Richard Mortimer

With sadness, we announce the passing of Richard Mortimer - our dear Dad, Grandpa, brother, uncle and friend - on November 27, 2025. Richard is survived by his three daughters, Tamara, Heather, and Leanne, and his grandson Brodyn, his ex-wife and friend Ruth, his brothers John and Nick, sisters Jenny and Gillian, his nieces and nephews - Joanna, Claire, Sarah, Richard, Melanie, Alexandra, Georgina, Mark, Matthew, Emma, Rachel, Annalise, and Nigel - and many grand nieces and nephews. Richard was predeceased by his eldest brother, Grahame.

The family wishes to thank the 911 dispatchers, the BC Ambulance staff, and the doctors and nurses at Cowichan District Hospital who assisted him, and the family, on that day.

We would also like to thank First Memorial Funeral Services in Duncan and Victoria for the empathetic and respectful care they have provided.

Richard Mortimer was born on January 6th, 1945 in Loughborough, England, to Winifred and Frederick Mortimer. Richard was the third of 6 children. He loved having many siblings, and as a child and youth he was especially close to John and Jenny.

Richard’s deep love of nature was seeded in his childhood, where he was blessed to spend lots of time in the countryside. John recounts a lot of time fishing together on the River Soar near Loughborough, often involving long bike rides to get to their fishing spots, and says that even back then they were keen birdwatchers.

For family holidays their parents rented self-catering properties mainly in Wales. Jenny recounts that one year they went to Abersoch in North Wales, known for its sailing, fishing and bathing. Their parents decided to rent a boat for the week which came with a brand new outboard Seagull engine, so that Richard and John could go mackerel fishing out in the bay. One day the motor wasn’t securely clamped to the stern of the boat and in trying to start the engine with the pull cord the engine became detached from the boat and fell to the bottom of the sea! Fortunately it was high tide so their father took Richard and John down that night in the dark when it was low tide and they found the abandoned engine lying in the sand. Luckily they managed to start the engine the next day and no-one was any the wiser! A couple of times Richard and John cycled 220 miles over two days to meet the family in Wales for the summer holiday.

Richard was 10 years senior to his youngest sibling, his brother Nick. Nick recalls enjoying when Richard took him out to the countryside for fishing adventures in his mini when Richard was 18-19 and Nick was 8-9. As a youth, Richard went to Grammar School (a school focused on academics) in Loughborough and got his A levels (qualifying him for university.) He tried his hand at Agricultural College and accountancy, but wouldn’t find his career as a Land Surveyor until he moved to Canada.

Richard was a music lover and at the beginning of the rock & roll era, Winklepicker shoes were very in vogue. However, their parents wouldn’t let them have them because they were pointed and therefore bad for the development of their feet. Jenny remembers that Richard was desperate to wear them, so unbeknownst to their parents he bought a pair and hid them behind the garbage cans outside. When he went out to the pub or elsewhere in the evening he would change into them away from the watchful eye of parents and as far as Jenny knows, he never got caught!

After some travels around Europe and Iceland as a young adult, Richard moved to Canada on March 10th, 1967 and was joined by his fiancé Ruth Taylor on June 17th of the same year. Richard worked for the Dept. of Highways in London, Ontario and articled to be an Ontario Land Surveyor.

In the fall of 1968 Richard and Ruth drove and camped through the New England states and were captivated by both seeing the fall colours and hearing their first call of a loon on the lake. They also enjoyed camping and swimming in Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Lake Erie, with friends in the summer and skiing on the low hills nearby in winter. Richard was very proud of catching a beautiful big trout when ice fishing on Lake Ontario via snowmobile.

They lived in Richmond Hill, Thornhill, and Sarnia before moving west in 1972 with Tamara as a toddler. They put their belongings on the train to storage in Vancouver and started their big trip west hauling a camper with a canoe on top of the car. They drove through Michigan and then camped in Thunder Bay, several National Parks including Riding Mountain, Prince Albert, Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Stanley Park and Tofino (before Pacific Rim was a national park) taking a month in all. Their time in Jasper National Park included an unexpected guest when a black bear broke into their camper when they were out on a hike to feast on their beef stew!

Once they arrived in BC, Richard articled again to become a BC Land Surveyor. The family lived in Surrey, Delta and then Powell River where they enjoyed lots of boating, beach barbeques, and beautiful sunsets with new addition Heather. The family then moved to Vancouver Island where Richard started his own business in the Cowichan Valley in 1977. After several more moves in the Cowichan Valley and Qualicum Beach (and Leanne added to the mix) Richard finally found his dream property in Cowichan Station in 1982. Thus began an era of busy times with a business, 3 kids, sheep, a ram (who kept escaping), lambs, chickens, a horse, and several dogs and cats over the years.

Richard quite often flew up the BC mainland coast to work for First Nations in Bella Bella, Hartley Bay, and Rivers Inlet. He also sometimes worked in the Nitinat/Nootka Sound area on the West coast of the Island (where he once saved a man and his son from drowning in the strong currents there). Nick recalls assisting Richard in the late 70's, where they spent three weeks in the village of Hartley Bay, surveying lots on behalf of the federal government. Nick remembers being amazed by Richard's determination and doggedness to complete the job to specifications.

Over the years, Richard travelled back to the UK several times to see family. Richard also loved spending time with family when they came to visit Canada from the UK, and sharing the beauty of the area with loved ones brought him a lot of joy. There were some very enjoyable visits with his mother and with his brother Grahame, sister-in-law Jenny and family. There were also several lovely visits with nieces Claire, Rachel, Melanie, and Joanna over the years.

Richard was very sad to lose his brother Grahame unexpectedly in 2019 and greatly missed connecting with him.

Richard and Ruth separated in 1997 and divorced in 2001, but remained on good terms particularly in recent years. During the last 15 years or so of his life especially he was close with his brother John who lives in the Duncan area and they spoke regularly and sometimes worked together.

Richard was also a close part of his grandson Brodyn’s growing up years. They lived on the same property for much of that time, and Brodyn will always remember how much his Grandpa taught him, including how to drive the tractor at age five! Brodyn considered his Grandpa a mentor and will always be grateful for the time they shared together.

Richard had a conflicted relationship with his career choice in that he loved being able to intimately explore beautiful places, and yet it pained him that many of the places he went to would be changed forever through industry or development.

Richard was a sensitive soul with a deep love of animals, particularly birds. He loved many pets over his lifetime, with special mentions to Pebbles, Pussywillow, Kimo, Sasha, Tiger, Duffy, and most recently little Ozzie (who is now being taken care of by Heather.)

Richard had a deep love of music and strongly influenced his daughters, grandson and brother John in this department. The playlist Tamara has made in his memory, with input from the family, includes The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Christopher Cross, Roxy Music, Dire Straits, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Boz Scaggs, Supertramp, the Doobie Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, and Al Stewart. However, he enjoyed a variety of genres and continued to update and expand his taste in music. Brodyn tells us he was even listening to AC/DC not too long before he died!

Richard loved spending time outdoors, especially at the Koksilah River, at Cherry Point beach, and Cowichan Bay. Richard loved the land and this miraculous beautiful planet. He paid attention to and cared about what was happening globally, and felt strongly about and supported social justice and environmental issues.

Richard is and will be greatly missed.

Richard was cremated in Victoria on Dec 23, 2025, and his ashes will be spread in some of the places he loved the most.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the BC SPCA in his name.