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Joseph Hubert Brander Craik
October 18, 1931 - November 4, 2003
Joe was born Joseph Hubert Brander Craik on October 18, 1931, in the small town of Newcastle, in the Miramichi region of New Brunswick.
He was the first of seven children of Hubert and Laura (nee Murphy) Craik.
Hubert, affectionately know as Poppy, was a long-time employee of CN Railway and Laura, better known as Borla, was a nurse at The Miramichi Hospital.
Joe's siblings were Kenny, Gordie, Joanie, Clarence, Sandra, and Theresa.
The Craiks and Murphys arrived in the New Brunswick area some time in the 1800's.
Growing up in the depression in a large family with modest means, was at times difficult, but Joe and his siblings always described their childhood as happy and full of adventures.
The house was on a large acreage extending to the banks of the Miramichi River, in Derby Junction, outside of Newcastle.
Joe was not an angel, getting into many scrapes (and scraps) but even with raps on the knuckles, he was still considered a good boy!!
Known as Brander throughout his early years, he started working at an early age in one of the local mills during the summer months.
The working conditions were not always ideal and worker protection used today was not available during those times.
He quickly grew a reputation of hard work and dependability.
During this time, he realized that this was not something he wanted to spend his life doing. .
His real dream was blossoming.
After graduating from Harkins High School, Brander, as he was still known, tried to enlist in the Air Force to become a pilot.
This did not come about, so following in his Maritime heritage, he followed the call of the sea and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1950.
During his induction, he took his first name Joseph, which he was to use for the rest of his life.
Joe was commissioned to the aircraft carrier "The Magnificent".
The living conditions on the aircraft carrier were not always comfortable; he and his fellow crew members lived and slept in close quarters.
His bed was a hammock.
His responsibility on the ship was working on the bodies of aircrafts.
vTo ensure the repairs were done correctly, the pilots would insist on having the mechanic and body man fly on the first flight after repairs.
After his first flight, Joe always looked forward to flying.
Joe wanted to learn to fly but was not able to transfer to the Air Force during his five-year tour.
During his travels in the Mediterranean, he earned the nickname, Guiseppe, but never really divulged the true reason how this name came about.
We are hoping any members of his crew can enlighten this mystery.
During his travels in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, several colourful tattoos appeared, perhaps with the help of a little rum.
They included the traditional pig and rooster on each knee to keep sailors safe at sea.
The navy years were some of his fondest memories.
After his discharge from the navy in 1955, Joe decided he wanted to see the West Coast.
The opportunity came when he and a few of his navy buddies transported a hearse across the upper part of the United States, and then found their way to Vancouver.
After a stint (one shift) working at Alcan in Kitimat, where they hoped to make the big bucks but found the work not to their taste, Joe and his navy buddies arrived back in Vancouver.
When Joe arrived in Vancouver, he met up with another navy buddy, Ed Lyons.
Ed set Joe up on a blind date with a lovely young gal named Joanie in June of that year.
This was the beginning of a romance that was to last 48 years.
In September, Joe was sent to Vernon, to work for Household Finance, leaving Joanie behind.
It must have been love at first sight as Joe proposed by mail, Joanie accepted and they were married shortly after on June 30, 1956. ,
They didn't waste any time starting a family as Susan was born in December 1957.
Michael arrived in September 1960, followed very soon after by Jeffrey in March 1962.
Joe and Joanie purchased their first home in North Delta, in 1961.
After Joe worked as a collection representative for Household Finance, he then went to work for The Bank of Nova Scotia.
He worked there until the early sixties as a Loans Officer.
This experience led him to a career with Associates Financial Services that would last for 17 years.
In 1962, Joe started as a Branch Manager in the Vancouver area.
He was then promoted to Supervisor for British Columbia, and travelled to the many branches throughout the province.
Joe was a people person and enjoyed the opportunity to work with and meet many diverse people.
Although he loved the work he found it difficult to be away from his family each week.
Joe was then promoted to Assistant Vice-President of Western Canadian Operations which involved moving the family to Calgary in 1970.
This position also involved travel not only in Western Canada, but parts of Eastern Canada and the United States.
While in Calgary, further opportunities arose in Toronto and London, England.
After much discussion with the family, they decided to stay in Calgary.
After 6 successful years in Calgary, Joe was promoted to the position of Vice-President of Western Canadian Operations in 1976, and transferred back to the Vancouver area.
Joe held this position at Associates until 1979.
Joe decided to leave Associates and venture into new opportunities.
Joe received his mortgage brokerage license and went to work at Keaney and Company.
After a time, he invested in the firm and became partners with Mal Darroch.
The company was renamed Versatile Financial Services in 1979.
The early 1980's recession was difficult for Versatile, but the company kept going and continued until 1987.
At this time, they sold the company to First Line Trust where Joe continued to broker until 1990.
Joe then decided to venture out on his own and, with Mal's blessing, revived the Versatile name.
After Joe and Joanie moved to Langley, in 1998, Joe worked out of his home office for a couple of years.
He then moved his office to Antrim Investments and worked with Bill, Bob and Chris Granleese.
He continued working there until a few months prior to his passing.
Joe received support from the Granleese family, far above that of a business relationship.
Retirement was never a thought for Joe as he enjoyed his work.
During the 1980's and early 1990's, Joe and Joanie became proud grandparents: Jeffrey and Liz's son, Jason in 1985, and daughter, Jaymi in 1987, and Michael and Kelly's twins, Matthew and Gregory in 1991.
Joe and Joanie stayed at the hospital for both births of Jeffrey's children, proudly welcoming their first grandchildren into the world.
Joe became known as Grandpa Joe and Joanie as Granny (the grandkids were encouraged in this by Joe because he thought it was funny).
Michael's then wife, Kelly, suffered an aneurysm at the time the twins were born.
Help was greatly needed and Joe and Joanie came to their son's aid.
They lived with Michael's family for the first year to help during Kelly's recovery.
Joe took a regular nightly turn in feeding the twins.
He lost sleep, but never complained.
Joe showed athletic ability throughout his life and played hockey and various sports as a child.
This continued into his adult life and led him to take up the game of golf.
Joe was self-taught and developed into a very good golfer.
He won and placed well in many company and club tournaments throughout the years.
He also enjoyed teaching his children the game and spent many hours playing with Joanie and the kids.
During his many business trips around the country, Joe always took his clubs and played whenever he could.
Joe loved boating, sailing and scuba diving.
He purchased his first boat, an 18-foot speedboat, in 1976.
He loved to take family and friends water skiing and fishing.
In 1980, he bought his first sailboat, a 26-foot Thunderbird.
Then in 1981, he purchased a 31-foot Sunstar, with his business partner, Mal.
They named the boat Mistress.
Joe spent so much time on the Mistress, he added her call number directly below his name in the telephone book.
This may have raised a few quizzical eyebrows.
Around the age of 50, Joe received his scuba diving certificate.
Joanie thought he was having a late mid-life crisis.
Joe went on many dives with his dive buddy, Kelly Hughes, and shook hands with the occasional octopus and petted the famous wolf eel Pop-eye in the waters off Lund, B.C.
Joe and Joanie discovered the game of curling while in Calgary, in the early 1970's.
They became members of the Richmond Curling Club in 1976, when they moved back to B.C.
Joe became a very competitive curler.
One of the highlights of his curling career was the year he went to Trail, to play in the Masters Provincial finals with Ray Bourassa.
After moving to Langley, in 1998, Joe curled at the Cloverdale and Langley Clubs.
At the Langley Club, Joe helped Nigel Easton teach some of the local school children the game of curling.
He found this very satisfying and enjoyable and continued to do so while his health enabled him to.
Joe became involved with helping patients with financial needs through the B.C. Cancer Agency.
This involved assessing the patients for financial aid which was difficult to do at times.
Joe felt he was giving something back to the agency for the help it had given him.
Joe himself was diagnosed with cancer in 1987.
Although it slowed him down, his positive attitude never wavered.
He was a private and proud person; always there and willing to help not only his family and friends, but also strangers.
He taught his children the importance of hard work, honesty, and family.
He touched many who met him and several adopted him as their father.
Some called him "Coach".
Not only will his family miss him, all he touched will as well.
Good Sailing, Honey, Dad, Grandpa Joe, into that never-ending, blowing wind where the Mistress will always sail.
Forever remembered and loved,
Your family
Theresa Elizabeth Jones
June 8, 1926 - November 30, 2008
Theresa Elizabeth Jones, of Moncton, peacefully passed away at The Moncton Hospital on Sunday, November 30th, 2008.
Born in Pomquet, N.S. on June 8th, 1926, she was the last surviving member of her immediate family.
She will be lovingly remembered by her special friend, Lorenzo Hebert of Moncton, NB; daughters, Judy Blakney (Danny), and Debbie MacLellan (Alan) both of Riverview, NB; sons, Wayne Jones (Rhonda Norbirg-Jones) of Terrace, B.C., Kim Jones (Joanne) of Riverview, NB; Shane Jones (Kelley Hawes) of Bedford, N.S., Stephen Jones (June) of Dartmouth, N.S.; grandchildren Scott Blakney (Ann Parsons) of Riverview, NB, Gillian Jones of Kelowna, B.C., Jeremy Jones of Terrace, B.C., Crystal Trites (Michael) of Fredericton, NB, Travis Jones of Seattle, Washington, Ryan Jones of Bedford, N.S., Alexander Jones of Dartmouth, N.S., Nicholas Jones of Dartmouth, N.S., Shane Jones of PEI; and great-grandson, Jacob Blakney; as well as several nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her husband, Archibald B. Jones, in 1988.
Visitation was held from the Riverview Funeral Home (Riverview, NB) on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008.
The funeral service was held from the Riverview Funeral Home Chapel on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008, at 11:00 a.m., with Majors Patrick and Julie March officiating.
Interment took place in the Wesleyan Union Cemetery.
In memory of Theresa, donations made to the Friends of the Moncton Hospital or to the Salvation Army Citadel would be appreciated by her family.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Riverview Funeral Home (214 Pine Glen Rd., Riverview, NB)
