The Laughlin House Mystery

A Heritage New West Homes Tour Feature

During renovations at the Laughlin House, homeowner Terry Tomcko uncovered a long-lost family Bible - launching a search that reunited it with its original owner decades later. Here is his story.

Arthur and Nettie Laughlin House - The Story of the Lost Bible 

By Terry Tomcko 

This story begins with the renovation of the home office in the basement. Much like the bedrooms, the desk in the office was a custom, built-in piece of furniture. To make the office more usable for the 21st-century, we decided the desk had to go. During its demolition, we found a family photo which had fallen behind it, and while removing the desk drawers, we came across a family Bible. The front dedication was inscribed: “Presented to Sharon Dale by Laughlin – Date April 28, 1958”. We placed the bible on a shelf along with the other treasurers we found during our renovations.

We would often look through the Bible for clues as to who it might have belonged to. We knew it was important to someone, as many passages had been underlined and highlighted in red ink. There were also several births, marriages, and deaths documented in its pages. Over the years, friends would ask about it, and we would share the story of how we found it. After finishing the renovations, curiosity -- and coaxing from friends -- prompted us to try to find its original owner.

We knew the original owner of the house was likely the Laughlin family, as this name was written on steel beams in the basement and on the back of the kitchen cabinetry we had removed. This led us to believe the Bible may have belonged to either the mother or a daughter. In 2006, we finally contacted the Burnaby News Leader, which ran an article (featured in the photo above) on Thursday, November 30. 

Within 45 minutes of the paper being delivered, we received a phone call from a neighbour who confirmed for us that the  original owners were Nettie and Arthur Laughlin, with Arthur listed as a contractor on the 1984 voters list. Two weeks passed with no new leads. Then one evening, we arrived home to a voice message from Viola Ganz, the listing realtor for the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, who had sold us the house. As it turned out, she knew the family -- and, more specifically, Sharon Dale Laughlin, to whom the Bible belonged. Viola had even been Sharon’s teacher in public school.

I was able to contact Sharon, and we spoke by phone. The Bible was a birthday present for her eighth birthday in 1958. She was married in the home in 1970. She remembered the Bible well, and had often wondered what had happened to it.  She thought we may have found it in the front bedroom, which was hers when she lived in the house.

In our conversation, Sharon told me her father and mother sat down and drew up the plans for the house together, and that her father built it. She, along with her parents and siblings, Douglas and Tami, lived in the house until the 1980s. When her parents tried to sell the house, the market was slow, and it was eventually donated to the SDA church. The family later moved to Washington state, where they designed and built another custom home overlooking Bellingham Bay.

Sharon also confirmed that the feature in the living room had, in fact, been an actual fish pond where her mother kept goldfish. The wallpaper in the principal bedroom, had been installed by her parents in the 1960s. The carpeting in the living and dining room areas had been replaced twice while they lived in the house -- one of the colours being green; remnants of which we uncovered during our renovations. The family also made good use of the large deck off the dining room and kitchen. The original deck was still in place when we moved in, though it needed replacing. Notably, the original roofing membrane under the decking remained watertight until 2011, when it was finally replaced, along with the railing.

I made arrangements with Sharon to return the Bible to her, and on December 23, 2006 -- nearly 25 years after her family had moved out,  of the house -- it was on its way back to its original owner.