HISTORY: Families and People: A - B | BENINGS

The Bening family lived for a while in a cabin on the Black’s property. Mr. Bening who was Swiss and sometimes referred to as Herr Bening, came to Canada in 1912 and at first worked as caretaker for Mrs. Mabel Bright and her family who had a lovely home in the Belgo. Later, he had a thirty mile trapline which stretched from Big White to Little White. The Bening children were Dorothy, born in 1922 and Elsie, born in 1924. They attended the Joe Rich School in 1929. The family spent the summers in Joe Rich so that Mr. Bening could get home at night from his trap line. They did this until Elsie was 16.

In 1926, their friends, the Millers lost their Kelowna home to fire. The Millers moved up to Joe Rich and stayed with the Benings. Donald and Neva Miller attended the Joe Rich School from Christmas to spring time.

The Bening girls were good friends with Christine Mack and Elsie has fond memories of the Philpott twins. They played cards with Leo Fazan at the Macks and on one occasion Leo tipped his chair back and went right through the window behind him.

Elsie remembers great fishing in the Joe Rich Creek and even caught 8 to 12 inch trout in the V – shaped irrigation troughs in the lettuce fields and then kept the fish alive in the horse trough!

She remembers having an alarm clock that Cecil Philpott really wanted – she thinks he maybe needing it to get up for work – and she traded it for a tobacco can of fish hooks!!

At the Belgo home they had a horse named ‘Flossie’ that the girls thought they had bought for 5 pennies (all they had), but actually Mr. B. had bought it for $5. Flossie never came up to Joe Rich, but she remembers being very excited when they heard that Allan Fazan was bringing Flossie up to Joe Rich. Much disappointment when they realized it was his wife who was called Flossie.

Elsie married Mr. Gardner.

Mr. Bening died on Abdication Day, 1936 at the age of 56. He was up at his trap line with Harry Band. He had a trapper’s cabin at the end of Three Forks Road across Mission Creek. It seems he became ill while on the line and made his way to the cabin dropping his gun on the floor and falling into bed. Harry Band came in soon after and thought he was sleeping, but he had passed away.