James (Jimmy) Andrew Gunn was born in New Westminster, British
Columbia on March 23, 1916 to Donald John Gunn and Isabella Gunn
(nee Galbraith) who had emigrated from Scotland. He grew up and
was educated in New Westminster, attending Herbert Spencer Elementary
School and the Duke of Connaught High School.
In 1939, he married Laura (Lol) Alexandra McLean and they established
their home in New Westminster.
That same year, he joined the Motor Vehicle Branch of the B.C.
Provincial Police. In 1945, he was transferred to the Motor License
Office in Mission City, and the following year, took up residence
there with his family. His duties were expanded in 1948, when
he was appointed Deputy District Registrar of Births, Deaths and
Marriages for the area as well as Marriage Commissioner.
Jimmy resigned from his job in 1951 so he could remain in Mission.
He began working locally and sold insurance for North American
Life. Eventually, he managed a number of businesses, including
Courtesy Corner Store and Scotty's Taxi, which he owned and operated
until his death.
Throughout his life, Jimmy was a dynamic force within the community,
playing a prominent role in virtually all of the organizations
he joined. In Mission City, for example, he organized the B.P.O.
Elks Lodge annual May Day celebrations; arranged the Rotary Club's
annual Carnival at which big name stars Hank Snow (1948) and Mart
Kenney and His Western Gentlemen (1949) performed; and headed
a project under the auspices of the Rotary Club to construct the
first public swimming pool in Mission City.
He was particularly interested in young people and this is apparent
by his involvement with groups such as the Royal "Y"
Service Club (New Westminster) and Mission Basketball Club in
which he organized, managed and coached junior and juvenile team
sports.
In 1944, the Rotary Club of New Westminster declared: "With
more men of Jimmy Gunn's calibre in our city, our youth problems
would soon disappear."
The most notable of his achievements in working with youth was,
of course, the founding of the Soap Box Derby in Mission City.
An annual event for twenty-seven years the derby was started by
Jimmy in 1946 as an attraction for teenage boys at the community's
annual Strawberry Festival. Eight boys competed in this first,
unofficial "wildcat" race held on Main Street.
The following year, Jimmy personally applied for and received
a franchise from the American Soap Box Derby Committee in Akron
Ohio making Mission City one of two official soap box derby competitions
in Canada. From these small beginnings initiated by him, the event
grew to a province-wide competition in 1950 and all of Western
Canada in 1953.
Jimmy died in 1972 at the age of fifty-five. His memorial service
was attended by almost two hundred people from Mission and afar.
Following his death, a street was named in his honour by the District
of Mission to acknowledge his life of "service before self".
Written by: Val Billesberger, Archivist, Mission Community Archives.
About the Museum - Soap
Box Derby - General Tour
Local History - Teachers
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