I first met Kathy when I was tasked to do a story about a young volunteer in our community (Sufey Chen) and I wanted to balance the story with a more experienced volunteer who was deeply embedded in the Prince George community.
I came across Kathy everywhere I looked. She wasn’t in it for the glamourous, high profile events where you go just to be seen, she was there to get the job done and right beside her all the way was her husband, Lino. This is what I call a true power couple.
Here’s their story:
Lino Nadalin was born in Morsano al Tagliamento in the Province of Pordenone in the Northern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 1946. He is the eldest of Bruno and Bruna (Valentinis) Nadalin’s four children.
Lino was raised on a farm where there was always a lot of work that needed to be done.
“As a kid I resented the time it took to do all the chores because it constantly interfered with my soccer games,” he said. “In Italy every boy dreams of becoming a world famous soccer player and I was no exception.”
In 1956, when Lino was ten years old, his father left for Canada and worked for Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) in a logging camp on Vancouver Island, he recalled.
His father returned to Italy four years later.
As a boy Lino heard about Canada for years from his dad and grandfather who lived in Canada from 1921 to 1929. Lino was determined to see Canada for himself, he said.
Lino headed to Vancouver in 1965 to meet up with his uncle to find work in Canada.
Lino worked at the sawmill right downtown where BC Place is now located.
“I started playing soccer again in my spare time,” Lino said.
That spring Lino moved to Prince George. The pulp mills were being built and there were plenty of jobs.
“There was lots of work for a young strong person,” Lino said.
Lino moved to Victoria for a short time and worked as a welder in a ship yard. He then moved back to Prince George and went to work for Finning Tractor and eventually ended up working for Canfor just like his dad did back in 1956.
“I started at Canfor in 1970 and retired from the company after 39 years of working for a great company,” he added.
What really kept Lino in Prince George was his love of soccer.
“I played in the Prince George league and soon after that I played for the Prince George All Stars and traveled to tournaments and summer games all over the province,” Lino said. “The highlight was being the captain of the Prince George All Stars when we played against the Vancouver Whitecaps on several occasions.”
Lino has a daughter, Caroline, who lives in Hawaii.
In another part of the world, Kathy Lang-Pauley was born in Wausau, Wisconsin in 1948 and immigrated to Canada in 1968.
Kathy is the fourth eldest of Gilbert and Lucy Lang’s 15 children.
“My father was a hard working farmer, a welder by trade while my mother was a stay-at home mom. Both were very good Catholics,” Kathy said. “Dad always said that he had all of us kids so he could make up his own baseball team.”
“I lived in Williams Lake, raised my family and worked for the BC Telephone Company,” Kathy said.
A pending office closure was the inspiration behind her transfer to Prince George in 1986.
“I started out in operator services with BC Tel and ended up in major business operations as a sales representative with TELUS and retired in 2003 after nearly 33 years with the company,” Kathy said. “I am proud to say that I was the only woman acknowledged to reach the milestone of $1 million in sales during my career in the Prince George office.”
Kathy has two children Scott (Tina – deceased, Angelica) of Olympia, Washington and Julie who lives in Prince George. Kathy has four grandchildren.
Kathy met Lino at a dance in 1999 and they married two years later.
Since she retired, Kathy has been doing full-time volunteer work of one kind or another, serving on various boards as a director with the intention of giving back to her beloved community.
For more than 40 years Kathy has been a dedicated member of the Order of the Eastern Star and a longtime member of the Scarlet O’Hatters a group within the Red Hat Society.
Kathy voluntarily wrote the weekly Seniors’ Scene column for the Prince George Citizen for eight and a half years that resulted in 262 people features.
“I turned the column into two books with all the proceeds going to the Prince George Community Foundation,” Kathy said.
Kathy also volunteered for the TELUS Community Ambassadors and served as secretary on the local board of directors for ten years. For nine years Kathy was a director on the TELUS Community Connections Volunteer Society board.
Kathy said she is truly grateful for the many accolades she has received for her extensive work in the community, including earning a Healthier You Seniors Initiative of the Year award in 2012, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013, and the Outstanding Volunteer Award of Merit from the City of Prince George in 2012. She was also honoured with a nomination as the 2013 Citizen of the Year.
As Kathy served 11 years on the board of directors for the Elder Citizens Recreation Association (ECRA), Lino retired and began volunteering at ECRA as well. Between Kathy and Lino their favourite projects were teaching the line dance class, organizing the cookie dough project and the annual garage sales, holding the Princess Tea and organizing the fund raising book project, just to name a few.
Kathy and Lino both belong to the Forever Young Chorus and enjoy playing cards. Lino is very much a bridge enthusiast.
Kathy and Lino love to travel and enjoy spending their time together volunteering, dancing or working in their extensive garden.
In the last two years of the pandemic their famous annual garden party that saw more than 100 people in attendance during the span of a day has gone by the wayside. They used to enjoy a potluck meal during the party and guests were invited to reap the benefits of their garden.
During the pandemic things took a turn and when their Italian green beans made it to the table at the White Goose Bistro one day at the hands of one of their friends, The White Goose contacted the pair to see if they could get some beans for a wedding reception they were hosting for the Covid-friendly 50-person event. Of course, the Nadalin’s didn’t have enough for 50 people to enjoy as the only vegetable on the plate but could provide 50 singular beans to go into a vegetable medley.
Being who they are the Nadalin’s donated their delicious beans to the restaurant and turned down the offer of payment. The Nadalins continued to provide the beans to The White Goose Bistro throughout the entire summer and when the owners and chef were insistent about compensating them, they finally accepted the offer of a lovelyfive-course meal in exchange for the summer-long contribution of beans.
“It was a memorable experience and everything was so delicious,” Kathy said.
If you know of a person who has made significant contributions to the Prince George community who has not been showcased in the newspaper before please contact me at [email protected] or call 250-960-2773.
