Material Type

Biographical Sketch

Date

1881-1999

Synopsis

The Burns family lived at 1434 Argyle Avenue in West Vancouver from 1916 to 1978. John “Jack” Arthur Burns was born in 1881 in Toronto, Ontario. In his youth, he was involved in track and field, baseball, and boxing. He worked in composing in the Toronto News offices before working his way west, with stops in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, before arriving in Vancouver in 1910. Here he worked at The World Newspaper, later moving to the News Herald, the North Vancouver Review, and the Vancouver Sun, before retiring in 1960. In Vancouver he continued his involvement with sports, playing on a baseball team. Jack was also a member of the West Vancouver Ratepayer's Association during his early years in West Vancouver. Jack Burns died in 1974 at the age of 93. Jack Burns married Maria Lisbeth (Weiberneit) Becker in 1918. Maria Lisbeth was born in 1887 in Goldap, East Prussia, Germany on July 25, 1887. She travelled to England to be a nanny for an English family for a period of time, then took a ship to Montreal and a train to Vancouver in 1909. There she met and married Joseph Becker, also from Germany. Joseph was a blacksmith in the early logging days around Vancouver and also the owner of a bar at 52 Cordova Street named "The Fountain Grill". Together they had one daughter, Lillie Becker (1912-1945). When the marriage ended, Joseph left for Portland, Oregon. Maria met and married Jack Burns soon after. Together they had a daughter, Mary Lisbeth Burns (1917-1999). Maria Burns was well known for swimming in the sea by the family's Ambleside home throughout the year and in all weather. Maria burns died in 1978 at the age of 91. Mary Burns married James Chapman in 1941. Mary Chapman was a long time member of the West Vancouver Historical Society, and served for a number of years as a volunteer archival assistant for the archives. Mary Burns died in 1999.

Repository

West Vancouver Archives

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