Our Process

Honouring Shirley Beebe

Shirley Schneider was born in 1951 to Marie and Henry Schneider in Meadow Lake, Sask. In 1956, the family moved to Dore Lake where Henry ran a fish plant for Waite Fisheries. Shirley took her first year of school by correspondence. In 1958, the family moved to Big River, Sask. where Shirley still resides today. Shirley completed her formal schooling in Big River where she enjoyed participating in all the school sports.

In 1969, after graduation, Shirley moved to Saskatoon to attend Teachers College, returning home in 1970 to marry Earl Beebe who was already trucking on his own, hauling fish in the summer and logging in the winter. Their business grew, adding wood chips, logging and hauling freight to the northern communities. In addition, they built a maintenance shop and freight warehouse employing 20 people and growing to 12 semi-trucks and trailers. At this time, they added Jason, Leanne and Dallas to the family. Earl looked after the operations and Shirley looked after the office and financial duties.

Everything was running pretty smoothly, but Earl passed suddenly in 1985, leaving Shirley with sole responsibility for the business and family. Earl Beebe Trucking was a viable operation and had very reliable employees; they just needed a leader. Shirley stepped up to the plate with the help of her sister, Deedie Lomsnes, who became her right-hand woman. Deedie dedicated 32 years to Earl Beebe Trucking until her sudden death in 2017. They operated like a well-oiled machine and their customers respected their abilities, allowing them to continue to haul their goods. They were able to offer overnight service from Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Prince Albert twice weekly and still carry that on today. They added shipping fish, wild rice and honey to Winnipeg and tree seedlings throughout the five western provinces.

In 1996, Shirley met and married Adrian Schwab who helped her in the business until he retired in 2016. This added three more grown children - Heath, Chanda and Jolie - to the mix. Shirley was able to operate, service and maintain a fleet of 12 trucks, even with the ups and downs of the economy. Shirley has always been proud to operate with both men and women in the trucking industry. She maintains that she has never been discriminated against or treated unfairly because of her gender.

The Town of Big River, known as 'Nature's Doorstep,' has provided many great employees over the years. It's a great place to live and raise a family. The company has enjoyed two or more generations of employees and now three generations of family with grandson Logan driving and Kalli working in the office as a summer student. Shirley beams with pride seeing her family involvement in her lifelong dream come true. Shirley has always been an active volunteer in the community, being very generous with her time and resources. She served for some time on the SEDCO Board for the province, the Health Board of Prince Albert and was a finalist for the Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan, going on to the awards in Toronto.

Shirley's greatest success was 52 years of business in the trucking industry and being able to turn over a very viable business to her three children and her son-in-law, Lee Holbrook. She finally retired in 2021 and now enjoys being a proud grandmother to seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She keeps busy attending all their events. Shirley and Adrian enjoy their retirement travelling, attending events and family get-togethers. Shirley always loves to entertain family and friends.