Glen and Vi Maw
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Glen and Vi Maw live in the comforts of Heaton Place Retirement Residence located in Armstrong, BC. Armstrong and the Maw family have a long history.
Glen Maw was born on the very site that Heaton Place occupies today. Glen was born on August 25, 1927 to Arthur Maw and Ruby Crawford. His mother’s family, the Crawfords, also have a long history in Spallumcheen, hence Crawford Road. Glen grew up in a small white house that sits on 4300 Maw Road.
In 1944 Glen left school and went to work on the family farm for the next 6 years. The Okanagan Valley was beginning to harvest a lot of fruit and the Maw family farm had 20 acres of orchard on the 200 acre farm. Glen said, “the first fall we had 9000 boxes of apples, so I wondered whether I should have stayed in school.”
In 1950 the orchard froze and he decided it was time to set out on a different working adventure. Off to Revelstoke he went and after a year of working in the logging industry, Glen bought a business which was called Maw Logging. The next 38 years, Glen would work hard and became a contractor for Armstrong Sawmill.
Meanwhile, his soon to be wife, Viva McGhee (Vi) was living in Vernon. Vi attended Beairsto School in Vernon. After leaving school she went to work for Muir’s Cartage, now Rocky Mountain Transport doing all the bookkeeping. She worked there for six and a half years.
On September 20, 1958 Vi and Glen got married. Vi was a bit reluctant as she really enjoyed working and getting married meant that she would be staying home on the farm. It took a little while before Vi began to feel at ease with married life on the farm. She soon met the neighbour ladies and became involved in Fish and Game organization, and the Knob Hill Ladies Aid. For the next 60+ years, Glen and Vi raised their family at 4094 Salmon River Road. Glen’s passion for hunting was satisfied as he could step out his back door and shoot a buck to bring home and feed his family, and Vi had a big beautiful garden and lots of fruit to keep her busy canning. The Maws bought the original family farm from Glen’s brother in approximately 1994. They wanted to keep it in the family. They eventually sold the farm to a couple and that land is now the location of Farmstrong Cidery.
Glen and Vi moved into Heaton Place on October 31, 2018. They are comfortable in their 2 bedroom suite and enjoy being pampered with meals, housekeeping, and activities.
Two wonderful people who worked hard, played hard and now can relax and be waited on!
Thank you for sharing your story Glen and Vi!