A tragedy in a former mainland British Columbia mining town led Cynthia Dabb and her four children to Ladysmith in the mid-1940s where her ‘true destiny lay’ and she continues to live today having celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this month.
“She was fully involved in the community and with her family,” said son Leslie of his mother who was part of the St. John’s Anglican Church choir and alter guild as well as a 15-year member of the Branch 171 Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary where she served as secretary. “She loved it here. She always felt that this was her home, that this was her destiny to be here.”
Dabb (nee Goodall) was born on July 3, 1917 and grew up with her two sisters and brother in Newton, England - a small village in Derbyshire less than an hour from Sheffield.
She started writing a condensed memoir in her early 90s and describes her childhood as an “uneventful life” that included “exploring country lanes for the blossoms of violets and bluebells.”
Her family had discussed moving to Australia but decided instead on homesteading in Canada.
Her father and a friend travelled first by boat to St. John’s and then took a train to Fernie, B.C. where they found 160 acres of farmland for rent in the Elk Valley for $360 a year.
It turned out the land owner was serving a life sentence for shooting a foreman over road allowance rights.
Dabb, her mother, two sisters and two-year-old brother were eventually sent for in 1928 and she describes waiting in anticipation to board the S.S. Baltic in Liverpool that December.
“At the dockside I gazed in awe at the tall black sides of what seemed (like) a huge ship and watched trunk after trunk and suitcases being lifted over the side in huge nets,” she said.
Dabb would attend Elk Valley School until February 1932 when she left to work on a dairy farm and later as a housemaid before eventually marrying Sydney Weaver.
Together they had four children and lived in a log cabin near present day Sparwood, just north of Fernie.
“I loved sewing for them, taking them for a walk to visit neighbours,” she wrote. “I made a garden and canned fruit and vegetables.”
However, on Jan. 20, 1943, “my life was rudely torn apart,” Dabb said.
“The Second World War was still raging, the coal mines were working six days per week so although it was Saturday my husband was working as usual on the afternoon shift,” she said. “The children were all bathed and asleep in bed (and) it was past 11 p.m. when I saw a flashlight on the path down from the hill where the car was parked in the winter. He was home! But no, it was an aunt, uncle and son who came in the door. ‘Where was Syd?’…’I’m so sorry he won’t be coming home’ was the answer.”
Leslie was still a toddler at the time and describes how his father was killed after being struck by a rail car in the mineshaft.
Family decided Dabb shouldn’t be living in isolation along with the four children in the Elk Valley so she moved to Natal, a former coal-mining community in the East Kootenay region.
It didn’t take long before she wrote to her sister-in-law Lillian Nash asking if there was a place to rent in Ladysmith.
“There was, so in August I once again packed up or sold what I could and moved to Ladysmith,” she said. “A move I never in my wildest dreams would turn out so wonderfully for my children and for where my true destiny lay.”
The family of five rented an apartment in a hotel across from The City Bakery, which at that time owned by the McKay family. The young mother was hired on part-time to help around the store where she met her future husband Bill Dabb.
“I liked the work and enjoyed meeting the townspeople of Ladysmith some of whom became my friends and neighbours,” she said.
Dabb remembers meeting Bill for the first time outside of work at a Saturday night dance in town.
“I didn’t recognize the nice looking man who crossed the floor and asked if I cared to dance,” she said. “That is, until he asked how I enjoyed working at the bakery then I realized he was Bill one of the bakers. A smart navy blue suit and tie looks very different to a floury white apron and bakers cap.”
Romance quickly blossomed as they had coffee together, went to the movies and attended more weekend dances.
The couple was married in 1945 and had four children together. The family lived at Third Avenue and Baden Powell in one of the original homes moved from South Wellington.
Dabb had a passion for gardening and enjoyed looking after the yard. She was also part of the local gladiolus club.
She was a founding member and treasurer of Club 44, a 30-year member of Laurel Rebekah Lodge #9 where she held all chairs including that of Noble Grand and was a member of the Rebekah Assembly. Dabb also assisted her husband in his role as Civil Defence Coordinator for Ladysmith.
Cynthia and Bill spent over 50 years together before he passed away in 2000 at the age of 80.
A self-proclaimed “perfectionist” she was well known in the community for her beautiful sewing and handwork and won numerous prizes at the Ladysmith fall fairs.
She also played golf and was part of the Legion’s bridge club.
“She played bridge ever since I could remember,” Leslie said.
Around 30 relatives including spouses, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered at Lodge on 4th over the Canada Day long weekend to celebrate the birthday.
For the woman who moved to Ladysmith and fell in love with a baker, being with family on her 100th birthday is truly the icing on the cake.
“Mom seemed a little overwhelmed by all the attention,” Leslie said. “The following day, my sister Irene visited her and reread all her cards to her. She really enjoyed that and was very happy and communicative.”