Kjell Wallberg

Kjell Wallberg was born on Särö near Gothenburg in 1930. His mother was a single mother with 2 children, Kjell being the youngest. Kjell helped out his family working as a newspaper carrier at a young age. He also took other odd jobs in order to help out.

In 1945, when Kjell was 15 years old, he went to sea. His mother had to give her written permission for him to take a position on a ship. Kjell worked as a cabin boy cleaning 7 cabins on a Trans Atlantic ship which was headed for Baltimore with a cargo of pulp. After a year as a cabin boy he became a deck hand at the age of 16 years. This was on an East Asiatic ship that carried cargo between Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Manila and Hong Kong.

In 1947 Kjell trained to be an ordinary seaman. It was a cold winter and the sea froze over so the ship had to turn around in Rotterdam and went to the Far East. Kjell then worked on smaller ships owned by Uddeholms bolaget. These ships went between various European destinations.

Kjell went back to Sweden and decided to get more qualifications at the Navigational College in Gothenburg. First he took 6 months of preparatory courses and then one year to become a First Mate. Kjell met his future wife Birgit during this time. They met at a dance. Kjell forgot to ask for her name and had to do a lot of searching around to find her. He didn’t give up though and eventually found her!

After graduating as First Mate he worked on a Trans Atlantic ship for a while. He then went back to school and earned his Sea Captain degree in 1953. Kjell and Birgit got married in 1953. On their first Christmas together as a married couple Kjell had to fly to Lebanon to take charge of a ship. The ship had been in a collision with another ship.

The couple subsequently had 2 children in Sweden. In 1959 the Wallberg family moved to Canada. Kjell had been asked to take a position in Western Canada. The ship was to transport cargo between Powell River and San Francisco. The family lived in Powell River, where they stayed for 5 years and then moved to Parksville. Kjell took a position in shipping in Port Alberni. After a couple of years he found work in shipping in Gold River, BC where they stayed for 7 years.

The Wallbergs then bought Pacific 66 bulk plant in Williams Lake. The plant delivered oil and gas to the forest industry and gas stations. They stayed for 5 years and then moved on to Nanaimo where Kjell worked for 18 years in shipping with Transport Canada. Kjell is now retired and lives on Vancouver Island.