Gordon

Gordon Wright was born in 1937 in a farmhouse on Boundary Bay Road, now known as 56th Street. His family, originally from England, settled in Ladner in the 1860’s. He attended grades 1 and 2 at Boundary Bay Elementary School, which was a one-room schoolhouse, now the Tsawwassen Shell location. He later went to Ladner Elementary School. “We rode our bikes, or we were picked up by Pacific Stage Lines and later on went on the school bus.”

When he was a young boy Gordon enjoyed going to the beach, “South Delta was wide open in those days, 16th Avenue and 6th Avenue were both dead ends west of 56th.” Quite a few kids would make their way to Point Roberts to the roller skating rink, or for the abundance of ‘American’ candy. “We would go to Metcalfe’s store which was right on the border, they had all kinds of treats.” For pocket money, Gordon had a paper route, he also raised pigeons, rabbits and sheep. A memory that still stands out from his childhood was the occasion during the war when he went out on a hay wagon with his Father, they came across an anti-aircraft gun in the neighbourhood where Imperial Village is today. Gordon has come across aerial photographs of the area, taken during that era, in the archives at UBC.

In 1959, at the age of 21, he built his own home on 52nd street, which he still lives in today. His father thought he should have a trade so he apprenticed with Anderson Electric as an electrician. He worked on his own home in the evenings and on weekends. Gordon went on to start his own business, DelPort Electric, in 1969; today it is owned and operated by family members. He met his wife Barbara when they were in high school and they married in 1958. Interestingly, four generations of the Wright family attended Delta Secondary. Gordon and Barbara Wright have 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.