When Ken Stevenson was in university he thought working with people in retail would be the worst possible job, but after owning a business for 23 years he proved himself wrong.
In February he sold Exotic Aquatic, a longtime pet store in Williams Lake.
The store, he said, became about the fish, a second office to meet with youth from his church youth group and a place where people could come and visit him.
“I took four fish tanks home, but the last two things I am going to miss,” he said.
Born in Pouce Coupe, B.C., Stevenson attended the University of British Columbia and graduated with a degree in ichthyology - the branch of zoology devoted to studying fish.
He said he only used his degree for five months working for Fish and Wildlife in Fort St. John.
A job with Sears moved him and his wife Janet to Kitimat, where they stayed for seven years.
While in Kitimat he became a church youth group leader, something he continued with Cariboo Bethel once they moved to Williams Lake in 1986 when he transferred with Sears.
When the Sears store became a franchise he quit and went to work for Hillside Pumps & Water Treatment for three years, followed by working with special needs adults at Cariboo Chilcotin Family Resources (CCFR) for seven years.
Recalling one of the adults he worked with, he said it was important to walk and walk fast with him every day, especially up hills.
Once the endorphins kicked in the man’s agitation would calm down and he would say “home.”
“When you work like that you discover a lot about yourself,” he said of his job with CCFR.
From the time he was eight years old, Stevenson had pet fish.
His collection in Williams Lake grew to 29 aquatic tanks at home and Janet said maybe he should have his own store.
One year their son Luke tore his shoulder tree planting, so they decided to purchase Exotic Aquatic, so Luke would have a job.
After quitting CCFR, Stevenson went to work in the store and when Luke left to go to university he took over the business.
Today Luke lives in Leduc, Alta. and their other son Ben lives in Kamloops.
This year will also mark his 40th as a church youth group leader.
“I think my goal there is always to teach the kids how to think and how to share their faith,” he said. “There’s a quote from first Peter - ‘Be ready to give the answer for the hope that is in you.’”
He said so much of what students learn now is by repetition and it was not until he was in his third year of university that he learned how to think.
A professor asked the students to critique a paper on why is it that the Irish Elk are the largest ungulate to ever live, which was because they were on an island with no predators.
“We then had to look at why deer on Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island are so small. He wanted us to see that we were arguing the opposite for both of them. That is where I first learned to think and not just be rote.”
Stevenson said there is a rumour he has never grown up and at youth group they pray for the oldest kid, meaning him.
Williams Lake was a great place to raise their children, he said.
They were both involved in soccer, which he knew nothing about and had to learn from the sidelines and became a level two coach because of them.
Through Cariboo Bethel he went to Northern Thailand Chiang Kong to teach fish farming, while he owned the store.
He went to help add Tilapia to the diet because they were lacking protein and were adding crickets to rice to get protein.
In the end, the community chose to do catfish, he said, noting he does not agree with fish farming if it entails destroying natural habitat to do it.
Aside from work and volunteering, Stevenson loves to travel, especially to the Caribbean.
“Snorkeling is a favourite thing to do,” he said. “I could lay in the water until I burn.”
READ MORE:OUR HOMETOWN: Small business owner, community volunteer
READ MORE: Exotic fish with human-like teeth caught in Williams Lake
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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