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Harold William Townsend

My Father built his world around his loves and his passions. Never one to follow a road most travelled, he often found his peace hiking the alpine of his cherished mountains between Jasper and Banff on the British Columbia, Alberta border. The curious marmots would join beside him as he would sit on the rocks taking in the vistas, which he would later interpret through his paintings, sharing with us the beauty of his experiences.

Harold William, Bill, began his journey in Winnipeg, Manitoba 1940, as only child to loving parents, Harold Vincent and Edith Catherine. As a family, they moved west to Calgary where Bill met Mavor Jacqueline Kennedy. Bill and Jacqui married in December 1960 and would explore the world together for the next fifty-seven years until Bill’s unexpected passing Easter Sunday.

Bill always held a determined goal of eventually becoming a successful artist, though the path to that result would prove an exciting, creative, and adventurous one.

Starting with professional training at The New York School of Art in Manhattan, Bill then journeyed to Sydney, Australia as founder and editor of a men’s fashion magazine. Later, in Vancouver, BC, he became editor of The Pacific Yachting Journal, and as a recognized professional photographer his works were published as a book in 1973.

Bill’s creativity and drive also allowed him a thriving corporate career in marketing, advertising, and communications until one day in 1980, at the age of forty, he decided to pursue his passion for art full time and traded in his three-piece suit for his easel, never looking back.

Moving to Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, and eventually retiring up the road at French Creek, Bill’s career as an internationally acclaimed Canadian artist has proven an extremely successful one. His works have been shown in galleries across Canada, the United States, and Europe, and can be found today in corporate and private collections around the world.

Moreover, Bill’s life and lifestyle as an artist allowed him the time and space to meet the people along his path who truly mattered to him. Deeply empathetic and caring of those he loved, I believe my Father’s greatest moments and the gift he leaves behind for us as precious memories, is the quality time truly shared together. A world of loves and passions, well lived.

I love you Dad.

Bill is survived by wife, Mavor Jacqueline; son, David Warwick (Michelle Marie); and grandson, Dalton Kennedy Townsend. In keeping with Bill’s wishes, no services will be held.

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

YATES MEMORIAL SERVICES • 250-248-5859

“Lives Cherished and Celebrated”



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