Mount Oldfield slide still stirs memories for one Rupert family

Last Thursday we went back to 1957 and the memorable Mount Oldfield slide of November.

The Daily News had an interesting look at that slide in its Friday paper, with a review of the events from the perspective of a couple that had their wedding plans coincide with the regions best known natural disaster.

Anniversary of tragic day still a fresh memory for local couple
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, November 23, 2007
Pages one and two

Although you wouldn't guess by the sunny weather, yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in Prince Rupert's history, when a mudslide down Mount Oldfield claimed the lives of six people.

The North Coast of British Columbia is famous for its November storms, but few inflicted such damage and took as much from the city as the storm that blew through Prince Rupert on Nov. 22, 1957.

In the 18 hours leading up to the noon hour slide, 3.9 inches of rain had fallen with the accompaniment of gusting winds, a combination that eventually brought trees, mud and rocks down the hillside in what witness Jack Krug described "as [if] the whole mountain was moving".

In less than six minutes, the slide had killed four men and two women, including 64-year-old George Henderson. Young married couple Tom and June Perry perished, along with fisherman John Jordan Vandal, as well as longshoreman John Murray, and his wife, Merle. The Murray's 18-month-old daughter, Selma, was the lone survivor, and, after being treated at the Prince Rupert General Hospital, she was adopted by her uncle, Gene Rheaume.

Two Prince Rupert residents who remember the day well are Norman and Madeline Craddock, whose wedding day was scheduled for the day before that catastrophe. During that horific, but typical, Rupert storm, Madeline had a hair appointment at the House of Beauty that she diligently kept.

"Peggy, just put my hair in pin curls. I'll comb it out before the ceremony," she said to her stylist. "If this weather keeps up, my hair will be as straight as a poker before the night is over."
Her home phone was ringing when she returned with calls from friends asking if they were going to cancel the wedding due to the weather.

"Of course not!" she replied. "Since when did a little Rupert rain stop a wedding?"

The day had more obstacles than simply weather to throw at them. Mrs. Husoy had agreed to bake the cake and mistakenly thought the wedding was on the Saturday, instead of Friday, and Norman's best man had a allergic reaction that would keep him from being in the wedding party.
Fortunately everything came together and the ceremony at the Sons of Norway Hall proceeded as scheduled.

"During the ceremony, the minister would pause as the gale would try to snatch our words away," said Mrs. Craddock in a story she recently wrote about her wedding day. "Norm seemed to think the storm outside was tame in comparison to facing the crowd. He tried to hurry me out."

After a sleepless night in the Savoy Hotel, acting as an alternative to their original destination, the Parkside Motel, at which the manager had somehow "forgot to reserve a room," the happy couple were escorted to the plane that was supposed to whisk them away for a honeymoon. But it wasn't meant to be, as the airline attendant explained, the cloud ceiling was so low that no planes were landing. Not even a bus driven by Freddie Switzer could get the newlyweds past Kloiya Bay and on to Terrace, where there was some hope of catching a flight. The bus gave out, leaving passengers Maddy, Norm and his mother (who was supposed to 'see them off') to hop in a truck that took them and their soaking wet luggage to Miller Bay, where a city taxi then took them the rest of the way home.

"Well, that was a short honeymoon!" joked Madeline's father when they walked in the door.
By noon of that day, a thick fog had fallen and suddenly there was a terrible roar, leading everyone to believe that in fact a plane had taken off. But later in the day when the fog lifted it was clear that sound was that of mud sliding down Mount Oldfield, smashing through a small cabin and continuing down to Wantage Road.

"It smothered homes and shanties," said Madeline. "Several lives were snuffed out, but miracle of miracles, someone had found a wee babe."

After much discussion, it was decided they would travel to Vancouver by steamship on the SS Coquitlam for their much-needed honeymoon. They booked two rooms, one of which was supposedly the 'honeymoon suite,' and boarded at midnight.

"To this day, we will never know if there was a honeymoon suite, or if Norm's mom was given our cabin, but when we opened the door we were overcome with giggles; our honeymoon suite had two single beds!" Madeline remembers. "Needless to say, when the room steward came to do the cleaning, he had only to make up one bed!"

The Craddocks have since moved back to Prince Rupert for their retirement after spending many years on Vancouver Island, and Wednesday marked their 50th wedding anniversary, although they celebrated over the weekend with friends and family.

"Over the past 50 years, we have learned to dance through the storms together, knowing the One who watches over us has promised to take us to the other side."

The Daily News would like to thank the happy couple for sharing their wonderful story of that day that they've entitled The Torrential Tango for Two, as well as honour the memory of the six souls who perished in the tragic mudslide 50 years ago.