Elida Peers | Contributed
Many people from Sooke will remember the ladies in the picture.
On the left is Jean Whitford, who grew up in Sooke and is the daughter of Eddy and Daisy George. Next is Phyllis Planes, who grew up as Phyllis Charles at Becher Bay, a member of the Scia’new Band.
Lorraine (Bunny) Engler, who grew up in Vancouver, follows her. She is the daughter of a Hawaiian mother, from whom she learned hula dancing. In 1944, Bunny became the wife of Frank Planes of the T’Sou-ke Nation, who served in the Armed Forces then.
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This photo was taken in the 1990s, when all three women lived with their families on T’Sou-ke IR #1, on Lazzar Road.
Jean Whitford, who passed away in 2022, was born to Eddy George and his wife Daisy Shields, who was a daughter to Ida and George Shields. When Eddy George was elected chief in 1957, he followed his brothers in a long line of elected chiefs. Daughter Jean George mostly grew up in Shirley, where her dad worked in the logging industry. She raised six children, and while she was a quiet-natured homemaker, two of her children followed their grandfather’s tradition and became prominent in the T’Sou-ke community.
Jean’s son Larry Underwood was first elected chief from 1986 to 1991. Working in recent years as an environmental officer, he has recently been elected once again as chief at T’Sou-ke.
Jean’s daughter, Rose Dumont, has followed the George family tradition and served the T’Sou-ke Nation as councillor or chief off and on for almost three decades.
When Phyllis and Jack Planes were married in 1951, they made their home on French Road, where they raised ten children. Her husband was a prominent member of the Sooke Volunteer Fire Department, and this meant Phyllis became a “Smokette,” the group’s auxiliary, where she enjoyed the group’s many fund-raising activities. While her husband Jack served a term as elected chief, the tradition ran in the family as well, as two of her sons, Andy Planes and Gordon Planes, also became elected Chiefs of the T’Sou-ke Nation.
At right in this trio of beauties is Bunny, wife of Frank Planes, a descendant of the hereditary Lazzar chiefs, who became a legend in his own time as he spoke with eloquence on his family’s history. Besides raising their two daughters, Bunny participated in community activities, such as teaching swimming classes at the Sooke River Flats in the 1950s. She became an expert at producing canned salmon from her fisherman husband’s catch. Bunny passed away in 2012.
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Elida Peers is the historian of the Sooke Region Museum. Email historian@sookeregionmuseum.com.