Jean Gloch

Jean Gloch came to Tulameen as a summer resident, but has been a permanent resident for 21 years. She is the wife of Kasey Gloch who is one of the veterans of World War II that live in Tulameen.

Can you believe that Jean and Kasey bought their first lot in Tulameen for $300 in the late 70's. At this time Jean was working for Woodwards in New Westminster (later for Sears in Lake City). Her duties were invoicing and bookkeeping. She loved her job. And can you imagine, husband Kasey who worked for Macmillan Bloedel said, "whatever she earned she could spend on furniture, curtains and clothes for their three girls". So life was good, working at a job she liked, having a great family and summers camping and later having a cabin in Tulameen. But a couple of years later the cabin next to their summer place burned down and the Glochs had the opportunity to buy the empty lot. They did so for $5,000.

The years went quickly by and it was time for the big decision about retirement. Jean and Kasey felt the decision to live permanently in Tulameen was made for them along time ago on the day they went for a walk with friends and discovered a little stream. They took a drink from the stream and felt they had found the Fountain of Youth. And even though some friends and relatives were daunted or lets just say down right scared by the road from Princeton to Tulameen they made the choice and decision to move to Tulameen for good.

Jean loves to cook, garden, take long walks and generally just relax in her home in Tulameen. She said the people of Tulameen have been very good to her and Kasey. Here is an example. One day Kasey fell. Jean phoned Bill Reichert at the Trading Post. He said he was alone in the store, so Jean said I'll phone someone else. "NO" said Bill "I'll lock the store and be there in a few minutes." As Jean said, the people in Tulameen are almost like family to us.

Jean talked about walking through the old Dominion Hotel. Because at that time there were still a lot of nice things in that hotel: furniture covered in elegant velvet, a long winding beautiful banister, and classical fine wainscoting. She said it was not hard to imagine the elegant hotel it must have been. But even so, the farmers and cowboys still had a place in front of the hotel to tie up their horses.

Jean told me about how the hotel burned down leaving only the chimney standing. The big Otter Lake wind came along (or maybe the wind had a helping hand) and blew down the still standing chimney. Within an hour all the chimney bricks were gone. Some people had even brought wheel barrows. Where are all those bricks today?

She told a story about Dawn, the wife of Deek the proprietor of the Colemen Hotel. Dawn was a great cook, put on community corn fests, held social bingo and shuffle board nights and loved feeding huge groups of peoples. However it was said that there were times Dawn got a bit feisty because she liked her drink a bit too much. Can you believe her husband was rumored to have put her in the cellar until she sobered up?

Jean loves the sense of community in Tulameen. She remembers dressing up for "Tulameen old fashioned days", big dinners and dances at the Community Hall which sometimes ended up with some people dancing on the tables. Jean said she loved helping prepare and serve for the community teas and especially the Christmas parties for the children.

Jean and Kasey are in their early eighties, look great, and enjoy an independent life in Tulameen BC. Maybe they did find the Fountain of Youth.

Elizabeth Flett