1950: 1951 - Gibson / Broome Property

George Gibson died in 1950. His widow, Grace sold their property to a dentist, Dr. Ernie Broome, and moved to a small house in Okanagan Centre.

The Broome family then owned the property for decades before selling a large portion of it to the Central Okanagan Regional District in 1987.

From the early 1950s until 1970, the property was used as a children’s camp called Camp Kopje, then leased to the government’s youth resources department as a wilderness camp for troubled teens who had dropped through the cracks of the school system.

Grace Gibson died in 1979 at the age of 89. Many descendents of George and Grace Gibson still live in Lake Country.

Source: The Calendar, May 22, 1996.

NB: Son Douglas Broome has noted that his father, Ernie Broome, was an engineer, not a dentist; he was not “Dr.” Broome.

See also: 1906, 1912, 1987 and 1996.