John Gerbrandt, Vancouver

Hi '69 Class,


I will unfortunately not be able to attend the 40th reunion. A short summary of my actives of my activities after graduation include the following:



- May 1969 I moved to BC to work at the University of British Columbia.

- After one year in Vancouver it became clear to me that I did not want to move back to Manitoba with its cold winters and the mosquitoes in summer.

- November 1, 1971 I started work with the Province of BC Ministry of Forests and Lands as a Land Officer dealing with Crown land applications and tenures. A degree in Agriculture or Forestry was a mandatory requirement for this job.

- The last 10 years I worked as a project manager in the development and sale of Crown land to the public.

- In 2007 after 35 years I retired from the Provincial Government with a full pension.

- BC is still 95% Crown land and I enjoyed my career with the Province dealing with things such as agriculture lease applications, recreational cottage sites, industrial uses, ski hill development and residential development to name a few. There were days in which I marveled that I was being paid for the work I was doing as it was so interesting and enjoyable.

- I married in 1988 and have one daughter from that marriage. She is 20 years old and is in 3rd year engineering at UBC.

- I love living in Vancouver and for years enjoyed skiing at Whistler and the other local mountains.

- Among other things I enjoy dancing, playing bridge and golfing. The latter remains one of my challenges as I always think I can play this game better.



I wish all my former 1969 class mates all the best and hope that they also had/have enjoyable careers.



John Gerbrandt