Allan Pederson, passed away Monday, January 30, 2017 in his home, he was 82.
Al was born on October 20, 1934 in the town of Kyle, Saskatchewan. After spending his childhood in Kyle with his parents Axel and Beatrice and brother and sister Lorne and Beryl, Al began work with an oil exploration company on various projects. From there Al moved to Calgary and worked in construction, which included the building of the 14th Street Bridge.
In 1954 he joined the Royal Canadian Navy and spent five years on ships our of Esquimalt, B.C. as a Radar Specialist. While stationed there he met Barbara Laird in Victoria who was in training as a nurse to Royal Jubilee Hospital and then married in 1958. Upon Al’s discharge from the navy they moved to Saskatchewan where Al enrolled in barbering school and practiced once completed.
Al and Barb always had a desire to move back to B.C. and after a visit in 1966 with Barbs brother, Sandy Laird and family, in Fraser Lake, Al found there were no barbers in Ft. St. James so they made the decision to move. Just before the move in 1968 it was discovered that a barber had set up shop so Al went to Burns Lake and found the only barber there quite busy. So the move was advanced further onto Burns Lake where Al set up a barber shop in the basement of the Tweedsmuir Hotel and then later moved into B.L. Cash and Delivery building.
After several years Al developed an allergy to human hair so he took on several jobs but finally started working on the Francois Lake ferry aboard the ‘Jacob Henkel’ in 1976 and finished his career as a Captain of the ‘Omineca Princess’ in 1994.
Al spent most of his leisure time with the quarter horses that he and Barb raised on their small hobby farm on Babine Lake Road. He also managed to catch a ‘few’ fish which was his favorite pastime. When they owned a place on Babine Lake he could be found almost every weekend on the lake trying to snag the big one. In his later years he enjoyed the smaller lakes such as Co-op Lake.
Al and Barb enjoyed many trips in their fifth wheel to various places locally and snow birding in Arizona and Southern California.
Al will be greatly missed. He was predeceased by both parents, his brother, and his oldest son Brett. Al is survived by his wife Barb, his sister Beryl and his youngest son Chris.
In honouring Al’s wishes, there will be no memorial service.