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August 1, 1938 - July 9, 2018
With heavy hearts and deepest sorrow, we say goodbye to our beloved Gordon, Dad & Grandpa. After a courageous 3 year battle with cancer. Gordon passed away peacefully at the Palliative Care Unit of NRGH, July 9,2018 at the age of 79 years.

He is survived by his wife and soul mate of 40 years, Kathy and his beloved sons Chet (Cari), Chris (Kristen) and Andy. He was a wonderful, loving father to stepsons Jason, Ben (Leona) and Tyler (Sue). He leaves behind 13 precious grandchildren and one great-grandson, and daughter Helena. He is also survived by sister Diana of Maple Ridge, brother Ron (Verna) of Victoria and many nephews and nieces.

Gordon was born in Vancouver and spent his early years in Vancouver, Pender Island and Port Alberni. He attended John Oliver School in Vancouver and finished his high school years in Port Alberni. Afer moving around for several years he settled in Parksville where he met and married the love of his life, Kathy. He was a man full of life and laughter and made a new friend wherever he went. He had the gift of storytelling and would often tell family and friends of his adventures with infinite humour and detail.

Gordon was an accomplished Millwright, working at Harmac and in the construction industry for many years. He loved horses and raised and trained his own herds. In 1971, he took a horse and wagon across BC to mark the Centennial. In 1974 he worked on two CBC documentary series, "The National Dream" and "The Overlanders" as the horse trainer, wagon builder and was an extra actor in both. He loved cars and enjoyed driving many different sports cars and classics over the years. He could fix anything and earned the title "Mr. Fix It" from his Mother-In-Law, Eileen. From 1985 to 2003, Gordon was a bus driver for the Parksville Home Support and was very kind and compassionate to all the seniors he took on outings.

In 1979 he received his pilot's licence which had been a dream of his all his life. He loved to fly and was an excellent pilot. In 1990 he finally was able to purchase his first plane, a Cessna 150 Aerobatic and was able to take his family and friends on many flights. He only did aerobatics when he was by himself and it gave him such joy. Gordon was finally grounded in 2010, when he had to undergo a five-way bypass surgery and could no longer fly. True to form, although he missed flying, he replaced his plane with a sports car and was zipping around even up until January of 2018.

He had a passion for collecting die-cast cars, planes and trains. Gordon was also such a movie and music lover, he would often serenade his family with Elvis songs.

We will all remember his laugh and his beautiful singing voice. He was a wonderful man full of kindness, humour and love of family.  Our sorrow and grief will be deep and everlasting. 

We know that he is flying free above us and is now on his biggest adventure of all.

There will be no service at Gordon's request, he just wanted us to have a party with no tears.

We will have a Celebration of Gordon's Life at a later date. To leave an online message of condolence, please visit lyons.g@telus.net. 

To send a condolence to the family please visit www.yatesmemorial.ca

YATES MEMORIAL SERVICES 250-248-5859

 "Lives Cherished and Celebrated"
 Yates Memorial Services



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