Arthur George Nolan (1925 – 2021)
Art Nolan was born in Hafford, Saskatchewan to parents George and Myrtle. The family farm was poor and Art left school after grade three to help out. He moved west in his early teens to Doe River, near Dawson Creek, British Columbia. He met his wife Clara there and they raised their eight children on the family’s East Doe River farm. Art drove school bus to help support his family and then drove truck on the Alaska Highway before starting work for the Department of Highway and Public Works.1)
The family, with their younger children, lived at the Summit Lake and Iron Creek maintenance camps. The older children and their families lived for many years in other camps along the highway. In 1980, Art established Nolan’s Trucking in Watson Lake and Clara managed the books. They hauled everything from fuel to logs and gravel. Art drove his many well-maintained trucks until poor eyesight took him off the road. Art was the oldest participant in the Emperor’s Challenge cross country race in Tumbler Ridge and also competed in the Open-Air Bonspiel at Watson Lake into his eighties. Among his greatest loves were his horses and pet dogs and cats.2)