Two Peninsula residents who made a “monumental” difference in White Rock were honoured posthumously Monday by city council.
Before presenting the families of Terry Parr and Linda Klitch with plaques, flowers and news the pair would be added to the city’s Living Legacy book as Outstanding Canadians on the Peninsula, Mayor Catherine Ferguson said she only wished the decision had been made sooner.
“We felt it was important as a council before we left this term that these people are acknowledged,” Ferguson said.
“My only regret would be that this wasn’t something that we were able to do when both of them were still with us.”
Both Parr and Klitch died unexpectedly this year, 4½ months apart – Parr on May 6, and Klitch on Sept. 26.
Parr, owner of Parfour Signs and a longtime active member of the city’s business community, gave “all kinds of service to our community,” Ferguson said, naming Rotary, the South Surrey White Rock Chamber of Commerce and development of the Business Improvement Association as among his contributions.
Parr’s business “was sort of the hub of what was going on in White Rock,” she added.
“If you wanted to know anything, you went to Parfour Signs.”
Describing Klitch as “an amazing ambassador for the city,” Ferguson praised the 60-year-old’s legacy of community support and giving. It began the moment she arrived on the Semiahmoo Peninsula in 2000, to take on the role of publisher of Peace Arch News.
That involvement included helping with the Spirit of the Sea Festival, the city’s original branding initiative, development of the BIA, Rotary and the South Surrey White Rock Community Foundation.
Ferguson highlighted two efforts of Klitch’s which have, over the years, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the community: the Peace Arch News Vintage Affair and the PAN Christmas Fund.
Appealing to citizens to consider donating blood in Klitch’s honour, Ferguson shared Klitch’s rules for living with attendees: “Give it your all, appreciate all that you have, go where love goes, do what is right, understand that people are more important than anything and family is most important of all.”