Discover Sixty-Five - April 2024

Tom & Sharon Lymbery
Gray Creek - Karma Halleran
The Tale of Tom and Sharon Lymbery
is 95 years long… more than
we have room for here.
We’ll share with you the flavour
of the time and recommend you
pick up a copy of the the delightful
memoirs written by Tom.
D65: Are you Kootenay Kids?
TL: 100%. My sisters Ann, Kathleen, Alice
and I were born locally. We lost my
sisters, Ann at 4 and Kathleen, hours after
her premature birth.
My Dad, Arthur Lymbery moved to Gray
Creek from Nottingham, England in
1911. He was a lawyer there, but wanted
“the good life” as was advertised as
being available in rural Canada growing
apples and cherries in the Kootenays.
The “climate is friendly here and
you can spend your time fishing and
hunting while the trees grow on their
own.“
My Dad had come to Gray Creek previously,
and decided to purchase 100
acres off John Patrick Redding – the first
Gray Creek settler. Dad and his partner,
Nottingham architect - Harry Goodall
found themselves walking a plank
4 April 2024 Discover Sixty-Five
off the bow of
the SS Moyie
onto the shore
of Kootenay
Lake…
My mother
Kathleen Warren
along with
my Uncle Tom Warren travelled from
England to visit her best friend Ann
Gooch who lived in Crawford Bay. They
had served together in the Women’s
Land Army during the war, filling in
as farm workers for the men who had
been enlisted. Dad met Mom through
the Crawford Bay Women’s Institute.
They married in 1921.
SL: I was born in Kimberley, my Dad
was a miner there. He was transferred
to the Bluebell Mine in Riondel where he
bought an acreage and the whole family
moved with him.
D65: What was it like growing up
in such a rural location?
TL: We really didn’t know anything
else. Both our families had large acreages
where we could roam. Growing
up on an acreage kept us very busy. My
first job was picking fruit of course. Both
my sister and I started work in the store
when we turned 12 and Mom trained
us very carefully to serve our customers
politely and efficiently and this is where
I first met Sharon. I knew her for most
of my life… and for the first few years
she was just a little kid who was sent to
the store by her mom… I would gather
her list of items and send her home.
There is 15 years between our ages…
she was nothing special until I returned
after attending a private school in Vancouver.
I continued to
work in the store after I
graduated school where
I ran into her some more
until she went away and
studied nursing - when
she returned I suddenly
realized she was very
special. We were married
in 19….??
D65: When did your parents start
the Gray Creek Store?
Mom and Dad added on to the original
Redding ranch house where we lived
until they built their new home, post
office and store in 1928??. The community
was about 380 people back then
spread out along the lake. Dad and a
few friends all invested $200 to start the
store. We were in the perfect location
for this venture as the paddle wheelers
unloaded right beside our property.
Dad had a good head for business and
got along with the Post office, that we
were paid to run. They started the store
by just bringing in items that were requested
at first, like pounds of tobacco
(grown in the Okanagan) - they steadily
expanded the service to offer groceries,
building materials, woodstoves and
luxuries like bird baths. Dad bought out
his partners in 19??
D65: The community
TL: Mom and Dad were very community
minded. Having a store made them
the hub for the community and kept
them well connected to the larger world
and the possibilities. They were grateful
for the opportunities the move to Gray
Creek gave them, and they always
helped where they could. Bringing in
new and exciting technology enabled
our community to thrive. My parents
retired in 1948 and I
took over the store.
To Be Continued in
the May Edition....
Learn more of this
fabulous time in
Tom’s Gray Creek
Part 1 and Part 11.
Available in book
stores and at Gray
Creek Store