Al Tomlin (b. 1929)
Al Tomlin was born in North Vancouver and moved to Whitehorse in 1948.1) He answered an ad for a cook’s position with White Pass & Yukon Route. The company paid for his return fare from Vancouver to Whitehorse, but he never used the return part. He worked as a cook's helper mostly on the sternwheeler Keno, hauling ore from Mayo and the job ended when they ran out of ore. He also worked on the Casca which was more of a tour boat. Later he worked in the Whitehorse firehall and then for Highways running a cat to clear brush between Burwash and Destruction Bay. One year, he worked for an electrical company building transformer banks and putting up power poles. He also hauled equipment and poles for the electrical company from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse. That was about his third year in the north. About year four, he went back to Highways as an equipment operator on the Haines Road and Alaska Highway.2)
Al Tomlin and Letitia “Tish” Cooper were married in 1953. Tish came to the Yukon in 1952 to teach school at Haines Junction.3) Around 1964, Al went to work at the Pump Station.4)
In 1966-67, Al built a house in Haines Junction. In the 1970s and 80s, he owned Fairdale Store and then Haines Junction Gulf which became Alcan Fuels (Source Motors).5) Tish Tomlin retired from teaching at the Haines Junction school in 1989.6)
Both Tish and Al Tomlin received Yukon Commissioner’s Awards: Tish in 1990 and Al in 1993. The Al Tomlin collection of photos at the Yukon Archives depict fishing, hunting, and the Alaska Highway around Kluane Lake and Burwash Landing.7) Al and Tish Tomlin were named Mr. and Mrs. Yukon for the 1991 Sourdough Rendezvous.