and learn about the wartime experiences of veterans. The Group also sells Remembrance Day poppies around Coquitlam.

The Government of Canada declared 2005 the Year of the Veteran. In honour of the occasion the Dogwood Veterans Group collected and self-published personal narratives. Later, other narratives were collected and published by Veterans Affairs Canada.

Robert Morton (b. 1856), a native of Glasgow, Scotland, immigrated to Winnipeg in 1911, then moved to Vernon, BC, for about five years, and then to Calgary. In 1931-32 Morton moved to Vancouver and took up residence at 2119 Maple St. He began publishing a sectional map booklet and street index of the city because an ordinary map of Vancouver was too bulky to be carried around. The booklet covered Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey, Maillardville, Lulu Island, and Sea Island. Morton himself went door to door selling his booklets, and was still doing so at the age of 87 in 1942. Over time the operation became known as Dominion Map and Blueprint Co. (576 Seymour St.). Around 1957 it changed its name to Dominion Map and Blueprint Ltd. (1529 W. Pender St.), and by 1963 the company shortened its name to Dominion Map Ltd. (626 and later 571 Howe St.), and was now under the direction of M.J. Griffin. The company was wound up in 1981.

The Dominion Photo Company was a commercial photography firm established in Vancouver in 1914 by Percy Bentley. The company was involved in photojournalism, theatre slides, timber surveying photographs, police photography, postcards, amateur developing and printing, commercial/industrial work, and portraiture.

Don Buchanan served as Director of Planning for the City of Coquitlam from 1969 to 1987. He served as the Acting Municipal Manager starting in 1988 and then Acting City Manager (when Coquitlam became a City in 1992) until 1997. Buchanan Square at Coquitlam City Hall is named in his honour.

Donald Luxton & Associates is a cultural and heritage planning consulting firm. Their award-winning, multi-disciplinary team ensures a creative and practical response to the management of cultural and heritage resources for both the public and private sectors. Donald Luxton & Associates has carried out numerous municipal planning projects, heritage inventories and the restoration of public buildings throughout British Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon. The firm was founded by Donald Luxton around 1996.

The Dunwoody family emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Belfast, Northern Ireland in March 1911. Eldest son, James Dunwoody, received his degree in Chartered Accountancy in 1914. After coming back from WWI, Colonel Dunwoody went back to his passion for accounting and started Dunwoody & Co. in 1921. Dunwoody and Co. expanded their accounting firms across Canada during the 1940s and 1950s, with an office in Vancouver. Dunwoody & Co. was part of the international firm of Lasser, Harmood-Banner & Dunwoody until 1991. In January 1992, Dunwoody & Co. and BDO Ward Mallette merged with BDO Guenette Chaput in Winnipeg and BDO Frazer Matthews in Edmonton to form one unified firm. Formerly known as BDO Dunwoody, the Canadian member firm of BDO International changed its name again in 2010 with the rest of BDO’s firms around the world to become known as, simply, BDO.

The Eagle Ridge Residents' Association (TERRA) began on November 10, 1981 when a group of seventy concerned citizens met at the Church of Christ Hall on Runnel Drive to form a group to represent their concerns. The aim of the association was to improve conditions in the area and to give a united voice to their concerns. Membership in the Association was set at $5.00 per person and a group was elected to draft the constitution and bylaws. The Association lobbied municipal, provincial, and federal government on issues related to community planning, development, land use, and public services.

Association Presidents were:

John Roberts (1981-1982)
Terry O'Neill (1983)
Wally Unger (1984-1985)
Greg MacRae (1986)
Clayton Moore (1988-1990)
Susan Backus (1991-1992)
Dulce Huscroft (1993-1994)
Cindy Macie (1995-1998)
Ken A. Wood (1999-2002)

The Enterprise Newspaper was a weekly newspaper that covered the Tri-Cities area between 1969 and 1981. It amalgamated with the Herald Newspaper in June 1981 and became the Herald-Enterprise Newspaper. The Herald-Enterprise Newspaper ceased publication on October 9, 1984 after W.E. Dunning Publishing went out of business.

William Johnston Fenton was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in August 1925. He immigrated to Canada with his Mother, Amelia Arabella, Father, William James, and his Sister, Caroline. After first settling near Prince Albert in northern Saskatchewan, the family made its way to Vancouver in April, 1936. The connection between the Fenton Family and forest products began when William James Fenton got a job with the Canadian Western Lumber Company Ltd at Fraser Mills on August 1st, 1936, commuting from Vancouver via interurban streetcar. In 1938, the family purchased land and built a house on Alderson Ave in Maillardville so as to be closer to the mill. Over the next few years, the family grew to include Jim, Irene, Phyllis, Mickey, and Colleen. William James became Personnel Manager but his career was interrupted by ill health and he died on July 4th, 1955 at the age of 52.

William Johnston Fenton (most commonly known as John Fenton) and all of his siblings worked at Fraser Mills or with other forest product operations in the area. John started as a casual labourer in the shipping department in 1942 and moved to the plywood plant shortly thereafter. He joined the Canadian Army in June 1944, was discharged in August, 1946, and returned to the mill. He worked as a clerk in the Traffic Department before becoming an Invoice Clerk in 1948. In 1952, he was assigned to Calgary not long after his marriage in 1951. They moved back to Coquitlam in 1954 and John then worked for the Sales Department of what was by that point, Crown Zellerbach. He moved through the managerial ranks, ultimately becoming Sales Manager for British Columbia. During this time, he built two houses on Quadling Avenue, and was a prominent community volunteer for the Coquitlam School Board and the local United Way.

In 1966, he was transferred to Toronto to be the Manager of the Ontario Sales Region and soon was responsible for sales in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. He returned to Coquitlam in 1970 and held various management positions before moving to Kelowna in 1984, where he retired as Manager of Marketing in 1990. During the later years of his career, John became an industry guru regarding wood products, with a particular emphasis on plywood. He was active as an industry representative who facilitated market expansion in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. His knowledge of plywood production and forest products manufacturing helped inform early negotiations with the United States on a Softwood Lumber Trade Agreement and he assisted in developing product standards through the Canada Standards Association.

Ronald James Fielding was born in Vancouver in 1910 to Thomas and Sarah Fielding. Fielding married Barbara May MacDonald in 1936. Fielding was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Excelsior Lodge #7 in Chilliwack for 70 years and associate member of Royal City/Burnaby Lodge #3.

In 1889, the Ross, McLaren Mill was opened at Millside, an area near New Westminster, British Columbia. The mill had cost $350,000 to build, and was headed by President James McLaren, a Quebec timber investor and President of the Bank of Ottawa, and Vice-President Frank Ross. Production at the mill began in 1890. In addition to new facilities and a large amount of capital to support it, the mill also possessed the transportation benefits of frontage on the Fraser River and a spur line to the Canadian Pacific Railway system. However, despite these advantages, the mill soon faced several events that affected its production in a negative way. In addition to the death of McLaren, the mill also experienced a decreased demand for timber due to a general economic depression in 1892. Even when other mills began to recover in 1895, Ross, McLaren’s productivity was curtailed by the silting of the Fraser River, which made it impossible for large vessels to reach the mill.

All of these factors contributed to the company’s decision in 1899 to place the mill and its timber rights up for sale. An American investment syndicate, headed by Lester David of Seattle and Mr. Jenkins of Minneapolis eventually purchased the mill in 1903. The new owners sought to resolve the mill’s difficulties by dyking the area, and holding the federal government accountable for dredging the Fraser River channel and ensuring its accessibility to ships. Now called Fraser River Saw Mills, the mill was finally re-opened in 1905, as the largest mill in the Pacific Northwest. By 1906, the mill was already setting records for production levels and over 250 labourers were employed. As a result of the increased production levels and staff, both the mill and Millside were expanded; this included the construction of the Fraser Mills Sash, Door & Shingle Company Limited.

Production at the mill was so high by 1907, in fact, that the mill was nearly shut down due to a lack of available labour. The mill was taken over by an investment syndicate headed by A.D. McRae of Winnipeg and Senator Peter Jansen of Nebraska. The new owners instituted a major re-organization of the business. A half million dollar renovation and expansion of the original mill buildings was implemented and improvements made to increase transportation access to the mill via the Fraser River. The name of the town was changed from Millside to Fraser Mills.

The re-organization of the business culminated in 1910, with the purchase of enough timber rights in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island for the company, now called the Canadian Western Lumber Company Limited, to be considered to have the largest private holdings in the world. Through direct or indirect purchase, the Canadian Western Lumber Company Limited acquired full or partial ownership of the following companies by 1916: Canadian Tugboat Company Limited; Coast Lumber & Fuel Company Limited; Coast Lumber Yards Limited; The Columbia River Company Limited; Columbia Western Lumber Yards Ltd.; Comox Logging and Railway Company; Crown Lumber Company, Limited; Fraser Mills Sash, Door, and Shingle Company Limited; Lumber Manufacturers’ Yard Limited; Security Lumber Company Limited.; and Western Canada Sawmill Yards Limited. Later acquisitions include The Golden Light, Power and Water Company Limited. In 1954, the Canadian Western Lumber Company, Limited was acquired by Crown Zellerbach Canada Limited. The immediate successor company to Crown Zellerbach Canada Limited was Fletcher Challenge Limited of New Zealand, which purchased the company in 1983 and, with further acquisitions, became Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited in 1987. In 2000, Norske Skog, a Norwegian paper company, acquired all of Fletcher Challenge's pulp and paper assets, and a majority interest in Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited. This resulted in the formation of Norske Skog Canada Limited.