Kelvin Higo
I (He/Him) was born in 1949 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. That same year, when Japanese Canadians were allowed to return to the west coast, my father returned first to see whether it was safe to return.
In 1950, my mother packed up the house in Winnipeg and along with my grandfather and grandmother, brother Ron and sister Karen, joined my father on the coast.
The family first moved to a rented house on Woodwards Rd. in Richmond, then relocated to a BC Packers cannery house at Pacific Coast Camp in the early 1950s. The family would live here until 1967, when they moved to a new home on Gilbert Rd.
I attended Lord Byng Elementary then Hugh Boyd Jr. High School. We were the first students to attend full-time at Hugh Boyd School. Grades 10 – 12 was at Steveston Secondary High School where I graduated in 1967.
After attending Grade 13 at Richmond Sr. Secondary High School, I enrolled at B.C.I.T in the Environmental Health program, graduating in 1970. I married my high school sweetheart, Kay Murao, soon after graduating and together moved to Saskatchewan where I had accepted a position with the Regina Rural Health Region as a public health inspector. We spent two years in Saskatchewan before returning to Richmond. I obtained a position of public health inspector with the City of Vancouver and after one year there, accepted an offer to relocate to Richmond where I would work for the next 25 years.
Towards the end of my career, the Richmond Health Department was amalgamated with Vancouver Coastal Health and I worked the remaining 11 years of my career with VCH retiring in 2006. During my career, I was promoted to the position of Chief Public Health Inspector and then in the final three years became the Director of the Richmond Health Department.
My volunteer work began with joining the Kinsmen Club in Moosomin, Saskatchewan where I was initially located in the Region’s district office. Upon returning to Richmond, I joined the Steveston Community Society and became president in 1976-1977.
In 1992 I received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in recognition for community service.
Also in 1992 saw the culmination of several years of work to construct the Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. I was chairman of the committee that built this facility which currently houses the Steveston Japanese Language School and hosts a myriad of programs targeting the Japanese Canadian community.
In 2016, I joined the Board of the Wisteria Health & Housing Society with the goal of constructing 107 independent living units for seniors. As of today, we are leasing suites to seniors and hope to be fully operational in the New Year.
In 2019, I was chairman of the Nikkei Memorial project that pays tribute to the resilience and perseverance of the Issei, Nisei and Sansei generations who suffered racism and inequality yet returned to Steveston and contributed to the re-building of the community.
In 2021, along with several other dedicated volunteers, we wrote a cookbook that preserved the “comfort food” that many Steveston families ate growing up in Steveston. The book From the Sea and Shore is currently on sale to the public.
I remain committed to preserving the culture, traditions and history of the Japanese Canadian community and hope to do so for many years to come.