A love of adventure, discovery and travel animated the lives of Sue and Ron Arnold. But their love of Salmon Arm and its supportive and generous community inspired them to set up an endowment fund with the Shuswap Community Foundation.
Sue’s parents John and Mary Afford met in Kenya and after marrying in England, they went back to Kenya where Sue was born. They immigrated to Canada after Sue’s Dad read “Beautiful BC” magazine that convinced him that this was where they wanted to raise a family. In 1955 John came to Halifax by ship and travelled across Canada on the train to a job at a Cariboo ranch, then moved to a job on a dairy farm in Silver Creek. His wife Mary, Sue and Charlie sailed to Montreal two months later in June 1955 and then took the train across Canada to Salmon Arm. Dave was born in the old Salmon Arm hospital four months after they arrived.
In Salmon Arm, John operated John’s Garage on Lakeshore across from the present Lordco store. The family lived in the Hillcrest area close to the future Hillcrest School. Sue loved growing up in Salmon Arm, graduated from Salmon Arm Senior High, then moved to Victoria for a government job. Sue inherited her parents’ love of adventure so in 1972 she went on a ‘Europe on $5.00 a Day” backpacking trip with her roommate. The planned three months turned into 14 months including working in a hotel in the French Alps. Back in Canada in 1973 Sue realized she had the travel bug and needed related work.
The first job at Light’s Travel in Vernon lasted four years until she transferred to the Salmon Arm branch where Ralph Owens was the manager of Four Seasons Travel. Ralph later opened Owens Travel until he retired whereupon Sue and three colleagues opened their own agency–Bayview Travel in 1998.
Ron was born in Abbotsford and moved to Salmon Arm in 1970. Sue met Ron at Gardom Lake where he was building a house. They married in 1978, then built their home on a lovely 2.5 acre property on Gardom Lake where they lived for over 30 years. In this pristine nature sanctuary, they enjoyed wonderful neighbours, peace, and outdoor activities such as kayaking, canoeing, hiking, and cross-country skiing. Their property kept them busy—it was their labour of love. As a member of the Shuswap Lady Striders, Sue enjoyed the hiking group.
Sue and Ron travelled widely in BC, the U.S. as well as to Europe and the South Pacific. Ron worked at Federated Co-op and had a special passion for restoring antique cars. Sue said, “he loved getting a rusty bit of tin and working on it.” His favorite was a 1935 red Ford pick-up truck. Sadly, Ron passed away in 2019 and Sue described him as a “handyman who could build or fix pretty well anything”.
Meanwhile Sue complemented her work in the travel agency by visiting the South Pacific and every continent, but especially her favourite, Europe “because there is so much to discover.” Sue retired in 2007 and was quick to say that she loved being a travel agent and dealing with people “who had a desire to see the world and were enthusiastic and full of life”. She loved helping people decide where to go or help those who needed to see a relative who was ill or dying.
In 2015 Sue and Ron moved to Nanoose Bay to be closer to Sue’s Mom who was on her own in a retirement residence in Sidney after John passed away in 2013. It was difficult for Ron and Sue to leave Salmon Arm because the community had given them a wonderful life. They decided to give back to the community that meant so much to them by creating the ‘Sue and Ron Arnold Endowment Fund’. To allow the fund to start paying out at once, they made a first donation of $10,000, and decided on a Board Discretionary Fund to give Foundation Directors maximum flexibility to help where need is greatest.
Sue said: “I’m thankful for my very interesting life” and “the community that basically raised me.” “I had a good career and was able to travel the world–just loved it.” Through the Sue and Ron Arnold Endowment Fund they are passing this love forward in perpetuity.
