While some say opposites attract, in the case of Sharon and Jim Potter of Likely, B.C., they attribute the success of their almost 60 years of marriage to their commitment, their church and God.
“We like each other,” Sharon said, to which Jim followed up with, “I wouldn’t want anybody else.”
The couple, true childhood sweethearts, met in May 1949 in Tweedsmuir, Saskatchewan. Jim was born in 1942, and Sharon in 1944. Jim’s family moved to the area, landing half a mile from Sharon’s house.
Jim’s dad, Allan, worked a sawmill and was a farmer with cows and horses, and his mom, Dorothy, was a gardener who raised him and his three other siblings. Sharon’s father, Harry DeWalt, was often ill after being poisoned by mustard gas in WWI, so her mother, Ethel DeWalt, worked as a cook while raising Sharon and her 12 other siblings.
Sharon smiled when recalling her father. When he was feeling well enough, he built her a toboggan that her horse could pull and, another time, a barn. Jim chuckled, remembering when Sharon’s mother was stuck in the same toboggan.
Sharon remembered first seeing Jim’s mother walking with a baby and three other kids in tow, coming over to introduce herself to their family. She noticed the boys wore short pants, a staple to Jim’s family’s English side.
The two families quickly became friends. Sharon and Jim went to school together, climbed trees and rode horses. When Sharon couldn’t get her cows home, she’d ask Jim to help on his horse.
In 1957, Jim’s family headed north to Montreal Lake for his father’s work, but he still stopped by to visit Sharon whenever he’d head south to Prince Albert, the main centre in the area. Sharon’s mom also cooked up in Montreal Lake for Jim’s father and co-workers. The families kept in touch.
In 1962, Jim headed to Williams Lake to join his brother, who had moved out to the area, but returned to Tweedsmuir in 1963 when he and Sharon married.
At ages 19 and 21, Sharon and Jim married on Dec. 17, 1963, in the Church of Nazarene at -45 C. Their feet nearly froze, but they warmed up with dancing and their reception in the community hall. The happy couple headed back to Williams Lake.
They moved around quite a bit for the first few years, with Jim’s work with San Jose Logging and later Prairie Creek Logging. Each time, they’d pack up their 38x10-foot trailer, hauled by Jim’s truck, and set up in their next spot.
Their five kids were born in 1965 (Dolly), 1966 (Penny), 1967 (Bonnie), 1968 (Jimmy) and 1971 (Cindy).
Jim laughed when remembering a friend who said to the couple that the verse “be fruitful, and multiply the earth” didn’t mean the couple had to do it themselves.
Eventually, the family established roots in Likely after purchasing 80 acres from their friends. With the help of Jim’s parents, they built their two-story seven-bedroom home in 1977. With time, they added another house, a barn and some other structures.
During this time, Jim bought a sawmill and started producing his own lumber, with fluctuating degrees of success. As such, Sharon got her license to begin working as a truck scaler, while also bidding on contracts and doing silviculture work. Her brother moved into the house they built next door, and his wife would help watch their kids when the couple was busy working. They also bred Karelian Bear dogs for a time.
When they weren’t working, they were active with their church, the Likely Chapel, which they were some of the founding members of. After church, they’d host a potluck in their home, and friends would show up with instruments where they would all sing and play music together. Tacos were often served, with ladies making taco shells the night before, since you couldn’t buy them in-store then.
The couple also started Camp Likely, then called Likely Bible Camp, in the 90s. Eventually, they gave the camp to Cariboo Bethel Church, where the couple was baptized and their five children blessed.
The family of seven has grown considerably, with 16 grandkids, 20 great-grandkids and two more on the way. They enjoy visiting with one another and try and make as “few rules as they can,” said Jim, letting their grandkids roam and play. Sharon still gets out and rides horses with her great-grandkids, and Jim said they’re very proud of their family.
With so much life lived, Jim said it’s important to plant your seeds in the right places. When you’re young, life seems endless, but then you look back and realize how quickly it goes by.
“I’m the same old me that I used to be [when I was young],” he said.
Throughout it all, the couple remained close through the ups and downs. While Sharon enjoyed dancing, playing softball, hunting and fishing, Jim didn’t.
“But he’d still take me out fishing on his boat,” she smiled.
As for their upcoming 60th wedding anniversary, the couple doesn’t have plans at the moment other than hoping it’s not -45 C, like on their wedding day. An ever-growing family, their home is now much too small to host, and it’s hard to know what the roads will be like in the winter. But the couple is content.
Down the hill from their house, their horses and chickens graze, vegetables grow in their garden, and hummingbirds flutter around on their balcony. Their home is tucked in the hills and surrounded by creation.
