Evelyn Peel
Evelyn Peel was born on a farm in Saskatchewan. Her husband was in Whitehorse for a year and a half before she reluctantly joined him. She thought the winters would be too cold to enjoy. After Evelyn arrived, she worked in a laundry and then an Army mess hall. In 1961, she became the elevator operator in the Whitehorse Federal Building and she kept that job for twenty-three years. She filled her time by doing needlework and talking to the people who rode up and down with her. In 1982, she was trapped between floors during a power failure and was rescued when a ladder was lowered through a trap door in the roof. Evelyn planned to retire in April 1985, after twenty-five years with the federal government, and the government was making plans to automate the elevator after her retirement.1)