COURTENAY HEREFORDS
John Lewis and Sons, John Jr. and Rob, operate Courtenay Herefords
at Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island. This farm had been a partnership between
John and Clyde Lewis, but since the death of John's father, Clyde, three years
ago; the sons have become partners in the operation.
In 1880 the Rees family immigrated to the Dove Creek area near Courtenay from
Wales, and it was there that John's mother, Elizabeth, (Betty), was born. Her
mother, Elizabeth Rees, had married Dick Hurford and Dick managed the creamery
at Courtenay for over 30 years. The Hurford family had immigrated to the Courtenay
area from England in 1895 and the roots of agriculture from England gave Dick
the gravitation to stay close to the production of food. Dick was also a partner
in the Dodge dealership in Courtenay at one time.
Clyde's father, Jack Lewis, came from Wales when he was a child and his mother
had moved to Cumberland from the United States, all in the last of the 1800's.
They met and married in Cumberland and it was there that Clyde was born. Elizabeth
Hurford and Clyde Lewis lived in Cumberland following their marriage in 1940,
where Clyde worked in the mines. He started in the mine when he was 13 and worked
there for 27 years. When the mine closed, he drove a truck for the Department
of Highways for another 25 years. John was born in Cumberland in 1941.
In 1962 the Lewis Family moved to Courtenay, bringing Elizabeth (Betty) back
to her roots and establishing the family on the present farm property on Headquarters
Road outside of the town. When John started in the work force at Courtenay,
he worked for BC Hydro and then resigned that job to work as a parts man for
the Ford dealer. In 1969, he went back to BC Hydro where he worked until his
retirement. John's wife, Mary, was born in Vancouver and arrived in Courtenay
at the age of seven and when John met her, upon moving to Courtenay in 1962,
he was smitten. John and Mary were married in 1964 and moved onto the farm and
it was here that they raised their three children.
John Jr. is an employee of The Jim Pattison Group of Save-On Foods and he and
Yolanda live on the ranch with their three girls. Rob works for BC Hydro and
he and Lisa live on seven acres closer to Courtenay where they are raising their
three girls. Daughter Cathy and husband Darrell and one year old son live in
Courtenay where she owns a salon business and he is a partner in a meat market.
John Sr. retired from BC Hydro four years ago and now he and Mary devote full
time to the farm, family and Herefords.
The matriarch of the family, Elizabeth, (Betty) still lives on the ranch and
maintains a daily interest in the operation. John's brother Richard, his wife
Sonia and their two children also have a home on the farm property. Richard
is a welder and became foreman at Elk Falls Pulp Mill in Campbell River. He
does all the fabricating for the farm and built a band sawmill. They have cut
all the materials for any building project on the farm on this mill, including
some excellent maple flooring used on one of the houses. They also do some custom
work with the sawmill.
The original barn was 140 feet long and 64 feet wide and had been built with
poles peeled with a drawknife. It burned to the ground in 1992 from a heated
bale. They have now installed a sprayer on the baler to handle higher moisture
hay, so that eliminates any more fires from heated hay.