Mansell, Cecilia "Cif"

• Mansell, Cif

Cecilia "Cif" Mansell was co-owner of Hillcrest Lodge (later renamed Mount Whistler Lodge, located where Lakeside Park is today) on Alta Lake in Whistler from 1946 to 1965. She was born in Forth William, ON in 1909. Cecilia and her husband, Jack, built and operated Hillcrest Lodge at Alta Lake (now known as Whistler) from 1946 to 1965. They had two sons together: Doug and Loyd. Jack first came to Rainbow Lodge in Alta Lake (Whistler) in 1944 and, like Myrtle and Alex before him, was so impressed with the area that he began looking into purchasing the Patterson property across the lake from the lodge. Jack sold his three shoe repair stores in Vancouver and moved his family up to Alta Lake in May 1945. They lived in a two-room shack, warming bricks in the oven for heat. For a family used to plumbing and electricity in the city, life at Alta Lake was a big change. By January 1946, the entire family was involved in building the new lodge, which was ready to open that July. The first guests the Mansells welcomed to Hillcrest Lodge were the Right Honourable Mr. Charlie Cockcroft, a politician from Alberta, his wife, and their party of family and friends. Later guests would include Lady Oslow and Lady Wemise from England. In October, Hillcrest Lodge closed for the season and Jack and Cecilia would often leave Alta Lake to spend winters in warmer climates. Jack and Cecilia retired in 1958, and Doug and his wife, Barb, took over the management of the lodge. In the early 1960s, Doug and Loyd kept the lodge open on weekends through the winter and even built a small rope tow on the property that they ran for skiers. Jack and Cecilia later moved to Vancouver, and Jack passed away in 1980. Following the operation of Hillcrest and her husband's passing, Cecilia kept herself busy working at Woolworth's and volunteering at Expo '86, Science World, and the Red Cross Blood Services (from 1980 through 2000). She passed away at age 96 on June 29, 2004 from cancer at Purdy Pavillion, UBC, in Vancouver.

Fort William, ON
Whistler
Alta Lake
Hillcrest Lodge
Vancouver

Hotelier
Retail
Volunteering

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives.

Catalogued June 2023.

1) Archival material
2) Obituary, in reference file at the Whistler Museum & Archives
3) "Whistler Reflections," p. 30-31