Evelyn Mae "Babe" Richards

Evelyn Mae "Babe" Richards was born in 1924 to T.C. and Bernadine Richards in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Her father worked for the meat company, Pat Burns and Company, and later ran the Whitehorse Inn hotel. Babe was eighteen years old when the Alaska Highway was built and experienced many changes that brought to the community. She spent three years at Crofton House in Vancouver, British Columbia to complete high school, lived at Watson Lake for a few years while her husband, John Brown, ran a saw mill there, moved to Dawson Creek when his job changed, lived in Fort St. John for another few years when her husband worked in the company's office, and moved back to Whitehorse in 1971 when the company decided to open an office there. Babe had the first of her ten children when she was twenty-two years old. In the 1970's, Babe owned a clothing store in Whitehorse, "Broies Tienda" for five years. After her lease was up, she operated a day care center for a number of years. She was an icon in the community and everyone knew her as "Grandma Babe." She was active in the Whitehorse community and was a member of civic organizations, such as: the Whitehorse Legion, the Golden Age Society, Yukon Order of Pioneers, Whitehorse Fireweed Lions Club, the Yukon Foundation, and Angel Hugs. She was honored for her community efforts with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Yukon Heritage Award in 2008. Babe Richards passed away in 2016 at the age of 91. For more about Babe Richards, see her obituary, a story in the Yukon News newspaper, and another story from the CBC News.