Yukon who is who

Hugh Balfour Keenan (1921 - 1999)

Hugh Kennan was born in Balfour, British Columbia to Edward and Elizabeth Keenan. Soon after he was born, the family moved to Nelson and then moved again, in 1930, to Langley. Hugh left home as age thirteen and soon learned the names of all the edible plants in the region. He and his brothers sold watercress. He learned how to box with the Orange Hall United Church Boxing Club and in the beginning he boxed for food prizes. After he was professionally coached, he won many trophies. He worked in the Britannia Copper Mine in Squamish and in the Tulsequah Polaris Taku Mine. He met Ted Geddes who told him about the Yukon, and he moved north. In 1942, he worked on an extension to the Whitehorse airport runway and then began driving trucks. He met Ted’s sister, Pearl Geddes, at Twelve Mile and they were married in 1947. They had children Hugh, David, and Karen. Pearl became an advocate for establishing a Yukon vocational school.¹⁾

The Keenan family moved from Teslin to Surrey, British Columbia in the 1960s to give their children the opportunity for a better education. Hugh Junior died in 1974. Pearl started volunteering at the penitentiary and continued this work at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre when the family returned north. Hugh Senior and his brother Cliff were the first members of the Operating Engineers Local 115 union. Hugh worked on the Fish Lake Dam and cleared land for the Whitehorse General Hospital. He dug basements in the Takhini subdivision and worked on the Yukon Microwave Project among others. He was well known for his sense of humour and his singing voice. Hugh was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1978, and he retired from work in 1986 when he reached the age of sixty-five.²⁾