August 6, 1948 - November 21, 2024
It's taken me over 8 months to fully comprehend the passing of my husband. Paul was born and raised in Kelowna, B.C. One of his fondest memories was rowing his boat with his dog Jip down Mission Creek to Okanagan Lake to go trout fishing. He had the adventurous spirit, so he decided to hitchhike to Santa Monica, California, with $25. The local police picked him up thinking he was a runaway, so he spent his 17th birthday in jail overnight. He hitchhiked to the Yukon looking for summer work. When he moved to Van. to attend Columbia College, he worked part time in the menswear dept. at the Bay, downtown. After living with a bunch of guys in Kits, he decided to hitchhike around Europe. He stayed with relatives in Germany while he worked at the Olympic site in Munich for a couple of months. He went to Morocco and the Canary Islands ( Marrakesh Express was a hit then!). He returned to Canada after 8 months. We met on a blind date, Sept.'71. We moved in together in '75. We got married June 16, '79.
In the 70s, he went to BCVS and got his Journeyman Carpenter ticket. His father had been a builder. He got his BA from UBC and did a year in the Architecture Dept. We bought several homes in Mt. Pleasant, renovated them and put in many rental units. We bought acreage in the Cariboo, where Paul built an off-grid cabin. We got into the packaged firewood biz for 3 years, then shifted our interest to boats. We lived on our 37ft wooden trawler for 3 years at Mosquito Crk. Marina in N. Van. We bought a boatshed, which Paul turned into a cool float house. We spent years on driving trips with our many VW vans with our many huskies and shepherds. From Colorado, to Cabo, to Haida Quai. We bought an abandoned 1894 house on the Oregon Coast that we renovated and enjoyed for 27 years.
He was hardworking, creative, inventive, positive, passionate, wrote poetry and loved to enjoy a cup of coffee and a good conversation. He got back into motorcycling right to the end. The SSC is a great place to explore on and off-road.
My beautiful "blonde boy" is gone, but I have wonderful memories and photos knowing that we'll be together again. He lived his life with his ego in his back pocket and chose the road less travelled. I was by his side every step of the way.
