Lars Elwyn Apland

On July 28th, 1955 in Unity, Saskatchewan, Lars Elwyn Apland entered this life. Born to Jake and Esther, named after his paternal grandfather, baby Lars joined brother Greg and sister Donna to complete the Apland family. The family moved to Yorkton, a year later, settling into the home that was a fixture in Lars’ life for 65 years.

Childhood days passed with friends and family, summers at Madge Lake making memories at the “Apland Inn”, the family cottage. Lars told stories of visiting his Grandma & Grandpa Apland’s farm in Marchwell, where the extended family would gather. A family vacation, taking the train from Yorkton to Vancouver was an adventure into a different world, and although Lars was always proudly from Saskatchewan, British Columbia would be his destiny. Father Jake passed in 1981, mother Esther in 2021, but their influence remained an essential part of who he was throughout his life. Every perogy or sour cabbage roll he ate celebrated his Ukrainian heritage, and a trip to Norway to explore his Norwegian roots was on the bucket list.

As a young man, a life’s passion for cars developed. Lars acquired an extensive knowledge that allowed him to differentiate the year of a vehicle simply by the shape of the window or curve of the bumper. Happy hours were spent wandering through fields of classic car shows. He was drawn to the Ford’s and Chevys of the ‘50’s, but a classic VW was nothing to walk away from either! He was very particular about the care and maintenance of his own vehicles, of which he owned and loved many! In high school, he was known to have friends clean their shoes before getting into his car, and the vehicle was not put in gear until the engine properly warmed up. In the extreme cold of the Saskatchewan winter, this took what seemed an eternity to a shivering passenger. He was adamant, the friend could be cold, but not the transmission!

Soon it was time to pursue higher education and the big city of Saskatoon and campus of the University of Saskatchewan beckoned. Many hours were spent between classes, sitting on the heat registers outside the cafeteria in the Arts Building with friends, discussing politics and how the Saskatchewan Roughriders were doing. It was a great place to analyze the problems of the world for anyone with an open and inquiring mind, and Lars loved these lively discussions. He loved the university environment and the challenges presented. Hours were spent in the library, working on assignments and studying, and this dedication paid off with an undergraduate degree and then a Master of Arts in Political Science.

While achieving the academic success was a wonderful reward for his hard work, and the many friendships made an added bonus, his most fortuitous feat was meeting the love of his life, Helen Eng. This serendipitous meeting in 1976, was for Lars, the beginning of his everything. Living in different provinces for a few years after graduation, did present some challenge to the relationship, but a soulmate is a soulmate, and Lars was patient and determined. Since 1989 they have been an inseparable unit. There was never any question that he loved and admired her, and he recognized that his life was so much better because she was in it. Each year he celebrated their first date as their anniversary. That was the beginning of his everything!

The love of academia and the university life carried over into a very successful career. He proudly started at the Centre for the Study of Cooperatives in the Diefenbaker Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. He spent a year in Ottawa with the Canadian Cooperative Association, where a major achievement was a presentation for a senate committee on “The Cooperative Health Care Clinic Model”. Following this, the west coast called and he accepted a position at the University of British Columbia, where he was well respected as a Research Associate looking at issues around public healthcare cooperatives, and recruitment and retention in healthcare & epidemiology. He finished his academic career as the Research Ethics Officer at the Vancouver Island University, where he advised staff and students to ensure standards were met and studies were appropriately designed and implemented. During his tenure in these roles, his patience, kindness, intelligence and genuine interest in people coupled with a wonderful sense of humor, made him a valued colleague.

Lars loved the camaraderie of going for coffee. He also loved coffee! For a number of years he had a vision of opening a bookstore-coffee shop where people could gather and discuss the politics of the day (or how the Blue Jays or RoughRiders were doing!) In the 90’s, brother-in-law Stan Eng discovered the opportunity that allowed this dream to become a reality. With Stans’ encouragement, & Helens’ support, Lars took on the challenges of a small business entrepreneur, and they opened Javawocky Coffee House on the waterfront in Nanaimo. What started as a dream, was for 10 years, an all-consuming reality in their lives. The perfect cup of coffee was accompanied by the perfect scone/ muffin or slice of gingerbread, all made from scratch by Lars and Helen. Who knew the man could bake? It wasn’t long before the word was out and the coffee shop was “the place” and Lars was a host to thousands of strangers, who came for the coffee but returned for the conversation and warm hospitality. There was no bookstore, but there was the camaraderie of lively conversations with customers, many who became lifelong friends. Lars found it very interesting that the issues that concerned the Saskatchewan farmers were so similar to those that were discussed by the BC fishermen!

Lars recognized the value of friendship. He had the ability to connect and establish ‘life long’ friendships, from childhood school yards through university connections, and those who were work colleagues. He treasured each and every contact with those who had come into his life, and he was willing to put in the effort to keep those connections alive. He was dedicated and loyal, and whether the physical separation was the distance of a province or two, or the width of an ocean, friendships survived.

There were many travels & adventures for this humble man from Yorkton. Some were for work, many for pleasure. A journey halfway across the world to meet Helen in Indonesia, winters in Mexico and much-loved Hawaii, wandering the streets of Paris or searching for the best beer in Berlin, Vienna or Prague were highlights. Memories of attending Blue Jays games in Toronto, Seattle and even Boston were treasured. Recounting a trip to New Orleans always brought laughter as he described trying to get directions from gas station attendants in the bayou countryside. He just didn’t have an ear for the Louisiana accent, but ohhh he tried!

Lars could be considered a “home body”. He loved taking on home renovation projects and over the years deconstructed and reconstructed many improvements inside and outside homes he and Helen owned. This innate desire to fix things stayed with him even when he lost the ability to remember how or what he was doing.

Even as he struggled with finding his words and could no longer easily participate in discussion, he loved having people come for dinner. Being surrounded by friends and listening to the conversations gave him great pleasure. Sitting silently in the group, watching and just being, he would occasionally jump into the conversation with an insightful or humorous comment that let everyone know that although silent, he was engaged.

Lars would have been very content to live to be a hundred. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Parkinson’s and dementia were the road he was sent down. It was a cruel path that he and Helen navigated. Despite herculean efforts to retain and remain who he was, his journey came to an end on June 30th, 2026.

Although he was never awarded a Nobel Prize or the order of Canada, Lars Apland was a great man. His life made a difference to those who were privileged to be a part of it. He did not have a pretentious bone in his body, he was always genuine, gentle and kind, thoughtful and wise. He was loved, he will be missed, and he will be remembered.

His final bit of wisdom to us all…..live each and everyday to the fullest, appreciating the gifts we have. Go for a burger and a beer, drink a good scotch or have a piece of gingerbread and a HUGE bowl of ice cream!

Lars will be forever deeply loved and missed by his soulmate, Helen. And lovingly remembered by his family and many dear friends.

Brother Greg (Shani) of Yorkton; sister Donna Seymour of Saskatoon Nieces: Becki ( Rich Patterson) of Madge Lake; Jenifer (Troy Walkington) of Saskatoon; Andrea (Jeff Schlosser) of Saskatoon; Shannon Seymour of Saskatoon. Nephews: Dean Seymour ( Erinn) of Calgary; Kurt Apland (Jessie) of Edmonton And Mother- and father-in-law Susan & Danny Eng of Richmond, and brother-in-law Stan Eng (Aunalee) of Nanaimo.

Predeceased by his parents Jake & Esther, and his brother-in-law Bill (Donna) Seymour.

A celebration of Lars’ life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to any of the following organizations:

Parkinson’s Society BC

1021 W Hastings St, 9th Floor, Vancouver, BC V6E 0C3

Phone 604.662.3240

Toll free 1 800 668-3330

Society of organized Services (SOS)

245 Hirst Ave, PO Box 898 Parksville, V9P 2G9

Phone 250 248-2093

[email protected]

Alzheimer Society of B/C and Yukon

300 - 828 West 8th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E2

Phone. 604 681-6530

Toll free. 1-800-667-3742.