By Barb Brouwer
Special to the Observer
On Feb. 1, 1953, James Michael (Mike) Gilburg enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Canada was at war with North Korea, but the conflict ended almost five months later on July 27.
While he never saw action in Korea, Gilburg did meet the love of his life.
In March 1946, Gilburg’s father drove the family from Toronto to Creston, B.C. in an Auburn Touring Car. That adventure took six weeks as there were only logging roads in the southeastern part of the province.
The 10-year-old Gilburg attended the local school and, eight years later, there was still not much of anything.
“There were wooden sidewalks and muddy streets,” he said, pointing out the isolation was so great, he had no idea Canada was at war. “There was no work in Creston but I heard I could join the Air Force and get paid.”
Gilburg enlisted in Edmonton and was sent to Saint-Jean-sur-Riohelieu, Que. for basic training. That was followed by a course in electrical tech at Camp Borden, which he decided was boring. At his request, he was moved to a Mobile Equipment course that proved to be the basis for a lifetime career.
“I didn’t understand what the hell was going on,” he says of the war with North Korea. “They didn’t give us any information and I was paying attention to my courses.”
Back in Edmonton, Gilburg was immediately smitten when he met Jennie Rydinski in the canteen.
“Once I saw her, I wouldn’t let her go,” he said, noting the 19-year-old from Seba Beach, Alta. was in an Air Force teletype course. “Her girlfriend didn’t like me, she called me a red-headed devil.”
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Gilburg said Jennie joined the Air Force to avoid going into nursing, which was what her mother had wanted.
The couple was married on June 18, 1955 at Seba Lake and Jennie was honourably discharged on Dec. 19. Gilburg was honourably released from the Air Force less than a year later on Feb. 2, 1956.
Neither Gilburg nor Jennie received a pension until early in the 2000s after the federal government responded to a campaign by veterans to change the designation from Korean Conflict to Korean War.
The skills he learned in the Air Force served him well in his work life, first in Edmonton then Vancouver and finally in Salmon Arm where he, Jennie and the couple’s four children moved in 1973.
Gilburg started Shuswap Inland Contractors, bringing the first backhoe to the community in 1974 and a 451 Bantam excavator in 2000. He built a shop in the Industrial Park and worked for many years excavating and building chain link fences.
Jennie passed away on May 25, 2021 at the age of 87.
“It lasted 65 years, it was a great partnership,” Gilburg said, looking at a photo of a much younger man and his beloved wife.
Gilburg donated a large Canadian flag to stand tall in front of the main entrance to Sun Ridge Estates.
In return, residents created a storyboard for him that details his and Jennie’s association with the Air Force and legion.
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