A couple from Lumby, BC is searching for an old friend whom they believe may be in Powell River.
Mona and Tom Mason struck up a friendship with Frank Wheeler while they were travelling in their 45-foot motorhome. They met him in 2007 in Stewart, British Columbia. “He was such a kind person,” Mona said. “I said to Tom, if we ever have a place and we need someone to stay there and look after it, we’ll look up old Frank.”
Wheeler told them he used to work on ships and after he stopped doing that, he worked around the Powell River area as a handyman. “He was such a nice person,” said Mona. “You didn’t have any doubts about him at all, that he was a bad character or anything.”
When the Masons met him, Mona said, Wheeler was travelling around, much like a hobo, and he looked like American entertainer Red Skelton.
All these years later, the Masons now have a place in Lumby with 12 alpacas, a dog, a cat, a rooster and a duck. “We thought it would be nice if we had somebody older like that who we could help out. He would have a beautiful place to live.”
They decided to try and track Wheeler down. They have a shop with a suite where he could live. “He could stay here as long as he wanted, rent free,” Mona said. “He could look after the place when we went away.”
Anyone who knows Wheeler or where he might be can call Mona collect at 1.780.567.4105.
