BIRTH:  Unknown
DEATH:  Nov. 29, 1969 (Vancouver, BC)

• Came to BC, in 1913 from Europe.
• Married Lily Hoas in 1918.
• Sold pole business and settled in Vancouver.
• Died in 1969 from cancer.
• John Hoas' Waterwheel.

John S. Hoas emigrated from Europe to British Columbia, in the spring of 1913 at the age of seventeen. He worked for a living on various farms around Lumby during the summer and worked as a timekeeper in logging camps during the winter. He then bought a parcel of land from Henry Sigalet and built a house on it and cleared the land for farming. John Hoas married Lily, the daughter of Chris and Barbara Sigalet in August 1918. John had to study English on his spare time, he wasn't literate of the language when he came to Canada.

Later, he studied for a scaler's licence, it was received in September, 1920. His work from then on was as a scaler. In the fall of 1928 he moved his family to the Arrow Lakes in the Kootenay where he carried on the business of producing and shipping cedar poles for their company in Lumby.

John brought his family back to Lumby in 1934. And again, he took up his work in the pole yard. In 1446, John sold his pole business and he and his family moved to Vancouver where they settled. John passed away in Vancouver General Hospital on November 29th, 1969 from cancer at the age of 74.