The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 8 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY September 1997 P lULy ARCHIVES CORNER u Mary Chapman, Archives Volunteer Coordinator with information supplied by Midge Shattuck. Mrs. Middleton, where are you? ” I first met Babs Reid, (Middleton) when we were girls, 19-21 years of age, going to dances at the Lynmnour HaU in North Van. (Those were the days, mid 1930’s). She was a very pretty girl, fiill of life, smiling and bubbly all the time. She started going with a West Vancouver boy, Jim Watson, in the late 1930's. Jim had attended Hollybum School, and went on to Inglewood High where he was a member of the Seaforth Highlander Cadet Corps from its inception. I remember him wearing his Seaforth Highlander Uniform in several of the West Vancouver May Day celebrations. Jim subsequently married Babs, and enlisted in the war. I lost touch and didn’t think of them again until by chance his name was brought to my attention. When I was living in the Queen Charlottes between 1942 -19451 used to come “out” to Vancouver during the winter months for about 6 weeks while all logging camps closed for Xmas and usually snow conditions. I came out about 2 weeks earlier than my husband to find hotel accommodation, at the Ritz, Sylvia Court, etc. as staying with families was not for us. We’d missed the bright lights and had many Saturday nights to make up. It was probably on my first winter trip out, which took 5 days rather than the usual 2 1/2 days. Unbeknown to us passengers, a Japanese submarine had been sighted in the area and the Union Steam Ship, in dodging the so called stalker, stopped at many unusual ports of call. To break the monotony they provided many forms of entertainment, among which was dance music provided by a Canadian Air Force band that was on board. We were not informed about the scare being the cause of delay until we reached safe waters. One of the players in the band was Lance Harrison and in talking to him during the trip he told me that he had a cousin from West Vancouver (where I had told him I came from) - his name was Jim Watson, he had joined the Seaforths, etc. A day or two after I landed in Vancouver I read in the paper that a Jim Watson had died very suddenly. He was on his way home to West Vancouver to meet, for the first time, his tiny daughter Midge. I have only now learned that Jim had contracted TB and was sent to a sanitarium in Tranquille to recuperate. He was actually on a train traveling from Kamloops to Vancouver when he died, the cause of death was spinal meningitis. Residing in North Vancouver following the war, I lost contact with Babs and knew little more about her than that she had married Babe Middleton in 1949 and together th^ were operating Middleton’s Department Store at 16th and Marine and later the West Vancouver Bowlerdrome at 15 th and Clyde until it sold in 1959. Babs became a widow once more with the passing of Babe Middleton in 1959. The next time I saw Babs was at a medical clinic at 19th and Lonsdale in North Vancouver where I was having some lab work done; Babs was working there. Some years later I remember see- ing a headline in the local paper, “Mrs. Middleton, where are you?”. Apparently, after working for 19 years in the clinic I believe, she had retired. She had made so many friends amongst the patients that they chose this avenue to show how sorry they were to see her go. I next met Babs at one of the early West Vancouver Historical Society general meetings - as beautiful and bubbly as ever -hadn’t changed a bit since those early 1930’s days, except that she now had silver hair. Babs attended most of the Society general meetings and was always so helpfiil at the reception desk. She was a regular on the phoning committee and was always such a willing helper at whatever function the Society needed help, such as Heritage displays in Park Royal; her bubbling personality never faltered. It was the summer of 1993 that Babs suffered a stroke which permanently damaged her speech and left her right side paralyzed. Her vision was also affected, leaving her unable to read, which was her passion, or see TV clearly. I first heard about her stroke in September of 1993 and dropped in one day to see her as I lived so close to the hospital. She had just been brought back to her bed and looked as beautiful as ever. When I spoke it was obvious that she comprehended everything I said but could make no reply. I told her not to fret and I brought her up to date on Society doings and a few other items I thought might interest her. That was the last time I saw Babs although I heard she was in Evergreen House. Despite rumoms to the contrary, Babs actually did receive visitors until the last couple of years. She became so fhistrated trying to talk to people she apparently just decided it was not worth the effort any more. Babs Middleton died April 1, 1997 and regretfully her passing was not noted by our Board of Directors until it was too late for our last issue. Over the four years since Babs suffered her stroke the directors have changed several times and not many of them knew of her. Those who knew and remember her appreciate her cheerful and dedicated support for our Society in those earlier years when it meant so much. I can assure the surviving members of her family that her hard work will be remembered. Babs was also active in the West Vancouver Royal Canadian Legion. She was an active bowler and enjoyed long walks on the seawall. She enjoyed golfing and giving out-of-town guests tours of the Vancouver area she so loved. She was on the board of Oceanbrook Apartments and was always decorating or baking for the neighbors. She spent many holidays enjoying her two grandsons. She is greatly missed by her daughter. Midge Shattuck, her two grandsons, Scott and Bruce Mackie and her great grandson, Joshua Mackie. However, in the words of her daughter Midge, “She is resting gently now. ”