Frankly Speaking

My father Art Bucholtz enjoyed a final hand of cribbage with son Stuart Bucholtz, grandson Joel Glanfield and son-in-law Steve Glanfield after a Remembrance Day service at Simpson Manor in Fort Langley, where he and my mother Lynn have been living. His grandson Solon Bucholtz summed up his life this way - "Grandpa's life was his 29 hand." “People won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” That was the philosophy of my father Art Bucholtz, who died peacefully on Nov. 12 at age 94. He lived life to the fullest – even as his health was failing. Most recently, he gave tender, devoted care to Lynn, his wife of 65 years, as she struggled with Alzheimer’s disease. Art had many roles in his life, and each made him into the complete person he became. He was an immigrant – born in the German-speaking village of Malinowka, Lublin district, Poland on February 15, 1923, the second son of Wilhelm (Bill) and Wanda Bucholtz. His father had been in the ...

My father Art Bucholtz (left), whose first business in Cloverdale opened in 1946 on a lot purchased from Alan Davidson (right), enjoyed chatting with him and longtime Cloverdale notary public El Fedewich (centre). They all were at the memorial service for another longtime Cloverdale businessman, Allan Dann, in January, 2016. Frank Bucholtz photo Alan Davidson, who died on July 25 at the age of 99, was a key part of Surrey’s “greatest generation.” The term “greatest generation” comes from the title of a book by longtime NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw. He applied it to the young men and women who lived through the Depression of the 1930s, took part in the Second World War, and on returning home, had much to do with all the changes and advances that followed. Davidson qualifies on all counts. Born in Vancouver in 1918, he grew up on a small farm in the Tynehead area, not far from Barnston Island. He came to Cloverdale to attend Surrey High School – the only high school in the...

Most people born in Canada have little firsthand contact with war. Canadians have been extraordinarily fortunate, in not having a war fought on our soil for more than 200 years. Many immigrants and new Canadians, on the other hand, have had vastly different experiences. War may not be ever-present in all parts of the world, but it is far more likely to have had more of an immediate effect on peoples’ lives in many other countries. Nowhere is this more true right now than in Syria, where millions of people have been displaced. Many of them are in neighbouring countries, with a smaller number trying to find better lives in Europe. Some of them lose their lives crossing waterways in overcrowded boats, but they are willing to take the risk. The new federal government is working hard to try and get 25,000 of them to resettle in Canada, but it’s a monumental effort that involves many layers of bureaucracy. It’s an appropriate time to think about how we as Canadians can help peopl...