Francis Muldoon Towns

  Noted events in his life were:

• Notes for FRANCIS MULDOON TOWNS. Francis Muldoon Towns, known as Frank, was born on the family farm near HoImfield, Manitoba (one mile north of Enterprise school). He grew up working on the family farm and worked at Canada Packers in Winnipeg one winter, along with brother Orville, for the wage of $0.45 hourly.

Frank served in the Canadian Army; training began at Fort Osborne, Winnipeg and later at Camp Shiloh, near Brandon. Fortunately the war ended before he was sent overseas.

He bought the north half of 4-2-15 (Holmfield area of Manitoba), which had never been broken. Frank and Pearl initially lived in a grainary; they eventually tore the grainary down and built a house. Frank broke 30 acres of farmland and later on he bought the east half of 8-2-16. While living on this property he dug a well by hand, to a depth of 55 feet. He used a tractor later on to skid the house to Killarney Lake, next to Orville and Doris Towns.

Frank did a variety of jobs from carpentry work building barns to working for the Ford dealership and the GM dealership in Kilarney. He moved to Neelin in 1954, purchased the garage and one of the two houses with running water, but still with an outhouse.
In late 1956, possessions were loaded into a trailer and the filmily moved to Vancouver. The trip was not uneventful, with Frank having to install a new clutch in the Chevrolet car on a steep grade in the Rocky Mountains.

Early times were tough in Vancouver, although Frank found work almost immediately. No housing was available and the family of six lived in a one room motel for the first month. Frank worked as an automotive parts salesman for 30 years and, along with Pearl, as an Amway representative for a period of time. He retired at age 65.

The family moved a number of times, living in Vancouver, Coquitlam and other areas, eventually moving to a retirement home in Sharon Village in Langley, B.C.

The church continues to be an important aspect of their lives, with Frank playing the violin each Sunday at the service. They are happily retired but busy.

Francis married Evelyn Pearl Stacey on 3 Jul 1946.