Brian and Norma Blann

Brian was born in 1930 in his maternal Grandmother's house near the town of High Wycombe, west of London. He was the middle child with an older brother and a younger sister. His father worked at a variety of jobs and his mother was a housewife. His father had been badly wounded in WW1 and had been sent to a convalescent hospital for returning service people at High Wycombe. It was a very long convalescence and the young women in the area visited these soldiers in the hospital to bolster their spirits. Brian's mother had an older sister who suggested she should visit one particular fellow that she thought was very nice but was too young for her. His mother did, they hit it off and eventually married in 1921.

Brian developed a bond with his maternal Grandfather, who, although illiterate, had made a good living for his family by having a large garden plus an allotment where he raised fruit, vegetables, pigs and chickens.

Brian attended the local school until age 14. In the mid 1930's the family moved to London near Heathrow Airport. When WW2 began, the bombing surrounded them and they suffered through the Blitz and the flying bombs. Fortunately, their home was not destroyed. However, two of his schools were destroyed and Brian's schooling suffered from the many interruptions due to the war. If Brian was at school when the sirens went off, they had to run to the bomb shelter which was created from the dug-up playing field in which large concrete lined pipes were laid — like sewer pipes — with benches lining each side of the pipe.

After 1944 the family moved to Poole in Dorset, where Brian attended grammar school followed by Southampton University, a satellite of the University of London. He received a general degree in mathematics and physics. It was during this time period when the Korean War was being fought and the Berlin Airlift was happening. Brian joined the army and spent two years in national service followed by two years in the reserves. His service was spent in England, ending with the rank of Captain.

In 1953 Brian married Pauline, his high school sweetheart and twin sister of his best school friend.

While Brian was in the army reserve, he took the opportunity to do a graduate apprenticeship in electrical engineering. This program involved moving from one factory to another in order to learn the various aspects of the field with time off to attend classes. From this training he was accepted as a member of the Engineering Institute and in 1954 was hired to work in London with the export division of a large electrical industrial firm.

In the spring of 1955, the Canadian government offered individuals with needed specialized skills to come to Canada for 50 English pounds. This fee included transportation, all necessary visas and documents for the two of them. They took the offer and travelled by ship, the Empress of Australia, to Montreal. Following the unloading of the ship in Montreal, the Empress of Australia sailed its last voyage to Japan, where it was demolished for scrap.

Brian was most impressed when he found out that as soon as they set foot in Canada, they were eligible to vote because they were landed immigrants from the UK.

Friends they had known in England gave them a place to stay. However it meant sleeping on the floor. They had no money but Pauline was able to find a temporary secretarial job. Even with his skill set, Brian was unable to obtain work in Montreal. Consequently, he set out via Greyhound bus for Toronto and Hamilton looking for work. Fortunately, Westinghouse in Hamilton, Ontario hired him. While there, he secured accommodation in a small suite above a garage where the landlord was willing to forgo the month's advance security deposit because she knew they were nearly penniless.

Brian made comment that they found Canadians were really friendly and helpful to them as newcomers. He reiterated this again when describing their move to Vancouver.

In Hamilton, in 1957, their first son Chris was born. Shortly after, Brian decided he wanted to try life on the West Coast and got a job offer from Boeing in Seattle. To keep him at Westinghouse, his boss made arrangements to transfer him to Vancouver as a service engineer dealing with major equipment such as required by B C Hydro — high voltage switching gear as well as equipment used in pulp and paper mills. To arrive in Vancouver, the family drove from Hamilton through the USA to LA, up to Seattle and on up to Vancouver, visiting friends along the way. Brian's qualifications were accepted as a Professional Engineer in Ontario and he was able to transfer this status to B C, making him a Professional Engineer for over 60 years.

To find living accommodation, Brian checked a bulletin board at UBC and found an ad for a small house available for a 4-month period. It turned out to be a large mansion with maid's quarters and weekly gardeners. It cost them $500 all included for the 4 months. The owner was travelling in Europe and really just needed a house sitter while away.

Next, they built a new house in Glenmore, in the British Properties. At the time the cost of the lot, the house and all the furnishings came to just under $20,000. In 1961, Brian and Pauline's second son David was born, completing their family unit.

While working with Westinghouse in Vancouver, one of Brian's workmates (who was a member of the Vancouver Unitarian Church) told him of a fellow he knew who was looking for a business partner in his small company. This workmate knew Brian was interested in ownership and in 1968 Brian joined Chutter Hydraulics as a partner.

How did Norma and Brian become acquainted?

In 1976 Chutter Hydraulics needed an office manager and Brian interviewed a young single mother with two daughters who had the necessary skills for the job. Norma Fish was hired and worked there happily — except for the fact that the business was housed in what had been a horse stable for Johnson Terminals and the building was alive with rats and mice that even weekly exterminators could not control. In 1978, after two years with Chutter Hydraulics, Norma received a phone call from an employment recruiter inquiring if she was happy with her job? It was suggested she would be a good candidate for a job that was located in the Bentall Centre —far from the rats and mice. Norma took the opportunity. Since she had made friends with the Chutter staff, she would be invited back for Christmas parties and other events. Also, she had the occasional lunch with her old boss, known to her as "Mr. Blann" (this was during the era when you called your boss by his/her surname). One day Mr. Blann phoned her to say they had not had lunch for a very long time but as they talked Norma could tell by his voice that something was amiss and asked him what was wrong. After a long hesitation he replied that he and his wife, Pauline, had separated after 27 years of marriage. Norma and Brian's first 'date' was to a Whitecap soccer game - a totally new experience for her. After about three dates, Brian finally convinced Norma to call him by his first name but after four years as Mr. Blann, Norma found it very difficult to switch, but switch she did.

About 1981 Brian attended two different memorial services at the Vancouver Church and was most impressed how the adults and youth were so supportive of the grieving families. This triggered Brian's interest in visiting the North Shore Church. Brian and Norma attended Sunday services for a couple of months, discovered and attended the New U program, became members and were married in the Church in 1984. At that time the Church was lay led, but wanting a minister they requested the Assistant Minister at the Vancouver Church, John Quirk, to perform the ceremony.

In 1986 Brian and his Chutter partners bought a manufacturing firm in Surrey called Singer Valve Inc. The company prospered and another partner was added. In Brian's early days with Singer Valve, Norma organized her holidays to accompany Brian to different parts of the world seeking networking agents for the business, which later became a worldwide organization.

In around 1992 Norma decided it was time to retire from the firm in the Bentall Centre. Two days into her retirement the telephone rang and it was Brian phoning to say his accountant at Singer Valve was leaving and would she please come and help him out until he found a new accountant. Norma said she would come for a short while. However, as she was handling the accounting for Singer, she noticed that the rest of the office was not running as efficiently as it should and as soon as an accountant was hired she moved to another desk and took over running the office. Four years later she retired permanently!

For those four years, the two of them drove an hour each way to and from West Vancouver and Surrey, working 9 to 10 hours a day — and they thrived on it. Brian loved the business and, in particular, felt blessed with the employees he had working for him. Of the approximately 50 employees, several of them had been with the company for 25-30 years! Some had never worked anywhere else.

Believe it or not, time was found for Brian to engage in activities other than business. Since age 14, he loved sailboat racing and became very fond of hiking, especially in mountain terrain. In his university years he had been on the boxing team and rowed in an eight. Norma has expressed herself in creative ways as an artist and paints weekly, for pleasure, with a small group of artist friends. The Blanns have celebrated Brian's decade and mid decade birthdays by taking their family, usually numbering 12-15 people, on a total of five cruises. It has been their way of "making memories for their grandchildren", of which they have eight.

Brian was a Member at Large on the NSUC Board and a keen supporter of the "Save the Lot" plan.

Norma became NSUC president in 1988 and then co-president with Blanche Howard in 1989 when, then president, Norma Elrod and Mac moved to Metchosin on Vancouver Island. Norma, as Board President, was heavily involved with a group of Montessori parents who wanted to build on the Church property. They had the funds and guaranteed our Church would not be asked for any funding. This seemed propitious for the Church at that time but legal guidelines needed to be established. One member of our Church, lawyer Harry Slade, was a tremendous help in this regard and with his advice an agreement was made with Montessori which included the fact that if they ever chose to move from the Montessori building the Church would retain their building — which we did and have made good use of it since they vacated it in 1993.

Aren't we glad they chose to join us!

Incidental fun information:

The hospital in High Wycombe, near where Brian was born, was where Dr. David O'Hanlon, one of our Church members, did an internship many years later.

Brian's paternal Grandfather, for many years, held the job of raising and lowering the Tower Bridge in London, England.

Norma’s volunteer work relating to the Church Office goes way back. For many years, she was one of the church’s authorized cheque signers, and has been assisting Janni with bank deposits since 2017.