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James Skea (1889-1963) was born in Langley on December 28, 1889 to parents Elizabeth and John Skea. They had come to Canada in about 1887 and had homesteaded in Langley in 1888 on Telegraph Trail near Otter. James farmed in Langley all his life and served in Canada with the Canadian Engineers in World War I, enlisting in Vancouver on September 3, 1918 and being discharged on 30 January 1919. He married Ruth Victoria Sophia Hector on August 28, 1919. They had 3 children: Ila Ruth (19 October 1920), Rheta May (1 May 1922) and James Hector (30 August 1924). James served as a councillor of the Township of Langley in the 1930s into the 1940s and was a member of the Langley Advisory Planning Committee at the time of his death on January 5, 1963.

Ruth Victoria Sophia Hector was born in Revelstoke on May 31, 1896. She married James (Jim) Skea in Vancouver on August 28, 1919. They had 3 children: Ila Ruth (19 October 1920), Rheta May (1 May 1922) and James Hector (30 August 1924). She was a charter member of the Coghlan Women's Institute, and one of the first teachers at the original Coghlan school. She was head of the district's Red Cross, which sent supplies to soldiers in World War II. She was named Langley's Good Citizen in February 1964. Ruth died in New Westminster on June 12, 1981 at the age of 85.

Term Source: Sears List of Subject Headings (16th. Ed.)