Author: BY

The Early Years; 1908-1939

Richard Henry Young was born in 1908 in New Westminster, B.C. His parents were Richard Augustus Young, a farmer and butcher from England and Margaret Mae Nixon, the child of an English Carriage maker. By 1911, at the age of three, the family lived in a sod hut on a new land claim at Fort McLeod, Alberta, with his parents and his two-year-old brother Syd. While in Alberta, a girl was born in 1912, Eileen May Young. Two years later, that plan did not work out, and they moved back to New Westminster, living at 400 McEwan Ave., Queensborough, New Westminster, B.C.

In 1913 Doreen was born, and in 1916 Kathleen Mabel Young was born. In 1916 Eileen tragically drowned in the waters near the airport.

Harry’s parents separated in 1917, and Harry and Syd stayed with a family in New Westminister to attend school. Harry graduated from high school in 1926 at high school in Duncan, B.C. . Harry was accepted to The University of California, Berkley, to study engineering. While in California, Harry often worked part-time jobs in construction, as a bouncer, and on cable cars. In 1928 he broke his ankle while working and used crutches for a while. After 1930 Harry returned to Vancouver. Worked for a friend in Evertt, Washington and worked on the Lions gate bridge and other engineering projects. He met his future wife, Jean Cairns, in Victoria in 1938 and became engaged in 1939, and then the war started.

Kathleen was the fifth child of Richard Augustus and Margaret May Young. On Jan 8, 1916, in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Shortly after, her parents separated, and she was living with her mother and sister Doreen as her mother became the cook at a lumber camp on Vancouver Island. Her brothers stayed on the mainland with another family, where Harry attended school. In 1922 Margaret May married Harry Dingee, a foreman at the lumber camp. The family settled in Duncan, B.C., and later in 1922, her half-sister Tootsie was born. Public education was covered to grade 8, and there was no money for high school. Her sister reported that they both went into service.

She married Edwin Bennet in 1938 at the age of twenty-two and subsequently had five children.

I recall seeing her in 1976 when my brother and I drove out west. She lived near Duncan and was always smiling, kind, and generous.

Obituary.

On 1 April 1946, six months after the end of the Second World War, the American army officially handed over responsibility for the Alaska Highway to Canada. The Canadian Army was now responsible for highway upkeep and improvements and was based in the area known as Camp Takhini. Whitehorse, YT. Whitehorse was the headquarters of the Northwest Highway System of the Royal Canadian Engineers.  In 1949 Harry Young was transferred to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to become the Maintenance Supervisor of the highway. The NWHS’s responsibility was to bring the highway up to civilian standards and maintain it.

In 1950 a crew noticed an accumulation of water north of the highway near Swift River. Harry came to have a look and advised the crew that it didn’t look too bad. As he stood there, the highway washed out, he almost fell in, and the water flow carried down to the nearby Rancheria River. A large culvert was installed, and the road was rebuilt. The creek was named Young Creek, partially in jest! The creek is still there at Kilometer 1108.2 of the Alaska Highway.