B14 Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 22, 1991

Who Is...

Leo DeJong?

by Betty Barton

Leo DeJong is a gardener, an
automobile dealer celebrating his
tenth anniversary in business, and
an auctioneer.

Leo began his amateur auc-

_ tioneering career many years ago
when it was customary to auction
off ’bottles’ at the end of a dance.
Years later, he attended a three-
week, intensive professional auc-

tioneer training program in.

Lacombe, Alberta. He laughs when
he remembers that they were made
to stand facing the corner of the

room in order to hear the sound of

their own calling. "It's all num-
bers," he says.

His first official function as an
auctioneer was selling farm equip-
tent and stock at Johnny McRae’s
place in old Remo. After that, he
assisted Lionel Sears at an carly
Skeena Valley Fall Fair. When
Lionel took a coffee break, Leo
took over and auctioned off a
cabbage. That was 23 or 24 years
ago, he thinks. He’s been at it ever
since. “Auctioneering has become
a hobby,” explains Leo.

A community-minded citizen,
Leo is busy with many benefit

auctions including the Skeena

Valley Fall Fair and 4-H, the Ki-
wanis Club in Kitimat, and the
R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation.
The next R.E.M.. Lee Hospital
Foundation dinner and auction will
take place June 1 at the Inn of the
West with Leo officiating.

Ducks Unlimited in Prince
Ruperi, Kitimat, Stewart and Ter-
trace use Leo’s services on a reg-
ular basis. He was awarded a
bronze loon, a rare honour, for
raising more than $100,000 for the
organization at their Prince Rupert
auction two years ago. Leo figures
he must be up to almost $250,000

for them by now.

"IF I wasn’t in this car business,
I'd do it (auctioneer) full-time.
Who knows? I might yet. It’s not
so much that I’m auctioning. I’m
performing."

Leo and his family came to
Terrace from Holland in 1954
when he was just 12 years old. He
went to school here and the family
operated greenhouses and a farm
on the site of the current DeJong
subdivision on Eby St. They had a
number of huge greenhouses in
which they grew bedding plants
for the Terrace Co-op and tomato
plants. They also sold tomatoes,
cucumbers and lettuce to area
grocers. Leo remembers travelling
to Prince Rupert to deliver produce
two limes every week on a road
much less sophisticated than
today’s Highway 16 West.

Leo worked at a number of dif-
ferent jobs in his carly years; ona
survey crew for the provincial
government which conducted the
survey for the Stewart-Casslar
Highway; for SuperValu in Kitimat
for over three years; at the

family’s Green Acres Farm, and as
a gardener at the old Skoglund
Hotsprings for two years. He ran
the family farm from 1967 until
1972 after his father died.

in 1972, Leo bought Terrace
Excavating. In the winter of 1974,

‘Totem Ford for two years. Then, it

‘Leo saw it, he offered to buy it

he began selling cars for Totem
Ford as a favour to brother Jake,
who was on vacation in Hawaii.
When Jake returned from the
holiday, Leo had done so well that
he encouraged him to stay, at least
until spring when the excavating
business improved. Leo eventually
sold the excavating firm to his
younger brother Albert, who still
owns it today. Leo worked at

was mutually agreed ihat there
were too many DeJongs at the
Ford dealership and he left.

Gary Reum offered him a job at
GM the day he was going to Kiti-

mat for a job interview with Ford.
He cancelled the Kitimat appoint-
ment and stayed at GM for 5
years. Shortly after he began work-
ing for Gary Reum, Jim McEwan
bought the GM dealership.
Finally, in 1981, Leo and Freda
DeJong started their own used car
lot. By September of that year,
they had the Subaru franchise. Leo
remembers the representative of
Subaru driving up from Vancouver
in a demonstrator model. When

and the rep returned to Vancouver
by plane. Leo bought a Subaru
sign from the defunct dealership
owned by Schooleys in Kitimat.

Thornhill Motors is continuing as
a family affair. Leo’s eldest son
Brent had his first day in the sales
department at Thornhill Motors on
Friday. Prior to sales, Brent
worked as parts manager. Both he

and Mark, in Grade 11 at Caledo- |

nia, started washing and moving
cars around their dad’s lot at a
very early age. Mark has been
making inquiries about Georgian
College in Barrie, Ont. regarding
their automotive dealership train-
ing. Leo feels that Terrace has
been good to the whole family.

Leo has definitely been good to
Terrace. As a member of the
Skeena Valley Fail Fair Associ-

ation, he was instrumental in re-

instituting the Loggers Sports three
years ago under the sponsorship of
the Lions Club, and bringing in the
heavy horse pull as a big drawing
card to the Fall Fair. He com-
mends Terrace merchants and
individuals who built the stoneboat
and donated their time and
materials. Recently, Smithers
requested the loan of the stoneboat
for one of their races. The Associ-
ation is now raising funds for an
outdoor theatre on the Fall Fair-
grounds. The recent Barn Dance
held in the Thornhill Community
Centre, with entertainment pro-
vided by Terrace Musicians, was a
good start towards this project for
the benefit of the whole commun-
ity. Leo sends out a plea for more
members to become active in the
Association.

He used to raise quarter horses,
but doesn’t have the time for it
now. He got into cross-country
skiing a few years ago. And, he
says, with cnough outside pressure,
he'll try golf. When Leo isn’t busy
selling cars or auctioning, he says
that gardening is still his hobby, "I
like to put my own stamp on
things.”

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