Aura Family
Bill (Yoshio) Aura [1924 – 1987]
Mas (Masayo) Aura (nee Wakita) [1924 – current]
Yoshio (Bill) Aura was born on July 24, 1924, in Steveston, BC, to Zentaro and Kiyono (nee Kimura). Bill was the oldest son of the family. His father worked at BC Packers Ltd., in Vancouver, BC, and Bill worked for his father, who was a master mariner. They would collect fish from the other boats and take it to the market on their collection boat.
In 1942, the family was forcibly relocated to East Lillooet, BC, Lytton, BC, and Kamloops, BC. Bill worked at various jobs in Christina Lake, BC, and Greenwood, BC, to support the family as he was the oldest. He would eventually move back to Lillooet, then to Halfway, BC, and finally, the family made their home in Kamloops.
Masayo standing next to a field on Downie Street in Revelstoke, ca. 1940. P-13232.
Masayo Wakita was born on September 3, 1924, in Steveston, to Saijiro (nee Teranishi) and Uno. She was the fifth daughter of the family. Her father had a General Merchant store in Steveston. In 1942, the family was relocated to Revelstoke. The family had a strawberry farm on Downie Street to earn an income, and eventually opened three stores: Wakita’s General Store, Wakita’s Frozen Food Lockers, and Red & White Super Market. Mas went to Revelstoke High School and also helped the family business. Then she moved to Kamloops, worked at a bank, and helped her sister Jitsue at her dress shop. She would later run the dress shop with her friend Jane Kobayashi (who married Yuke Wakita, a brother to Mas), when Jitsue moved to Vancouver. She married Bill in 1953 in Kamloops and had two daughters, Lynn and Elaine.
When Yuke Wakita moved his family to Vancouver in 1970, Bill took over the Red & White store, and he became the new butcher.
Bill passed away on September 29, 1987, at the age of 63 in Kelowna, BC. Mas and their two daughters ran the business until a fire in 1994 closed the store and the meat locker plant had to be torn down. They made a few changes to the store and rented it out as a bingo hall until it was sold in 2017.
Lynn Keiko Aura passed away on March 15, 2023, at the age of 69 in Revelstoke.
Mas Aura is still alive and turned 100 years old in 2024. She lives with her daughter Elaine in Armstrong, BC.
Red & White Supermarket on 2nd Street West. P-13283.
Interior of Red & White Supermarket, with Masayo at the till, ca. 1980. P-13295.