Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Wilfred (Wilf) Michael Freeman was born October 21, 1917 in Vancouver B.C. and died December 23, 2012. He was the son of William George Freeman and Robina Steel (Manson) Freeman and brother to Elizabeth Jane May (Freeman) Ellingsen (born March 13, 1914). His grandparents were Michael and Jane Manson. Wilf grew up on Hernando Island until 1926 when the family moved to Vancouver. One of his first jobs in the early 1930s was in Powell River where, among other things, he was hand digging basements under some of the original Powell River townsite homes.
He gravitated to the logging industry, working for Sigurd Ellingsen and Eric Flescher in Phillips Arm through the late ’30’s and into the 1950’s. He was an excellent worker; strong, resourceful, thoughtful, humorous and thorough, and, as well, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Wilf and his wife, May (Spence; died 1970) moved down to Smelt Bay on Cortes in the early 1950s from Phillips Arm. He logged with Bill Mathews between 1954 and 1965 in the Von Donop Creek areas. As well, they both crewed on the seine boat “Courtenay Maid” with Pat Andrews for a few summers.
When the ferry came to Cortes Island, both Wilf and Bill worked as deckhands, always cheerful and busy throughout the trips, often chipping and repainting rust spots on the ship.
Wilf was active in many community affairs over all the years living on Cortes: among them the Ratepayers Association, the 1958 Centennial Committee, the Cortes Grapevine Telephone Assoc. (a local telephone system, 1959 - 1966), Cortes Days summer celebrations, Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc., Cortes Rod and Gun Club.
Wilf and his second wife, Nora, lived on in Smelt Bay until they moved to Willow Point, South of Campbell River, in 2002. There they lived until, on December 23, 2102, he passed away while shovelling snow in their back yard.
Custodial History
Accession 2001.001 was donated to CIMAS by Wilfred Freeman on June 16, 2001. Accession 2002.002 was gathered at Wilf Freeman's garage sale by Bonnie MacDonald and donated to the museum in June of 2002. Accession 2017.006 was donated to CIMAS by Bruce Ellingsen, Freeman's nephew, in July of 2017.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Photograph of Rev. Rollo Boas and his wife Kay scraping paint from the Columbia Coast Mission boat "Rendezvous" at the Whaletown wharf. Ken Slater's troller "Wahkana Bay" is in the background, two unindentified gas boats are tied to the floats. Of note: clearing for the Huck family home in background indicates the year the photo was taken. There are two captions on the back, in different handwriting (top is Gilean Douglas'.)
Photograph of Rev. Rollo Boas and his wife Kay scraping paint from the Columbia Coast Mission boat "Rendezvous" at the Whaletown wharf. Ken Slater's troller "Wahkana Bay" is in the background, two unindentified gas boats are tied to the floats. Of note: clearing for the Huck family home in background indicates the year the photo was taken. There are two captions on the back, in different handwriting (top is Gilean Douglas'.)
Photograph of the "Rendezvous" in Whaletown Bay. This boat was owned by the Columbia Coast Mission from 1924-1955. It was operated by the Rev. Rollo Boas out of Whaletown from 1944 to 1954 and then briefly by Joe Titus, before being sold to Ed Tooker in 1955. Tooker renamed it the "Tari Jacque" after his two daughters, and used the boat for his work as a fisheries patrolman for the DFO. In 2015 Tooker sold the boat to Robert Critchley, who is the present-day owner (2021).
Photograph of the "Rendezvous" in Whaletown Bay. This boat was owned by the Columbia Coast Mission from 1924-1955. It was operated by the Rev. Rollo Boas out of Whaletown from 1944 to 1954 and then briefly by Joe Titus, before being sold to Ed Tooker in 1955. Tooker renamed it the "Tari Jacque" after his two daughters, and used the boat for his work as a fisheries patrolman for the DFO. In 2015 Tooker sold the boat to Robert Critchley, who is the present-day owner (2021).
