George Colley - Able Seaman
George Colley was born in the southern part of Wales in the township of Tirphail on November 9, 1924. He arrived in Canada with his family when he was 3 1/2 years old. He was educated in the coal mining town of Rosedale, Alberta in the Drumheller Valley, known as Dinosaur Valley. George served two years in the Army Reserve in Drumheller before joining the navy in 1942 at HMCS Tecumseh in Calgary. He went east to HMCS Cornwallis for new entry training, then to Halifax to join the crew of the Nene. George returned to the west coast where he took his discharge. He went back to Rosedale to try his hand at mining but he soon rejoined the navy and served on five west coast ships - HMC ships Ontario, MacKenzie, Margaree, Stettler and Athabaskan, twenty months of which were spent in the Korean conflict. Time ashore was spent with his family on courses at HMCS Naden and Cornwallis. George married Louise Armer in Victoria on December 3, 1948. They have four children, David, James, Joan and Edward and were blessed with 5 grandchildren, with a sixth on the way. George retired in August 1969, but within four days was back in uniform to serve as Corrections Officer at the Vancouver Correctional Institution for about 15 years. He passed away February 13, 1991. Louise still resides at the home she and George shared.