Interview with Lillian Dixon

Audio recording and transcript of Lillian Dixon's 1984 interview with Lynne Bowen for the Coal Tyee History Project. A member of the Maki family, Dixon shares memories of her experience in the Nanaimo area as a person of Finnish descent. Dixon describes how each of her parents came to Wellington. Her father arrived from Wisconsin after emigrating from Finland with his two brothers. Her mother arrived separately and married her father shortly after. Dixon recalls a diphtheria outbreak in 1912, when several of her siblings died. She also explains how her father was killed in a construction accident on the road in 1930, and how the family coped after his death. Throughout the interview Dixon describes some cultural practices of Finnish families, her family home in Chase River, and she also gives some details about church services in the area.