Congratulations to the SHHS staff who recently became members of UBC’s 25, 35, and 40 Year Clubs!
25 Year Club
Wendy Brundige
Educator, Child Care Services
Congratulations, Wendy, on your 25 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Wendy
“Twenty-five years ago, Wendy joined Child Care Services at UBC. She first worked at Acadia Child Care Centre. For the last several years she has worked as an auxiliary staff member at many UBC centres.
Wendy is an avid gardener, an activity she participates in both at home and in the child care centres. She likes the outdoors and can often be found at Child Care Services mucking about in the mud with children.
Wendy enjoys a good party and is willing to dress up in costume should the event have a theme. She’s very social, loves to dance and is often the last to leave the party!”
— Darcelle Cottons, Director, Child Care Services
Gary Hochban
Senior Food Services Supervisor
Congratulations, Gary, on your 25 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Gary
“An avid sports fan and memorabilia collector with a real passion for baseball, Gary is willing to bend anyone’s ear about yesterday’s game broadcast. Gary’s ever changing ball caps are an indicator of who is playing today or which playoff team he is rooting for. Where once upon a time Gary’s weekends and evenings were spent coaching his son on the baseball diamond or driving his daughter to ballet, he is looking forward to broadening his travel experiences and sharing them with his wife and children.”
— Rene Atkinson, Manager, Totem Park Dining & Summer Conferences
Ward Nakata
Educator, Child Care Services
Congratulations, Ward, on your 25 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Ward
“What does 25 years of working at UBC Child Care Services get you? If you are Ward Nakata, it gets you:
- A great job as a Senior Educator at an infant centre with colleagues you care about and nurture
- A wife (of 20+ years) who works in the early childhood field
- Three special children who attended child care on the same block as you work
- Plenty of play grounds to play in
- Opportunities to dress up in costume when attending work events
- Membership on the Board of Directors of your professional association (ECEBC), with the opportunity to provide leadership, mentorship and give back.
Yay Ward!”
— Darcelle Cottons, Director, Child Care Services
Carlos Perez
Coordinator, Scholar’s Catering
Congratulations, Carlos, on your 25 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Carlos
“Carlos Perez began at UBC in May 1993 as a part-time bartender. He graduated from the Hospitality and Tourism Marketing Program at BCIT and began his catering career in 2000.
Carlos is the first to jump in when needed. He also offered to work as storeman for a number of years, setting up bar inventories, reconciling and purchasing alcohol. His clients have commented on how accommodating he is to changes on-site, and staff will also note how he’s willing to come to their aid.
During most lunch periods, you’ll find Carlos on a treadmill or, if the weather permits, climbing the stairs to Wreck Beach. He is committed to a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating—but has been seen eating a pastry on rare occasions!
He shares his life with his wife, Irena, and his sons, Luka and Kosta.
Along with his can-do attitude, he is a great events resource. Carlos has coordinated over 1,000 on-campus events over the years. Thank you Carlos for your 25 years of contributions.”
— Kerensa Wotton, General Manager, Scholar’s Catering
June Yau
Service Worker, Facilities & Building Services
Congratulations, June, on your 25 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about June
“June Yau was born in Hong Kong. In 1969, she and her husband Sing immigrated to England where their first son was born. They moved to Vancouver a year later, where her other two sons were born. She now has seven beautiful grandchildren and enjoys spending time with family at every opportunity.
She loves working at UBC due to the many friends she has at the University and at Place Vanier residence, where she has worked for the past 18 years. They all enjoy getting together for dinners out or visiting over lunch breaks. She feels lucky to have such a wonderful husband whom she enjoys travelling with. Together, they have travelled to Hong Kong, China, Japan, and many other places.”
— Adrian Popple, Building Services Manager, Facilities & Building Services
35 Year Club
Manjula Chaube
Assistant Housekeeping Supervisor, Facilities & Building Services
Congratulations, Manjula, on your 35 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Manjula
“Manjula started at UBC with the Physical Plant Department and two years later, joined us at SHHS. It was clear from the start that Manjula was friendly, calm, and had a good sense of humour. She became a regular service worker in the early years of the Gage Low-rise, the first version of the year round hotel now known as West Coast Suites.
Her excellent work, attention to detail and organizational skills led to her being asked to help out with supervision. She has now been a full-time Assistant Housekeeping Supervisor for over 20 years. She has been a major force during the conference season, organizing the cleaning and inspection of the 1,500 individual rooms and suites at Water Gage Residence. She was always the key person in tracking the progress of year-end cleaning and the arrivals and departures of conference guests. Thanks to her naturally-calm nature, she kept everything on-track and was always ready to welcome and assist the new residents each September.
Over the years, Manjula contributed to organizing garage sales and through these efforts, helped raise thousands of dollars annually for UBC’s United Way Campaign.
Manjula just retired at the end of March and we wish her and her family well during this new phase of life!”
— Mahara Silva, Building Services Manager, Facilities & Building Services
Adrian Popple
Building Services Manager
Congratulations, Adrian, on your 35 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Adrian
“Adrian Popple has just completed 35 years of employment with UBC.
He tells us that the first time he came to this campus was with his Grade Eight English class. The teacher liked to bring students to Vancouver to introduce different life path choices. They walked through the Downtown Eastside, from the old bus depot, and then took a city bus out to UBC to check out the campus and classrooms.
Adrian loaded up his Dad’s ’68 Dodge Dart to move himself to the UBC campus in the fall of 1979. After two years living at Totem Park and two at Place Vanier, he graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
He started with the Housing department in the summer of 1983 as a summer Service Worker. He decided to stick around while he prepared to go into the VCC music program as an electric bass player. He later held positions as a Resident Attendant, a Conference Centre Night Auditor, the Cash office clerk, a Quality Assurance Manager, and since 2005 he has been the Building Services Manager at Place Vanier.
Adrian’s daughter is going into fourth-year Science and his son is going into second-year Forestry—both here at UBC! Both also lived in residence at UBC, and he was happy to report that their names did not appear in any Shift Activity Reports!
When he is not at work, Adrian can be found playing tunes with three different musical combos.”
— Mahara Silva, Building Services Manager, Facilities & Building Services
Jack Stein
Locksmith, Facilities & Building Services
Congratulations, Jack, on your 35 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Jack
“Jack came to SHHS in 2015 after a long career at Building Operations. Needless to say, he probably didn’t realize how much fun he was about to have! Over the last three years Jack has helped hundreds of students and faculty, and he has done so with a jovial laugh and great smile. He is an integral part of our locksmith team here and we feel lucky to have his great personality, knowledge and experience to help us in our operations.”
— Andrew Powter, Trades Manager, Facilities & Building Services
40 Year Club
Helen Chan
Sales Attendant, Food Services
Congratulations, Helen, on your 40 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Helen
“Helen Chan is an incredibly hard worker and has been throughout her 40 year career at UBC. Since I started working in Residence Dining, and from the day that I was able to work with this wonderful lady, I have seen how much she loves doing her job. She is a pleasant and polite person to be around. Everyone loves to work with her!”
— Jane Sunwoo, Manager, Residence Dining (Gather @ Vanier)
Judy Medley
Assignment Coordinator, Residence Life & Administration
Congratulations, Judy, on your 40 outstanding years at UBC!
Learn more about Judy
“You can’t come into the SHHS Main Office without hearing a greeting, dry quip, or story from Judy. She has a unique sense of humour that is well known to SHHS-ians and a laugh that is nothing short of infectious. She is fiercely loyal and cares immensely for her team. Thank you for your many years of service Judy!”
— Natalie Tole, Associate Director, Admissions & Administration, Residence Life & Administration
