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.

Established in 1910, McElhanney’s family of companies, including McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd and McElhanney Land Surveys Ltd, provide integrated surveying, engineering, mapping and specialty professional services to clients responsible for the development of resource industries, communities, and infrastructure across western Canada and beyond.

Bob McLean was a racecar driver who was killed racing the very first GT40 chassis at the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours. McLean was born in 1933 in Port Pirie, in Southern Australia. He moved all over the world but eventually settled on the West Coast of Canada. He raced his MGA in the first race at Westwood Racetrack on opening day, July 26, 1959. In 1965, he dominated the Canadian Championship, winning 19 out of 21 races. His record caught the attention of Ford and he was offered a single-race contract to drive the Mk1 GT40 at the twelve-hour race in Sebring. Four people were killed during the race, including McLean.

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.

The offices of Meredith, Bruce, Baldwin & Kitto were located at 402 West Pender Street in Vancouver and 638 Baker Street in Nelson, BC.

The Meridian Heights Farmers Institute was formed in the early 1930s (exact date unknown, however the first available Minutes from January 4th, 1932 make mention of thanks to be given to Mr. Morris, Mr. Gillis, and Mr. Martin for their assistance in the formation of the institute). Farmers Institutes were created by district under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and the Superintendent of Farmers’ Institutes. The Superintendent served as a Director on each local board. Meetings of the Meridian Heights Farmers Institute were held in Glen School for several meetings in 1932 until the Institute moved its regular meetings to Victoria Hall School. The Institute met to discuss issues relating to the community including road development, land development, employment, worker’s rights, price of goods, buildings etc., and they also organized and held social gatherings with the women’s auxiliary at the Meridian Heights Farmers Institute Hall (also known as Victoria Hall and Dogpatch Hall). The Farmers Institute served as the centre of the community that was very isolated in the early days of settlement. The Institute was later replaced by the Ratepayers Association in the 1950s.

Moody Junior-Senior High School is a junior high school located at 130 Buller St, Port Moody, British Columbia.

By the 1950s Port Moody needed a new school to replace the now aging Central School. Moody Junior-Senior High School was built to house grades 7-12 at 3115 St. John's St. in 1951. The school was originally supposed to be called 'Port Moody Junior-Senior High School' but a mistake had been made on the sign. The school opened with 19 teachers and 404 students from Ioco, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.

In 1962, Moody High School began expansion, including a band room, cafeteria, four classrooms, a student council room and book storage area. Changes were being made to accommodate a larger student population, and extracurricular activities. On March 24th, 1969, the school was completely destroyed in a fire. For the final months of the 1969 school year, students attended classes at Como Lake Secondary School.

Port Moody's replacement high school was completed and ready for students by the spring of 1970, but the school board decided to wait until September to open the school to avoid disrupting the students further. In September 1970, the first classes were held in the brand new building.

By 1973, the school was converted to a junior high school, as another school called Port Moody Senior Secondary was built to accommodate the growing number of high school students. The junior high school was then renamed Moody Middle School in the late 1990's. In 2018, the facility was demolished and rebuilt by Omicron Architects and Olivit Construction. It was also renamed École Moody Middle School of the Arts.

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.

In 1929, Council noted that Blue Mountain School was no longer in condition to be used and that a new school be built at Smith Road, called Mountain View School. It is currently located at 740 Smith Ave, Coquitlam, British Columbia.

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.

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.

The Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers Association was founded in 1967 to represent the interests of the residents of northeast Coquitlam. The Association lobbied municipal and provincial government, and other second parties, on issues related to community planning, development, land use, and public services. Members of the Association participated in municipal committees and, notably, provided input through the Community Planning Advisory Committee on the Northeast Coquitlam Official Community Plan (2000).

Association Presidents were:

Bill Campbell (1968)
Knut Chetney (1969-1970)
Eric Paterson (1971-1973)
Derek Barrio (1973-1974)
Ed Bejtouic (1975)
Eric Paterson (1975-1976)
George Wadsworth (1976-1978)
Knut Chetney (1978-1982)
Eleanor Ward (1983)
Gloria Howorth (1983-1984)
Eleanor Ward (1984-1985)
Bob Behnke (1986-1988)
Clara Brolese (1988-1990)
Eleanor Ward (1990-2000)
Brent Asmundson (2000-2005)
Freda Hart (2006-2008)
Jim McNeil (ca. 2014-2015)

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.

Terry O'Neill was born on July 13 1951 in St. Boniface, Manitoba. He graduated from Simon Fraser University in 1974, Bachelor of Arts (English major) and Graduated from Carleton University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Journalism (Honors). Terry is an award winning editor, writer, and communications specialist who combined journalistic endeavors with community activism. He was a founding member and past president of the Eagle Ridge Residents Association in Coquitlam and sat on the boards of the Coquitlam Foundation and Signal Hill. He served on City Council for two terms 2011 to 2018. Council Committee work included serving on the 3030 Gordon Emergency Shelter Task Force, Culture Services Advisory Committee, Multicultural Advisory Committee and the Sustainability and Environmental Advisory Committee. Since leaving Council O'Neill has dedicated his time to community service by continuing to work with the Talitha Koum Society and as a volunteer with Blooms into Rooms.

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.

On November 17, 1946, Rev. Ovila Meunier, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI), met with a group living on the west side of Lebleu Street to plan a new parish that would honour Our Lady of Fatima. During this meeting, John Lambert was elected as the President of the new Parish Council. Five acres of land were purchased on Alderson Street, which included two small houses. On December 8, 1946, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the first Mass at Our Lady of Fatima was celebrated.

Pacific Survey Corporation was a mapping firm based in Vancouver. Its operations ceased prior to 1989.

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.

Peregrine Photographics was a photo studio at 35-Sixth St., New Westminster, British Columbia.

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.

On May 25, 1987, Alderman Ray Mitchuk proposed a motion to Council to create a publication to celebrate Coquitlam’s Centennial. The motion read as follows:

“Inasmuch as the District of Coquitlam will be 100 years old in 1991,

And Inasmuch as an integral part of the celebration of such an anniversary is often the publication of a special book containing pictures and entertaining and nostalgic and informative data and history of a community,

Therefore Be It Resolved that Council appoint a committee of lay people, Fine Arts Council, professionals and members of the Public Library, to begin laying the groundwork for such a publication, to be funded by an advance of say $5,000 to meet initial expenses, and thereafter be marketed, and excess funds from sales be earmarked for a charitable purpose, or to meet library operating costs. The book will augment or replace the only written history of Coquitlam and Fraser Mills written by Harry Monk and John Stewart, and permission to use excerpts from that publication be sought. The published books will remain the property of the District of Coquitlam.”

The Committee members included: Ted Nikiforuk (chairman), Kathy Bach, Pat Cooper, Craig Hodge, Charlotte Lonneberg, Stan Pukesh, Larry Rose. The committee members served on a volunteer basis and meetings were conducted on a consensus basis. Originally, the concept for the book involved having Centennial High School students conduct the interviews; however, this proved too challenging to organize so reporters from the Coquitlam Now (including Hazel Postma) did the interviewing, transcription, and editing. Craig Hodge coordinated the collection of photographs, which were gathered from a variety of sources including archives, businesses, public and religious institutions, and members of the public.

6900 copies of the publication were printed by Hemlock Printers Company in 1990.