His mother’s family was from Britain and managed a large landholding for a Russian count. They fled Russia when Winnifred (Winnie) was a girl, because of the social strife in that country that eventually led to the Russian Revolution.
Dad’s dad, known as Charlie, emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s, eventually partnering in a saddle and harness leather goods business in Winnipeg. That is where Charlie met his future wife, Winnie, a school teacher.
Coincidentally, Diane and her family lived in Winnipeg during the 1990’s. When dad and mom visited them one year, Diane fondly remembers helping her dad find the very school where his mother had taught in the early 1920’s. They also found the building of the saddle and harness store … it was now a baby store, where Diane and Bill had purchased Lauren and Haley’s crib only one year before!
Winnie and Charlie settled in Olds, Alberta (a vast metropolis of 700 people in 1925) where they owned and operated the Beer Hardware Company. Dad (Chuck) was an only child and grew up in Olds like many a prairie kid, playing hockey on frozen sloughs, collecting gopher tails (1 cent each) and roaming the town and prairie on his bike.
Dad finished high school in Victoria, and enlisted virtually immediately in the Navy. Dates of this are vague from dad … likely because he got into the service before he was of legal age. He was relocated to Halifax where he was a gunner on the destroyer, the HMCS Micmac, and trained as a commando which involved jumping into the Atlantic in full gear and having ammunition shot over head so they would get used to it! Fortunately for him, and us, the war ended before he had to try this in enemy waters!
After the war, dad enrolled in the University of BC and graduated with his Bachelor of Commerce degree. During this time, he also worked as a surveyor in BC’s interior and his daughters remember well his stories of encounters with many a bear along the way. To this day, Janice remembers and uses her dad’s advice … ‘look ahead, but don’t forget to look behind to know where you’ve come from.’ For dad, a lover of history and genealogy, this applied to trails and life.
Chuck joined the Bank of Nova Scotia in the early 1950’s. This was the start of a long and successful career. Also working at the Main Branch on Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver, was the high spirited and beautiful Susan Polanski. They soon became an ‘item’ and were married in 1955 and have been each other’s life partners and best friends for over 63 years.
Chuck and Susan bought their first home in Edgemont Village on Beverly Crescent and this is where they were living when both Janice and Diane were born. Transferred to Toronto in 1964, Chuck and Susan, raised their girls, ensuring they too could skate on frozen sloughs, swim in high waves (no ammunition being shot overhead to worry about) and race about the subdivision on their bikes.
They were delighted to be transferred back to Vancouver in 1971 when Dad was promoted to head-up Human Resources in Western Canada for the Bank of Nova Scotia, resettling in the Highlands area of North Vancouver.
Many happy years ensued. Chuck and Susan ensured the girls had many varied experiences. They crossed the prairies and Canadian Shield countless times, visiting their grandma in Winnipeg and many of our 20 cousins along the way. They left the shores of Canada for the first time to visit Bank friends in Kingston, Jamaica, which started a family fondness for Harry Belafonte tunes. They also took the girls out of school for a month in the early 1970’s, traveling with the Kirton family exploring England and Scotland.
These adventures and later, many trips to Maui, hold amazing memories. All of them were wonderful, even the time when the tent trailer got stuck in the sand and dad had to get the garbage truck to pull us out (oh the humiliation!), or the time we got separated from the Kirton’s in England and weren’t able to find each other until 7 days later when we joined up at a pre booked hotel (no cell phones in those days) … and the time we got lost in the dark in the Hawaiian sugar cane field trying to find the Maui Loo.
Dad, and mom, infused in us a love of family, a strong work ethic and a healthy sense of adventure. We are who we are because of them … although dad would sometimes wonder aloud whether we really needed to be THAT adventurous or where we got such stubborn streaks. Yes, we wonder!
Chuck retired from the Bank in 1986, with his final role being the Bank’s host for Expo 86. In retirement Dad researched and compiled the Beer family history which he knew would be of interest to his daughters later in life … and he was right. It is a lovely piece of ‘Canadiana’ that enriches our understanding of Dad’s early life.
In retirement Dad also became an even better golfer; he and mom enjoyed many a wonderful trip with family and friends; dad carved a flotilla of ducks for the females of the family; and he became a doting grandpa to his beloved granddaughters, Lauren and Haley.
Composed by Janice Beer and Diane Mooney and read at Chuck’s Memorial Service on January 11, 2019. Historical elements were gleaned from the ‘genealogy’ that Chuck prepared in early retirement, entitled, The Beers – A History.
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