Ted Towers, a life story (rev)
Posted by Ed Klassen
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Ted Towers shares his life story with us. This is a good read.
Ted Towers was born on January 11, 1917 in a small town called Churchtown, near Preston Lancashire England.
He was married to Nicole in 1946 in Brussels during his time in the service. Nicole was from France. Ted and Nicole have one daughter who still resides in the Delta. Nicole deceased some years ago.
Ted had three brothers and two sisters. One sister died at the age of 4.
Here are a few of Ted's life experiences that he shared with us.
In 1938 Ted applied for the Air Force. He was keen to become a pilot, but was not able to as he had a knee problem and was declined for that reason. Ted was commissioned to the equipment branch of the Air Force. He spent almost a year in France. Then he was posted to the Isle of Man for a year or so. For almost two years, he then was assigned to be in charge of "parts inventory control" in Africa.
As planes could not be flown there, they sent them to Africa in parts, and they were assembled there. He had a few other tasks. Ted became involved with the Beach Landing Squadron after he returned to Britain.
One of his many duties was building landing strips as well as clearing mines. This was in 1944. Jailbirds were given the opportunity to do most of the manual labour in building of these landing strips, and Ted admits they did a great job at it. Anything to get out of those cells!
For the following two years, Ted was involved with administrative work, at which time he met Nicole. He was then demobilized with the rank of wing commander.
At this point in Ted's life, he went back to civilian life. His father had a bakery in England and had been quite sick. Ted took over the business and did an outstanding job in expanding it three fold through a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
Nicole also assisted Ted.
Once she had mastered the English language a bit more, she worked in one of the retail outlets that Ted had set up. By 1954, Ted realized that this was not to be his future. He claimed it was just too much hard work, so he started to read about Canada.
Ted claimed he was always the inquisitive type, reading as much as he could to educate himself.
Canada intrigued him. Initially, Ted came to Vancouver. On his train trip to Vancouver, he met a very interesting gentleman in the bar. As Ted was bilingual, he was a rare commodity, especially in Canada where French is our second language. It turned out the gentleman he spent time with was the President of the Stetson Hat Co., and he offered Ted a wonderful job in Montreal.
Although Ted did not have employment at this time, he declined the offer, as he did not wish to live in Montreal, and wanted to live on the coast.So, off he went to Kitimat, of all places, and very much enjoyed this experience.
From there he returned to Vancouver where Nicole eventually joined him.
A friendship Ted had developed with a German prisoner eventually led Ted into the insurance business as an insurance agent. It was not long before an opportunity came along to become a 50% owner of a General Insurance Agency in Delta, which he chose to pursue.
His partner died some time later and Ted purchased the balance of the business at that time. This was his vocation for some 24 years.
Ted recalls that the business cost him some $2,400.00. When he did sell, he realized a very handsome profit.
Having the foresight to purchase a 2-acre property also helped Ted increase his fortunes in later years.
Ted loved horses and he became heavily involved with many aspects of the horse industry during his time in Ladner, especially with the Delta Agricultural Society.
As is usually the case with those with strong leadership skills, Ted was very involved in the Delta community. With the Council appointed "Civil Defense Co-coordinator", Local Rate Payers Society, Ladner Business Association, Real Estate Assessment Board, Advisory Planning Commission and of course the Rotary Club of Ladner, Ted kept himself very busy. He also belonged to the Beach Grove Golf and Country Club for over 30 years. The late Ted Gibbs, a Ladner Rotarian, made Ted a life member of the Tsawwassen Golf Course. Ted joined the Rotary Club of Ladner in 1958, shortly after the club was chartered. By 1961 he was our Club President.
He has been involved with countless fundraising projects and entertainment functions. He recalls the cabaret dinners and dances where the Ladner members would be the entertainment to their friends and family. Often, they would dress up and play roles of the opposite sex. It was a time of Rotary fellowship! This event went on for a dozen years or so. Ted was also involved in getting the Rotary Park built as well as building the Girls Guide Camp. His wisdom and depth of knowledge in this community was invaluable.
Ted shared this information for us so we could remember him and his life. He is now deceased.
Thanks Ted.
He was married to Nicole in 1946 in Brussels during his time in the service. Nicole was from France. Ted and Nicole have one daughter who still resides in the Delta. Nicole deceased some years ago.
Ted had three brothers and two sisters. One sister died at the age of 4.
Here are a few of Ted's life experiences that he shared with us.
In 1938 Ted applied for the Air Force. He was keen to become a pilot, but was not able to as he had a knee problem and was declined for that reason. Ted was commissioned to the equipment branch of the Air Force. He spent almost a year in France. Then he was posted to the Isle of Man for a year or so. For almost two years, he then was assigned to be in charge of "parts inventory control" in Africa.
As planes could not be flown there, they sent them to Africa in parts, and they were assembled there. He had a few other tasks. Ted became involved with the Beach Landing Squadron after he returned to Britain.
One of his many duties was building landing strips as well as clearing mines. This was in 1944. Jailbirds were given the opportunity to do most of the manual labour in building of these landing strips, and Ted admits they did a great job at it. Anything to get out of those cells!
For the following two years, Ted was involved with administrative work, at which time he met Nicole. He was then demobilized with the rank of wing commander.
At this point in Ted's life, he went back to civilian life. His father had a bakery in England and had been quite sick. Ted took over the business and did an outstanding job in expanding it three fold through a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
Nicole also assisted Ted.
Once she had mastered the English language a bit more, she worked in one of the retail outlets that Ted had set up. By 1954, Ted realized that this was not to be his future. He claimed it was just too much hard work, so he started to read about Canada.
Ted claimed he was always the inquisitive type, reading as much as he could to educate himself.
Canada intrigued him. Initially, Ted came to Vancouver. On his train trip to Vancouver, he met a very interesting gentleman in the bar. As Ted was bilingual, he was a rare commodity, especially in Canada where French is our second language. It turned out the gentleman he spent time with was the President of the Stetson Hat Co., and he offered Ted a wonderful job in Montreal.
Although Ted did not have employment at this time, he declined the offer, as he did not wish to live in Montreal, and wanted to live on the coast.So, off he went to Kitimat, of all places, and very much enjoyed this experience.
From there he returned to Vancouver where Nicole eventually joined him.
A friendship Ted had developed with a German prisoner eventually led Ted into the insurance business as an insurance agent. It was not long before an opportunity came along to become a 50% owner of a General Insurance Agency in Delta, which he chose to pursue.
His partner died some time later and Ted purchased the balance of the business at that time. This was his vocation for some 24 years.
Ted recalls that the business cost him some $2,400.00. When he did sell, he realized a very handsome profit.
Having the foresight to purchase a 2-acre property also helped Ted increase his fortunes in later years.
Ted loved horses and he became heavily involved with many aspects of the horse industry during his time in Ladner, especially with the Delta Agricultural Society.
As is usually the case with those with strong leadership skills, Ted was very involved in the Delta community. With the Council appointed "Civil Defense Co-coordinator", Local Rate Payers Society, Ladner Business Association, Real Estate Assessment Board, Advisory Planning Commission and of course the Rotary Club of Ladner, Ted kept himself very busy. He also belonged to the Beach Grove Golf and Country Club for over 30 years. The late Ted Gibbs, a Ladner Rotarian, made Ted a life member of the Tsawwassen Golf Course. Ted joined the Rotary Club of Ladner in 1958, shortly after the club was chartered. By 1961 he was our Club President.
He has been involved with countless fundraising projects and entertainment functions. He recalls the cabaret dinners and dances where the Ladner members would be the entertainment to their friends and family. Often, they would dress up and play roles of the opposite sex. It was a time of Rotary fellowship! This event went on for a dozen years or so. Ted was also involved in getting the Rotary Park built as well as building the Girls Guide Camp. His wisdom and depth of knowledge in this community was invaluable.
Ted shared this information for us so we could remember him and his life. He is now deceased.
Thanks Ted.