A Williams Lake senior has been recognized by the City for his efforts helping seniors at Glen Arbor during the 2017 wildfire evacuations and volunteering with the Canadian Red Cross.
Mayor Walt Cobb presented Rex Moon with a Certificate of Merit during Tuesday’s regular meeting.
“We received letters about all the good work Rex has done,” Cobb said before he made the presentation. “He is being honoured by mayor and council for his outstanding efforts and his love and support for our community.”
During the evacuation, Moon cleared all of the residents out of Glen Arbor and made sure they all had their bags and transportation.
“I had a list and knew where everyone was,” he said.
At Glen Arbor he’s “sort of” the security guy, he explained.
“I’m supposed to go to work Friday night until Monday morning so I check the building and carry a phone, but then during the evacuation, our manager was on medical leave so I was chief cook and bottle washer 24/7 for a year,” Moon said, noting a new manager was hired in February.
He has volunteered for Red Cross for about 20 years, looking after the equipment and wheelchair loans.
“I looked after the repair of the equipment and I do meals on wheels every Friday,” he said. “My grandfather told me ‘having nothing to do is no excuse for doing nothing.’”
Moon was born in 1934 at the old Williams Lake hospital, where city hall is today.
He grew up on one of the four Moon Ranches — his father R. A. Moon ranched at the top of Sheep Creek hill.
“My dad sold out in 1954, probably the same year I graduated from high school, and then I worked for the Chevrolet dealer in town, which was Williams Lake Motors at the time, for 15 years,” Moon told the Tribune.
After that he worked as a parts-man at Inland-Kenworth for 30 years.
Lately he said it has been difficult because he lost his wife, Joy, two years ago.
She died two and half months shy of being married to him for 60 years.
“It’s hard to be home alone, so you better get out of the house and do something,” he said. “She was my school sweetheart. She was a gold miner’s from Barkerville.”
The Moons had three children — two girls and a boy.
Their daughter Beverly and son Gord work and live in Williams Lake and daughter Dawna works and lives in White Rock.
He said he appreciates receiving the certificate of merit, and plans to hang it on the wall in his house.
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