Marjorie Blakes
Marjorie Noakes Marjorie is also in the class of 1936
Marjorie passed away peacefully in Royal Inland Hospital on Saturday morning (October 31, 2009), following a brief illness.
She is survived by her three sons Cliff (Barbara), and Russ (Angi) of Kamloops, and Steve (Nancy) of Vernon, as well as grandchildren Ted (Aldéa), Laura (Shaun), Ryan, Lindsay(Dave) and Monique (Doug). Born the fifth of six children of North Shuswap pioneers Charles and Mildred Blake, Madge grew up on the family farm at Magna Bay. She graduated from Kamloops High School and worked in family service in Kamloops and Victoria in preparation for entering nurses’ training. In 1941, she married Stan Noakes, and they settled on their own farm in the Magna Bay area. In 1946, with their first child, they moved to the Cariboo so Dad could take a job with the BC Forest Service on Quesnel Lake. With the Forest Service, the family (now with two children) moved between Quesnel Lake, Williams Lake and the Forest Ranger School in Whalley, BC, several times between 1947 and 1950. The family finally moved to Kamloops in 1950, where son number three was born. She set herself the formidable task of trying to raise three active sons, encouraging them in academic achievement, music and sports participation. In 1974, the couple retired to their beloved Magna Bay, building a home on the lake where Marjorie delighted in watching wildlife and waterfowl.
Both she and Stan were founding members of the North Shuswap Historical Society. Recently, Marjorie has resided at The Hamlets in Westsyde, where she enjoyed the company of many friends and the dedicated care of the staff, and where she was much appreciated for her quiet ways and her sense of humour.
A Portrait of Thomas K. Shoyama by Jerry Grey, 2006
Thomas K. Shoyama, who served as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1975 to 1979, passed away in December 2006 at the age of 90. But his time as Deputy Minister of Finance was just one part of his contribution to Canada.
Born in 1916 in Kamloops, British Columbia, Mr. Shoyama left a legacy of public service that was second to none. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, he began his post-university career as editor of The New Canadian, a weekly newspaper that advocated Japanese Canadians join the larger society, demand their full citizenship rights and forget returning to Japan. He continued to publish The New Canadian even while in an internment camp in B.C.’s interior, providing a vital communications link to Japanese Canadians in other camps and running articles critical of the Government’s internment policy.
In 1945, Mr. Shoyama enlisted in the Canadian Army, serving with the S-20 Intelligence Corps. Following his discharge in 1946, Mr. Shoyama moved to Saskatchewan and joined the public service, working his way up to the position of economic adviser to Premiers T.C. Douglas and W.S. Lloyd. It was during this time that Mr. Shoyama helped build the prototype for the medicare we know today.
Mr. Shoyama moved to Ottawa in 1964 to work with the new Economic Council of Canada, where he stayed for three years before joining the Department of Finance. Between 1968 and 1973, he served as Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), at one point ADM of Federal-Provincial Relations and Economic Programs. One of his major responsibilities was introducing a national version of the medicare system he had helped develop in Saskatchewan.
Mr. Shoyama left Finance to serve as Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources during the 1973–74 energy crisis.
In 1975, he returned to Finance as Deputy Minister and retained that position until early 1979.
