This portion of the recording pertains to Robert "Bob" Lowe's memories of growing up in Burnaby. He discusses transportation in Burnaby, including the first cars in his family. Bob talks about recreational activities available to Burnaby residents in the late nineteen-thirties and early nineteen-fo…
This portion of the recording pertains to Robert "Bob" Lowe's memories of growing up in Burnaby. He discusses transportation in Burnaby, including the first cars in his family. Bob talks about recreational activities available to Burnaby residents in the late nineteen-thirties and early nineteen-forties, as well as changes that he has seen from his time growing up to the time of raising his own children.
Date Range
1939-1972
Photo Info
Robert "Bob" Lowe (at center) and friends riding soap box race cars, [1939]. Item no. 549-041.
Recording is an interview with Robert "Bob" Lowe conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, November 5, 2012. Major theme discussed: the rise of the automobile and its effect on development in Burnaby.
Biographical Notes
Robert "Bob" Lowe has lived his entire life in Burnaby. During his childhood, Bob’s family lived at several addresses near Royal Oak and what is now Canada Way. He attended Douglas Road Elementary and South Burnaby High Schools. After graduating, Bob worked for a few years before enrolling in Normal School for a teaching certificate. He began teaching in Vancouver, married in 1952, and started a family. The Lowes moved to Government Road in 1961 and began a hobby farm, while Bob upgraded his formal education and became an administrator in the new college system.
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.
Photograph of Jim Lorimer standing in front of a group of parked buses during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the 49th Avenue bus service in Burnaby (during his term as Municipal Affairs Minister). He represented the provincial constituency of Burnaby-Willingdon from 1969 to 1975, an…
Photograph of Jim Lorimer standing in front of a group of parked buses during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the 49th Avenue bus service in Burnaby (during his term as Municipal Affairs Minister). He represented the provincial constituency of Burnaby-Willingdon from 1969 to 1975, and again from 1979 to 1983 for the New Democratic Party. Before that he was a Burnaby Council member from 1966 to 1968, and in 1990 he was awarded the status of Freeman, the highest award to be bestowed by the Municipal government.
File contains photographs of the bus loop at Metrotown. Photographs depict transit riders waiting in lines and on seats for buses and a TransLink bus in the background.
File contains photographs of the bus loop at Metrotown. Photographs depict transit riders waiting in lines and on seats for buses and a TransLink bus in the background.
Photograph of a bus overturned on the side of a road after an accident. The mountains are visible in the background and two people, wearing a suit and a reflective vest, are beside the bus with a piece of heavy machinery.
Photograph of a bus overturned on the side of a road after an accident. The mountains are visible in the background and two people, wearing a suit and a reflective vest, are beside the bus with a piece of heavy machinery.
Collected by editorial for use in a December 2000 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Dale Ruckman has been decorating his bus at Christmas time for years. But the tradition will soon come to an end, as he retires from the Coast Mountain Transit Company at the end of the year."
Collected by editorial for use in a March 2004 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Burnaby bus riders have reason to feel safe when they take Ed Branden's route to Brentwood Mall; he's one of five TransLink drivers to receive a safe driving award."
Photograph of two RCMP officers filling a bag with belongings of a victim after an accident. The 106 Metrotown Station bus is visible in the background.
Photograph of two RCMP officers filling a bag with belongings of a victim after an accident. The 106 Metrotown Station bus is visible in the background.
Collected by editorial for use in a December 2000 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Burnaby RCMP pack up the belongings of a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a BC Transit bus Monday morning, at the entrance to the Edmonds Skytrain station."