- British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935 -
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Wilfred (Bill) Semler
Semler - Wilfred (Bill), late of Delta, passed away peacefully on September 2, 2003.
Predeceased by his beloved wife Josephine in 2002.
He is survived by a loving family: Carol Semler, Cathy Black, David Semler (Barbara), Diane Swanson (Danny), John Semler (Barbara) and also by grandchildren Cathy, Albert, John, James, David, Erin, Joseph, Danielle, David, Christy, Michelle, Heather and great-grandchildren Tia, Taylor, Josh and by his brother Adolph.
Also by nieces, nephews and many friends.
Prayers were held Sunday, September 7 at 7:00 p.m. from St. Bernadette's Parish, 6543 - 132nd St., Surrey, B.C. where Funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday, September 8 at 10:30 a.m.
Rev. Patrick Chisholm, Celebrant.
Interment in Gardens of Gethsemani.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the charity of your choice gratefully accepted.
Rosemary Brown
Rosemary Brown, - It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of the Honourable Dr. Rosemary Brown, P.C., O.C., O.B.C.
She died peacefully at home on April 26, 2003.
She is survived by her loving husband, Dr. William T. Brown; three children, Cleta, Gary and Jonathan; seven grandchildren, Katherine, Ashton, William, Giselle, Jonathan, Jackson and Louis and many other cherished relatives and friends.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica on June 17, 1930, she graduated from Wolmer's School and then came to Canada in 1951 to study at McGill University in Montreal where she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955.
After moving to Vancouver, Rosemary completed Bachelor and Masters degrees in Social Work at the University of British Columbia.
Rosemary Brown was a member of the Privy Council, Officer of the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of Distinction of Jamaica, Member of the Order of British Columbia, the recipient of 15 honourary doctorates, and was an M.L.A. in British Columbia from 1972 to 1986.
She was also President of her favourite charity MATCH International, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of woman in developing nations.
Rosemary was a founder of a number socially progressive organizations including the National Black Coalition, the B.C. Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, the Vancouver Status of Women, MOSAIC, the Canadian Women's Foundation, The Vancouver Crisis Centre and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Donations may be made to MATCH International.
Funeral Service will be held at St. Andrew's Wesley United Church, Burrard and Nelson, Vancouver on Monday, May 5th at 1:30 p.m., Bishop Michael Ingham, Dean Peter Elliott, and the Rev. William Roberts officiating.
Fred Bishop, Freeman of the City, passes away quietly at 82
Former Mayor Fred Bishop passed away Sunday afternoon at his home on Sproat Lake.
Mr. Bishop, 82, was a Freeman of the city and always very active in the community.
In the days before his death he was made Honorary Chairman of the Arena Society and was actively campaigning for the new ice rink.
He also chaired the Link Road Committee, a group advocating a single highway linking Cowichan, Alberni and Cumberland.
He was active with the First Open Heart Society.
The flag at City Hall is flying at half-mast today in remembrance of a man who spent 22 years in municipal politics, six as mayor of old Alberni and six as mayor of the amalgamated city.
His support for everything in the Alberni Valley endeared him and he well remembered for a long time by members of the community.
His commitment to home and marriage built the strength of his family.
Mr. Bishop's grandfather, Charles Frederick (CF) Bishop came to the area in 1886 and later became the first mayor of Alberni.
The family store, CF Bishop and Son had branches in Alberni, Port Alberni and at Sproat Lake in the first decades of this century.
Fred is survived by his wife of 58 years, Tonie.
Fred and Tonie had a son (living in Mackenzie with his wife) and a daughter.
Their daughter Barbara Johnson lives in Port Alberni with her husband, Peter.
There are four grandsons.
Mr. Bishop once attributed the length and strength of their marriage to his and Tonie's well-rounded life-styles.
He played a big role in the life of his church just as the church played a great role in his.
Fred Bishop's name is one that appears frequently in Jan Peterson's book, "Twin Cities Alberni - Port Alberni".
As early as 1946, according to the book, he was speaking out in town hall meetings looking for more information on this intriguing concept of amalgamating the two cities.
At that time he was a young merchant, operating the family grocery store.
By the time amalgamation became a reality here in 1967, he had worked, along with others, long and hard towards uniting the two towns.
The amalgamated city was the fifth largest in B.C. at that time and placed among the top wage earning communities in the nation for more than decade to come.
Mr. Bishop had been a city alderman for ten years in Alberni and its mayor for the last six years of it as a distinct municipality.
It might have seemed only natural that he would be the mayor of the newly amalgamated city too.
However Port Alberni Les Hammer was named mayor.
Mr. Bishop, who became an alderman on the new council, became mayor at the first election for the amalgamated city.
He held that seat for another six years until he retired from civic politics.
Another topic that meant a great deal to him was the linking of this Valley with Comox to the north and Cowichan to the south.
In fact, he told a story about how his ancestors were enticed to buy property in Beaver Creek for $1 an acre because, as CPR officials assured them, very soon there would be a link road through to Cumberland.
The year was 1886.
While serving on the Port Alberni Harbour Commission, he began chairing a committee advocating that road be built and continued on as its chair long after retiring from the commission.
Last spring, 11 years later, Mr. Bishop was still there, working to promote the annual cavalcade along the logging roads culminating in a reunion at Alberni Harbour Quay.
He believed strongly that the economic future of the Alberni Valley will be greatly enhanced when a road linking the three valleys is finally constructed.
The cavalcade is a way of promoting that idea with residents of all three valleys travelling backroads for a Sunday rendezvous.
Another passion of his was a support group for heart patients and their families.
Mr. Bishop along with Bill Cairney founded the local branch of the First Open Heart Society -- a need Mr. Bishop identified after undergoing heart surgery himself.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized.
Gerald Fairfax Prevost
FRIENDS AND relatives offered a farewell to Gerald Fairfax Prevost on March 7, 1996 at a memorial service in West Vancouver's St. Stephen's Anglican Church.
Prevost, born in Duncan in 1912, passed away March 2, 1996 at Lions Gate Hospital.
He lived in West Vancouver for 52 years.
St. Stephen's Rev. Keith Gilbert paid tribute to Prevost for playing an active role in the life of the church.
Prevost chronicled the church's first 75 years.
He was a teacher for 35 years and was a principal at Gleneagles, West Bay, Sentinel and Lions Bay schools.
Prevost was also a journalist at the Cowichan Leader.
Prevost led the West Vancouver Seniors' Hiking Group and developed new hiking trails throughout the Lower Mainland.
Said Eleanor Provost at the memorial service, "Gerry was grateful to have lived long enough to see his children and grandchildren all grow up to be fine adults, to have had eighteen and a half years of active and productive retirement...."
Gerald Prevost is survived by his wife of almost 59 years; daughters Annie and June; sons Maury and George; grandchildren Fiona, Craig, Holly, Beth and Andrew.