Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Jack and Vera Soars fonds |
| Reference code: | 0365 |
| Date: | 1916-1990 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 4 cm textual records
6 photographs 6 postcards 2 sound recordings |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Original donation processed by Karen Burgess, August 2009. Later accruals processed by Patricia Greber and Leslie Gordon. Added to new database September 2024 – TD |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Edward John (Jack) Soars was born July 9, 1916 in Peace River. His father was a lineman and his uncle a surveyor in the early 1900s when the land was being surveyed around the area. He recalled a carefree childhood roaming the banks of the Peace River. In 1939 Jack arrived in Grande Prairie to join the staff of CFGP Radio station which was two years old and the only radio station in the area. It was an era when radio personnel went out regularly to cover local events and the station was available for people to phone in announcements and local hockey games were broadcast by his brother-in-law, Fran Tanner. Jack joined the air force during World War II and when he returned to CFGP after the war he started on open line show where people phoned in from all over the Peace country, collect, and could express their views on any topic. He was very interested in the history of the area and invited pioneers to write down memories of their early days in the Peace country and submit them to him. He converted them to scripts and read them on his “Pioneering” program.
Vera Isabel Tanner was born in Mazenod, Saskatchewan on September 2, 1915, second child of Victor and Dorothy Tanner. Her siblings were Donald, Dorothy, and Francis (Fran). The family moved to Grande Prairie in the 1920s. Dorothy (Sr.) died at a young age and Vera was like a mother to Francis. Vera attended school in Grande Prairie Business School and received training in shorthand and typing.
She married Jack Soars in 1940 and they had four children: Diane, John, Gail, and Margaret. As a young person, Vera played softball and skated and as an adult she was a member of the ladies bowling and curling clubs in Grande Prairie. She was also a member of I.O.D.E. and Christ Church Anglican Women’s Auxiliary. She loved to bake and was always generous, sharing with the neighborhood families whenever she baked.
Vera died in Grande Prairie on October 1,1995. Jack died in Grande Prairie on February 16, 2012.
Custodial history
The records were donated by Gail Frey, Jack and Vera’s daughter, to the South Peace Regional Archives in 2007, 2009, and 2012.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of 6 photographs (4 relating to his RCAF service, 1943), 3 certificates congratulating Jack and his wife Vera on their fiftieth wedding anniversary, a CD copy of an interview Jack conducted with J.B. Oliver, a copy of a school project written by Joan (Oliver) Little on the history of CFGP, and a newspaper column “Jottings from Alberta” for which Jack was the correspondent. An accrual consists of a receipt for Norman Soars for a birth certificate (1916); high school examination results; records relating to Jack’s service during World War II in the Royal Canadian Air Force including a certificate of appointment as Pilot Officer in 1944; a Central Mortgage and Housing report (1957); 4 scripts, including one which appears to be a speech and a collection of jokes and news articles; a booklet titled “Alberta Folklore Quarterly”; and 7 crests related to curling and 3 from CFGP. A further accrual included digital copies of recordings of Jack presenting “Tapestry of Christmas” broadcasts on CFGP. An accrual of six postcards of area scenes including the Dunvegan Bridge, Grande Prairie, and a Waterhole Oldtimers gathering.
Vera’s documents include records as a student in grade 6, a grade 8 Public School Leaving Diploma, a Elementary Certificate from St. Martin’s House, Toronto, for Pitman’s Shorthand (1936), one from Pitman House, Toronto where she qualified for Stage 2 Pitman Shorthand (1937), certificates from Grande Prairie Business College qualifying for Intermediate Typing and Advanced Typing (1937), a certificate of baptism (1920), a confirmation certificate (1932), and a crest from the Grande Prairie Ladies Curling Champions.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.
Access points
- Graphic material (documentary form)
- Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Sound recording (documentary form)
- Communications* (subject)
- Military (subject)
- Education (subject)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 0365.01.01 | Item – Shorthand Certificate | 1936 | 1 certificate |
| Scope and content:
Vera Isabel Tanner’s certificate for passing Pitman’s Shorthand |
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| 0365.01.02 | Item – Intermediate Typewriting Certificate | 1936 | 1 certificate |
| Scope and content:
Vera Isabel Tanner’s certificate for completing intermediate typewriting from the Grande Prairie Business College |
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| 0365.01.03 | Item – Advanced Typewriting Certificate | 1937 | 1 certificate |
| Scope and content:
Vera Isabel Tanner’s certificate for completing advanced typewriting from the Grande Prairie Business College |
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| 0365.01.04 | Item – World War II Certificate | 1944 | 1 certificate |
| Scope and content:
Edward John Soars certificate thanking him for his enlistment from the Minister of National Defense for Air |
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| 2007.003.01 | Item – Jack Soars | 1943 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 5 in. |
| Scope and content:
Formal portrait of Jack Soars, Flight Engineer, RCAF |
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| 2007.003.02 | Item – Jack Soars – RCAF Training | 1943 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Jack Soars, Engineers Flight Training School at Virden, Manitoba |
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| 2007.003.03 | Item – Jack Soars – No. 7 I.T.S. RCAF Saskatoon, Sask. | 1943 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. |
| Scope and content:
Jack Soars as part of No. 7 I.T.S. RCAF Saskatoon, Sask., Course 83, “V” Flight, August 1943. |
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| 2007.003.04 | Item – Jack Soars, Golfer | [1975] | 1 photograph : colour ; 5 x 7 in. |
| Scope and content:
Jack Soars on the golf course. |
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| 2007.003.05 | Item – Jack Soars and Al Oeming’s Cheetah | [1980] | 1 photograph : colour ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Jack Soars on location interviewing Al Oeming, from Al Oeming’s Game Farm. Al Oeming brought exotic animals to the Prairie Mall for people to experience. |
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| 2007.003.06 | Item – Jack Soars | 1943 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 6 x14 in. |
| Scope and content:
Jack Soars (front row first on left) with the RCAF Training School, St Thomas, Ontario. |
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| 2007.003.07 | Item – Grande Prairie Street | ca. 1925 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
A view of a Grande Prairie street across from the Bank of Montreal looking east. Businesses along the street with visible signs are City Laundry, an electric store and Capitol Theatre. |
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| 2007.003.08 | Item – Aerial of Grande Prairie | ca. 1935 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
An aerial view of Grande Prairie possibly taken from the grain elevators. The water tower is visible and the Marshall Wells sign and Frontier Lumber as well as other buildings. |
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| 2007.003.09 | Item – Richmond Hill Golf Links | 1934 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
The clubhouse of the Richmond Hill Golf course as well as some of the grounds. |
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| 2007.003.10 | Item – Waterhole Oldtimers | 1947 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
A large crowd of people looking on at a contest involving barrels in Waterhole at an Oldtimers celebration. |
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| 2007.003.11 | Item – The Parking Lot at the Waterhole Oldtimers Gathering | 1947 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
The full parking lot at the Waterhole Oldtimers gathering. In the bottom of the picture children are playing in the corrals and written on the side of one of the trucks is Przybylski Bros., Whitelaw Alberta. |
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| 2007.003.12 | Item – Dunvegan Bridge | ca. 1960 | 1 postcard : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
A view of the Dunvegan Bridge taken from top of the hill before crossing. |
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| 2012.005 | Item – “Tapestry of Christmas” broadcasts | [ca. 1975] | 9 mp3 digital files (446 MB)365 minutes |
| Scope and content:
Digital recordings of a Christmas radio program by Jack Soars. |
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