Mavis and George were married early in the 50s; so finally, the two sisters in name, Morva and Mavis, had the same last name. Wendy, Mavis, and George's daughter were born in October of 1954. The two Murray ladies got together in Vancouver, in November, to show off their pride and joys. Grandma Olive McCreight and Edith Walton were both on hand, helping with the youngsters and enjoying every minute. We have eight millimetre home movies of most of the trip and they bring back pleasant memories.

In the spring of 1955, some friends approached us with a business proposition. They wanted me to partner with them in a gas station and automobile venture. Dave Higano had a gas station on Nicola Avenue that was not doing so well, and he wanted to sell. This would mean putting a $5,000 mortgage on our home, leaving a secure job, and taking the chance that we could prosper and repay the loan. In 1955, this was a considerable indebtedness—today's equivalent of about $65,000.

A logging and hauling company would share the office space with Murray Motors Ltd. I was to run everything else, which eventually included car sales. We made the commitment, jumped in with both feet, and hoped we wouldn't sink. My involvement in this undertaking lasted the next seven years. Laurie Graham moved in from Douglas Lake to be shop foreman. Harold Mosley arrived from Revelstoke, B.C. to take over the parts department. Mechanics were: John Johnson, Yelle Post, Murray Painter, Lauren Bouchard, and Harry Myer on the lube rack. On the front end service and gas pumps were Jack Morrissey, Jack Polman, Jimmy Brown, and John Collett. The office staff for both companies was composed of Len Wells, Topsie Wells, Joan Dodding, Norma Dodding, Flora Gerrrard and Ellen Blair.

On first taking over the station there was a lot of cleaning up to do— floors, walls and service bays. All the employees mentioned earlier were not there in the beginning. We had a much smaller staff. The goodwill that came with the purchase was one steady customer, Bill Riley.

Regular gas was selling at 35 cents for an imperial gallon. This equates with $3.18 for the same quantity at today's prices. We took on a line of International Harvester Crawler Tractor parts that did reasonably well.

“Home Oil” gas and lubrication products were our main marketing item. This was a B.C. subsidiary of Imperial Oil; it no longer exists, although it was still operating when I left the automobile business in 1962.

Eveready Motors in Kamloops supplied us with some of their Mercury and Lincoln vehicles on a sub-dealership basis. A few cars and trucks were sold; there was not much time on my slate to devote to selling vehicles. My partners could not be convinced to hire a salesman. The business was growing as we landed our fair share of local, government, city, and school board trade. We were attempting to persuade General Motors that we were a good prospect for their full line of products, as there had not been a GM dealer based locally for many years. This goal was eventually rewarded with a full-line dealership of General Motors products and remains with Murray Motors Ltd. today.