Shirley D. Stainton (1927-2018) was born on a farm near Spooner, Saskatchewan. Shortly after her birth, her family relocated to the Slocan Valley area of British Columbia, where she was raised in the gold mining camps of Sandon, Beaton, Camborne, and Sheep Creek, many of which are ghost towns today. After the Second World War, Shirley married a returned soldier named Fred, and they went on to raise three children. They retired and spent their senior years in Balfour, BC, close to their roots, in a house on the lake built by Fred.