Geraldine Van Bibber, nee Kelly (b. 1951)
Geraldine Kelly was born in Dawson to Gerald Kelly and Annie Vittrekwa and was raised after age ten by foster parents Mac and Lil Munroe. She joined their world of charity work and volunteering. Geraldine met Pat Van Bibber in Dawson and he followed her when she went out to Calgary to attend Mount Royal College. She left college and they were married. They moved to Mayo where Pat worked for United Keno Hill Mines. After a year they moved to Elsa and Geraldine started working at the mine office. Four years later they moved to Whitehorse where Pat worked for Canadian National Telecommunications (Northwestel) and Geraldine worked for the Yukon Government in the Finance Department. 1)
Pat was elected Chief of the Selkirk First Nation in the late 1980s and he commuted from Pelly Crossing to Whitehorse and the family. The Van Bibbers started Minto Resorts on the Yukon River in 1987. Geraldine worked for the government in the winter and ran the resort in the summers. Holland-America tours stopped for lunch and by 1999 the Van Bibbers were serving over 17,000 passengers per season. Geraldine left government and worked for several companies. She was Tourism Industry Association (TIA) vice-president for a year. She was involved in starting the First Nations Tourism Association in Yukon. And sat on the national Canadian Tourism Commission Board of Director and the National Aboriginal Tourism Association. After twelve years Pat did not seek election as chief, and they sold the resort in 1999. But after five years away they leased the business and operated it again. Pat ran the business for four years while Geraldine was Yukon’s Commissioner. She had served as Administrator for several years before becoming Yukon’s Commissioner. Her term was from December 2005 to December 2010 and she focused on community, youth, and history. In 2006, she was the first Commissioner to dissolve a sitting government and call an election.2)