Sue and Roy Bush
Sue and Roy Bush
We moved to Forest Grove in April 1946, Sue and Roy coming first, Lenore (Sue's daughter) arriving in the summer of '46 and David (Roy's son) coming up to live with us 2-3 years later. Sue remembers well hearing Priscilla (White) play the piano for the first time, could not even imagine that anyone in this remote place would be so talented. Many evenings were spent at the Lodge with Priscilla and Archer, listening to them both play, almost like a mini-concert, and this sparked the flame of love that Lenore now has for classical music, especially Chopin, Bach etc. and especially piano. Priscilla agreed to give Lenore piano lessons, for free, as long as she would take it seriously and practice. This lasted only for a short period as Lenore found it easier to play by ear than by music, and also "Boys" came into her life, which she found much more stimulating than Hanon exercises. But what little she learned from Priscilla has been built upon and she now plays at church, both piano and organ, regularly.
Sue worked at the store and post office frequently and recalls how the Natives would come in to buy a dress for their "squaw" and when Arch would ask "what size" they would say "it doesn't matter, just a dress". When Paddy, the Reserve Policeman, came in on crutches one day in March, Priscilla asked him where he had been as he had been away so long, and he said there had been trouble on the Reserve on New Year's Eve and when he tried to break it up they broke his foot "right off" as he put it. Roy's mother in Winnipeg took very ill and Sue was asked by the family if she could come back to care for her, but there was no money in our house in those days. Without being asked, Archer just handed Roy $40.00 for the fare. Roy's mother was O.K. in a few of weeks and Roy had it all paid back by the time Sue got home. That was just one of many, many gestures made by both Priscilla and Archer not only to us but to the community at large in those days.
We baby sat Robert several times, as we lived very close to the Lodge on Priscilla and Archer's property Robert and his little Japanese friend, Hiroko, were frequent visitors to our place. We !earned some very interesting history of Robert's parents background, probably the most interesting being that his mother wasn't married in white, and he (Robert) was not in the wedding picture because he wasn't born until the next day!
I guess the most memorable event that we all participated in was the birth of Sheila Judson's baby. Arch arrived at our door asking if Sue could come to the Lodge, "right now". Sue had a cake in the oven for Dave's birthday and said she couldn't come right then. Arch said "okay, then Sheila's baby would have to be born without help". Sue asked a couple of the millworkers to take the cake out of the oven and went to deliver Sheila's baby safely. In the confusion, Priscilla was looking for a large pot to boil water in, but stated she couldn't find one big enough, all the while holding onto a canner, which was more than ample. We all enjoyed the "baby's" wedding 22 years later.
Archer always asked Lenore how her old mother was. At that time Sue was in her mid 30's, from January to September older than Archer. Sue would have thought that he had caught up to her by now.
Roy and Sue left Forest Grove in 1952 but have kept in touch with "the Whites" all these years. They had a son, Robert, who is now a Naval Officer, in the Sumbmarine Squadron in Halifax. They lived in California for 13 years after leaving the Cariboo, but came back to Canada to retire. David married and had 2 children, a son and a daughter. His son was killed in a car accident at age 19, his daughter lives in Haney, is married and has 2 children. David went to be with the Lord 3 years ago.
Roy went to be with the Lord in 1976. They were living in Langley then, and Sue stayed on there for several years. Sue was very active in Langley in volunteer organizations until her move to Victoria in app. 1980, where she still resides.
Lenore married, has one stepson and 4 grandchildren, 2 girls and twin boys, in Ottawa. She and her husband, Bill, now live in Quesnel.