The Sun, Vancouver's largest daily newspaper, first appeared as The Vancouver Sun, 12 February 1912, "to consistently advocate the principles of Liberalism." Under publisher Robert Cromie and his sons, the Sun tended to support the Liberals but was often critical of them. The Sun expanded by buying out other newspapers.
With its 1917 purchase of the Daily News-Advertiser (est. 1886), it claimed to be the city's oldest newspaper; with its 1924 acquisition of The Evening World (est 1888), it became undisputedly the city's second most important newspaper. Not until its chief rival, The Vancouver Daily Province, suffered a prolonged labour dispute (1946-49) did the Sun emerge as the leading journal of the province. The majority of Cromie family holdings in Sun Publishing Co were sold to FP Publications Ltd in 1963, and in 1980 Southam Inc. bought the newspaper. In 1992, the Sun was taken over by Hollinger Inc. In 2010, it became part of the Postmedia Network group of newspapers, after the collapse of previous owner CanWest Global, which had purchased the newspaper as part of the sale of Hollinger, Inc assets in 2000.
Paul vanPeenen worked as a photojournalist at the Coquitlam NOW from August, 1991 to February, 2012. He was born in the Netherlands on April 10th, 1964 and immigrated to Winnipeg with his family in 1980. The family relocated to Calgary in 1981 and it was there that he began to discover his passion for photography. He enrolled in the Journalism Program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1985. During this time he worked at the Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune as a reporter/photographer. After graduation, he was offered a full-time position as the paper's staff photographer. In 1987, he completed an internship with the Edmonton Journal before taking a job with the Medicine Hat News. After four years he was hired by the Coquitlam NOW and spent the next 21 years as the staff photographer, documenting life in the Tri-Cities area. While working for the NOW, he completed a Masters of Liberal Arts at Simon Fraser University. He retired from the NOW in February, 2012 to pursue his love of travel and photography.
Donald Waite is a photographer, historian, author, and former RCMP officer.
Eleanor Martine (Larson) Ward was born in Fosston, Saskatchewan. She was an active and dedicated community volunteer who gave many years of service to a variety of organizations including the Girl Guides of Canada, the Red Cross, SHARE Society, the Justice Institute, and the GVRD Minnekhada Regional Park Association. She was a long-serving executive member of the Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers' Association, and served as the President from 1983 to 1985 and then again from 1990 to 2000. The Eleanor Ward Bridge that spans the Coquitlam River and connects Coquitlam Town Centre with Burke Mountain, is named in her honour. She passed away on December 25, 2003.
Dennis Eugene Welcher was born in the United States and emigrated to Canada in 1885. He served as Reeve of the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam from 1909-1910.
Operated by Paul Seligman (1913-1914); H. Charlton and H. Rathbun (1915-1920); and C.B. Wand (1921-1922).
The Westwood Plateau Community Association was formed in 1999 when the Westwood Plateau development was completed by Wesbild. A group of residents wanted to maintain a high quality of life on the Plateau and wished to see it be a safe and environmentally friendly place. A Mission Statement and Constitution were created and on April 17, 1999 elections were held for the first Directors of the newly created Westwood Plateau Community Association (WPCA).
Since its inception, the WPCA has sponsored a number of community events including garage sales, golf tournaments, public meetings, picnics, community dinners, and have prepared a community newsletter. The Association also involves itself in advocacy efforts for issues relating to Plateau residents. A major project of the association was the erection of a Reader Board at the corner of Johnston and David Avenue. The board enables the Association to keep residents informed of events.
Helena Regehr was born to Peter Regehr and Anna Reimer Regehr on May 16, 1910 in the small Mennonite village of Marjanowka No. 5 in the Terek settlement. It was situated in what is currently known as the Russian republic of Dagestan near the west coast of the Caspian Sea. She was born in the school house where the Regehrs had set up quarters and where her father was teacher. She was raised, with her seven siblings, in a German-speaking and faith-centered home with strong community ties.
As the Communists gained power throughout Russia, the peaceful life in Mennonite villages was threatened. With the assistance of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada, families began to plan for emigration. Helen was 15 years old when her family left Russia and boarded a ship to cross the Atlantic. They arrived in St. John’s, New Brunswick on January 24, 1926. A journey by train across Canada took them to Rosthern, Saskatchewan, where they lived for a year. In response to news about opportunities for work, they moved to Coaldale, Alberta in February of 1927.
As the Regehrs settled in Coaldale, Alberta, the first imperatives were to re-establish domestic life and to repay the CPR travel debt. The older children were unable to continue their schooling and contributed to the family labour and income. Helen, the oldest of the eight Regehr children, followed many of her peers to Vancouver where they worked as maids in wealthy British homes.
A new opportunity presented itself when the outbreak of the Second World War created an urgent need for nurses. Despite never having completed high school, Helen successfully enrolled in the School for Nurses of Essondale Mental Hospital in Essondale BC. She attended from 1944 to 1946, thriving under the demands of her studies and achieving the award for highest marks all three years.
Helen’s career as a psychiatric nurse took her to Ontario. She worked in a Toronto hospital and later in Bethesda Home for the Mentally Handicapped in Vineland where she met an orderly named John Wiebe, also a Mennonite immigrant from Russia. They were married on July 25, 1948.
John and Helen settled in Leamington, Ontario where she devoted herself to her home and her two children.
When her husband John passed away in 1971, Helen moved back to Coaldale, Alberta to help care for her aging parents. Later she moved again to Abbotsford, BC to be near her son and daughter-in-law and her two granddaughters. She lived there until her passing on May 7, 1989.
Daisy Elizabeth Wiltshire was born in Surrey, British Columbia on January 4, 1889 to Ernest and Elizabeth Wiltshire. She married Roderick C MacDonald on June 30, 1915. She died on December 31, 1976
Alexander Windram was born on February 21, 1881 in Eyemouth, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1910 with his wife, Mary and young son, John, and began working as a steamfitter at Fraser Mills. While building their lives in the growing mill town, the family welcomed another son, Andrew, and a daughter, Elsie. The family had not long settled when the First World War broke out.
Windram enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on February 22, 1916. According to his Attestation Papers, Windram was five foot seven and a half inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair and with tattoos on both forearms. He arrived in Liverpool on November 11, 1916 and was taken on strength into the 7th Battalion in January, 1917.
He fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and was killed on the first day of the Battle, April 9, 1917.
Susan's mother and father, Marie and George Wolpert, were married in Saskatchewan in the 1930's where they farmed for a short time and where her brother (Clarence) and sister were born. Her father moved to Vancouver in 1941 and after finding work and buying a house, her mother, brother and sister followed in 1942. In 1944, they sold and bought land on which they built the house on Schoolhouse Road.
Her parents sold this house in 1952 and moved to Quesnel where she grew up. Her mother died in 1972. As of 2026 she resides in Vancouver.
Barb Wood was born in Halifax in 1953. She studied architecture and fine arts at the University of Waterloo from 1972 to 1976, graduating with an honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After graduation she moved to Vancouver with her husband: the architect Don Hazelden.
In 1980, she set up Barb Wood Graphics Ltd. Corporate clients included the Bank of Nova Scotia, BMO, RBC, BC Sugar, Dairyland, Neptune Terminals, BC Ferries, and several municipalities including the City of Coquitlam. She also became a partner in the successful printmaking co-op and gallery Six of One on Granville Island.