Reids' paternal and maternal family were pioneers in both the United States and Canada. Much of his interest in nature and the natural way of design and construction is due in part to the influence of his parents and grandparents. As a young person brought up in the country and before TV became such an influence on family life, he had the opportunity to hear stories of the fortitude and independence needed to survive and prosper in the early part of this century.

Reids' paternal grandparents were both American citizens who emigrated to Canada in 1914 to try their luck at homesteading in Alberta. This was on on land offered for sale by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The C.P.R wanted to colonize vast areas of right-of-way that was deeded to them by the government as part of the incentive to build the rail line.

His grandfather, Harry Stepp, was born in Morrison Colorado, a small settlement then, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains just west of Denver. As a boy, he played in the red rocks near the town, a place that is now famous as Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater and a site for concerts and rock star appearances. As a young man he moved to Denver and became a driver of horse drawn wagons delivering freight into the mountains, to the area that is now Rocky Mountain National Park.  Later on he would entertain his grandchildren with stories of his adventures during blizzards and mountain lion attacks, all true he would assure the children. It was here in Denver that Harry met and married Pearl Goff .

Pearl was born in this sod house near Litchfield Neb, sod being the material of necessity at that time.  The absence of wood, concrete or  other readily available building material underscores the  tremendous ingenuity of our forebears in utilizing whatever was available to provide for home and family. Pearl would later tell her grandchildren about the house and her early life within. As a meticulous housekeeper, she would assure everyone that the clay floor could be swept and kept as clean and tidy as any modern tile or linoleum floor. She would not admit to using wax on the floor however and would make sure that the child suggesting this would get the smallest dish of home made ice cream that day. All in fun though! She would also tell of every settler having a "cyclone cellar" as a refuge for the all too common tornadoes that could appear unexpectedly during the warm spring and summer months. This was long before any warning was available other than ones own common sense after years of scanning the skies.

Reids mother Vera Ann was born in Denver in 1910. It was shortly after this that the family pulled up stakes and emigrated to Bassano, Alberta in Canada.

After several years of struggling to make a success of the homestead  in Alberta, Harry decided that there were better areas in his new country to raise his expanding family. By this time he and Pearl had borne two sons Monte and Frank. Harry missed the mountains and trees that were such a part of his youth and they decided to move west to the mountains and lakes of British Columbia. After a short time in Grinrod, they settled in Sicamous on the shores of Shuswap Lake nestled in the Monashee mountains. This would become their home for the rest of their lives.

Harry and Pearl purchased acreage on a lovely creek several miles east of town and nestled up to to a forested mountainside. He felled the trees on his own property for building material and built a two story log home for his family. He also built several outbuildings as part of the small farm that he was to operate for many years.

It was in here that Vera met Roy Finlayson, the youngest son of the pioneering first family in Sicamous and they were married soon afterwards. Reid, their first son was born in 1936. In the accompanying photo, Reid is with his grandfather Harry sitting on the steps,  where a verandah would soon be added on. This was a house that was built by a relatively unskilled builder but the home is still standing as the centerpiece of this farm in 1999. The farm is now owned by another family and the exterior is faced with a stucco material but the original house is still beneath, providing a solid and warm abode.

By this time Harry and Pearl were operating the farm and Harry was also a full time blacksmith, working for R.W Bruhn Co, a logging and mill operation. They obtained their trees from the mountains around Shuswap Lake and towed them in booms to the mill site.

He retired in 1950 and they sold the farm to move into a home he had renovated in Sicamous town-site. Always resourceful, he had purchased the house(a former bunkhouse) from the C.P.Railway whose main line runs through Sicamous.  He floated it on the lake through the railway swing bridge and into the channel below his home-site. It was moved on to land again and eventually placed on the concrete basement foundation he had poured in advance.

Harry and Pearl lived in their new home for many years, planting and tending to a large show garden while remaining active in community events. In 1961 they took a return trip to Denver and Morrison with their daughter and grandson. This was their only time back to Colorado since emigrating to Canada and even though there were many changes, Harry was able to retrace his boyhood wandering in the red rocks , and still remembered the downtown core of Denver. They have since passed away but not before a long and happy life.

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