This portion of the recording pertains to Dennis Brown's memories of reconnecting with his wife Cice (Chandler) Brown on the interurban tram. He discusses his job history and tells the story of single-handedly clearing land for their family home.
This portion of the recording pertains to Dennis Brown's memories of reconnecting with his wife Cice (Chandler) Brown on the interurban tram. He discusses his job history and tells the story of single-handedly clearing land for their family home.
Date Range
1944-1960
Photo Info
Dennis Brown (far left) with his wife Cice (Chandler) Brown (far right) and their five children, [1964]. Item no. 549-018.
Recording is an interview with Dennis Brown conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, September 18, 2012. Major theme discussed: life in Burnaby during the war years.
Biographical Notes
Dennis Brown’s family moved from North Vancouver to South Burnaby, near Central Park, in 1941. Dennis finished his high school in Burnaby and enlisted in the air force, completing basic training. He returned to Burnaby looking for work and found employment stoking the boiler of a cargo ship. He and a friend spent the next year sailing around the world.
When Dennis returned to Burnaby, he found work at a local shingle mill, married Cice Chandler and began work on a new home at Willingdon and Imperial. He and Cice had two children in 1948 and 1950, and three more in the later nineteen-fifties. By this time, Dennis had retrained as an accountant and worked in several large businesses in Vancouver. In their later years, both Dennis and Cice were active in the restoration of the Parker Carousel and Interurban 1223 (now on display at the Burnaby Village Museum) and both were honoured independently with “Citizen of the Year” awards.
Cice (Chandler) Brown was, additionally, Honourary Reeve of the Burnaby Village Museum.
Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed master’s and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. In 2012, Eric worked for the City of Burnaby as a field researcher and writer, conducting interviews for the City Archives and Museum Oral History Program.