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Kimberley Families

The Mio Family
as told by Vie

Victor (Vie) Mio was born in Northern Italy. He had friends in Fernie by the name of Fabbro who encouraged him to come to Canada to seek work. They sent him the papers that would bring him out. He was lucky on the voyage, as another young chap that had spent some time in Lethbridge was returning from a visit to Italy and he helped Vic immeasurably with both language and preparation for his new venture.

One of his first jobs in that year of 1926 was helping build the power house at Elko. He then got work at the Otis Staples Lumber Company at Wycliffe. In 1927 the Company in Kimberley was enlarging the Concentrator and Vic worked on the gang that was laying the cement foundations. When that job was finished, the Company laid off all single men. He went to work at Waldo for a short time and came back to Kimberley and got a job at Tony Muraca's store in the late 1930's.

Mr. and Mrs. Renick lived in Wardner where their second daughter, Lauretta, went to work for Martino's store when she was a mere fifteen. When Constable Dorie a policeman on the Wardner force, was transferred to Kimberley, Lauretta helped the family move and stayed to work for them for a time, and went on to work for other families in Kimberley.

Lauretta and Victor Mio were married in 1941. When Tony Muraca went into the Forces, they managed the store until Joe Provenzano took over. A son, David, was born in 1944.

Vic took ill for a number of years and was ad- vised not to work, so Lauretta got a job with the Kimberley Trading Company, where she stayed for eighteen years. When it was sold, Mr. Craig of the Marysville Food Market needed a head clerk and she was employed there for seven years until the fall of 1978 when she sustained an injury to her neck in a car accident. Vic went to work at Fabro's sawmill where he remined until his retirement in 1973.

Their son, David, received all his schooling in Kimberley and began working for the Company at the Concentrator. He also worked at the Iron Plant and the Fertilizer. He became a heavy- equipment operator. He married Arlene Seward of Kimberley and they have two children: Sherry and Clint. Early in 1978 he was transferred to Trail for a short time but decided to change jobs and moved his family to Penticton where he works for a Pilot Car Company.

Vie Mio in a corner of Chatson's Store

Vic and Lauretta live on Spokane Street overlooking the City Offices and the new Bavarian Platzel.

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