TWO LONGTIME volunteers for the Terrace Churches Food Bank will be moving away this summer.
Dennis and Irma Brewer are going to Nanaimo to be closer to family.
“We have to downsize the house here. We may as well make a big move,” said Dennis. They’ve already bought a house in Nanaimo and are renting it out until they get there, likely in July.
“Hopefully we’ll find a buyer for our house [here]. We’d like that kind of closure,” said Dennis, adding he hopes to sell his boat too.
They will finish out this session of food bank openings, which end in June.
The couple has been part of the food bank for about 16 or 17 years – during that time Dennis has been treasurer since 1999 and Irma was president from 2003 until this past November when she moved to the past president position. Whether they will volunteer for a food bank in Nanaimo isn’t certain, said Dennis.
“We’ll find something to do. That’s for sure,” he said.
The couple first moved here in 1967 for two years, then down to Penticton for two years and then cam back in 1971, said Dennis. He was transferred up here with Traders Group Ltd, which bought out Guaranteed Trust and moved him to Penticton and then back here as branch manager, which he did for 15 or 16 years. Dennis then moved to the Credit Union as general manager until he retired in 1998.
Irma taught elementary school at several different schools for 33 years here.
She was also active with the Northwest Music festival for 10 years, two of which she served as president.
She was active in, and president of, the Terrace Band Parents Association for several years and also a girl guide leader.
Irma is thinking about joining the hospital auxiliary in Nanaimo as she belongs to the Mills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary here. “We will both miss this town as it has been a great place to spend the last 45 years,” said Dennis.