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CHAPTER 1
A BEEDIE is Born
Keith at about three years of age.
THE NOMADIC YEARS
“Vancouver’s Building Activity Shatters All
Records!” shouted the newspaper headlines
in 1926. That same year, a man who would
contribute greatly to future Lower Mainland
building activity was born. Keith Beedie was
born on June 13 in downtown Vancouver, the
fi rst child of Reginald and Evelyn Beedie.
Keith laughs when asked what his parents
might have been feeling about his birth. “I
don’t recall,” he says. In fact, much of Keith’s
recollection of his early life is a blur of multiple
houses in diff erent cities and packing and
unpacking boxes rather than distinct moments.
Not long aft er his arrival, his father accepted a
job opportunity in Calgary.
“My dad worked for General Motors. He started
off at McLaughlin Buick near Burrard and
Georgia, downtown. He worked his way up
from parts boy to parts manager,” Keith says.
“Dad was ambitious and when the opportunity to
move up came along he accepted a transfer to Calgary. I was three months
old when we left Vancouver.” Th e family’s relocation to the Prairies began
a series of moves that would take them to several cities across Western
Canada before returning to Vancouver for good in 1937.
“We were in Calgary for a very short time, then Dad got another
promotion and we were off to Winnipeg. We went from there to
Regina. Th en back to Winnipeg. Th en back to Regina. Each time
was a step up the ladder for Dad.” With so much movement at such
a young age, it was hard for Keith to keep track of what happened
where. Keith’s sister Joan joined the family three years aft er he arrived.
“I am not even sure where she was born,” Keith says. Th e cities, house
addresses and school names changed so frequently throughout the
many moves that it became impossible for Keith to distinguish one
place from the other. “In Winnipeg, I know we lived on Sprague Street,
close to Portage Avenue. In Regina, one of our houses was on College
Avenue … that was when I went to Davin School.”
Th e 1930s were far from easy times in Canada. Jobs were hard to come
by and money was tight. With a family to support, Keith’s father was
keen to keep advancing in a good job that off ered fi nancial stability in
troubled times, even if it meant being constantly uprooted.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Keith’s
dad, Reginald Beedie, hiking
along the Pitt River (circa
1924), two years before Keith
was born. Evelyn and Keith,
when Keith was about six
months old, 1926. Keith at
about nine months. Keith’s
father, Reg, holding Keith,
circa 1926.
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