George Clifford Stringer

Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at the age of 101. Cliff was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and

great-grandfather who will be remembered for his gentle strength, loving kindness, and keen

intelligence.

Cliff was predeceased by his parents and his brothers, Robert, Arthur, Thomas, Weldon and John and his daughter, Margaret - known as Margie. He is survived by his loving wife, Colette

(McGinn) Stringer of Prince George, his daughters, Sandra (Robert) Larson of Prince George and Heather (Franz) Wipfli of Kelowna and his sister Jean Smith of Golden. He is also survived by 9 grandchildren: Nicole (Michael) Abley, Andrea (Chris) Larson, Aleatha Ius, Heather (Frank) Nagy, Nathan (Lydia) Wipfli, Ryan (Amanda) Larson, Stefan (Natsumi) Ius, Rebecca (Igal) ,

Rogalsky and Andrew (Claire) Wipfli. He also leaves behind 14 great-grandchildren: Christopher, Nicholas and Julia; Alexa (Tristan), Copper, Taylor and Sophie; Frank and Evelyn;

Nora; and Taylor, Harper, Callum and Arthur as well as many, many nieces and nephews. Cliff was born in Rosedale, British Columbia on November 30, 1924, the 5th of 7 children.

Throughout his long life, he saw many technological changes. When he was born, the telephone was a new technology and he remembered walking over a mile to the doctor’s house

to listen to radio programs like Hockey Night in Canada because the doctor was the only person in the neighbourhood with a radio. He even attended a one-room school house in Beaver

Lodge, Alberta.

In the late 1940s, Cliff moved to the lower mainland, worked on building sites in the booming New Westminster. From there, he travelled to Vancouver Island, working in the logging industry

in Campbell River as a truck driver, which was an easier job than being a lumberjack. The driver position exemplifies Cliff’s ability to see opportunities that other people could miss. He arrived

in town and went to the office to see about jobs. When he got there, the manager asked if he was the truck driver they were expecting and Cliff simply said, “I can drive a truck.” He worked

in that job until his brother and friend who were doing the more difficult job of lumberjack convinced him to quit and move north with them to work on the Alaska Highway.

When Cliff moved to Northern British Columbia to work on the Alaska Highway, he had his own car and that made him popular with the other men, in particular his friend Marshall Close.

Marshall had a girlfriend, Aleatha McGinn. Aleatha also had a younger sister and Marshall convinced Cliff to give him a ride with the promise of an introduction to Aleatha’s sister Colette.

Colette can still remember seeing Cliff for the first time and she was very taken with the tall, dark-haired, young man. Cliff and Colette married on October 12, 1954 and celebrated their

71st wedding anniversary in 2025.

After their wedding, Cliff and Colette lived on the Alaska Highway as Cliff was working there. They soon welcomed their three daughters, Margaret (Margie) in 1955, Sandra in 1958 and

Heather in 1961. In 1963, Cliff, Colette and the girls moved to Prince George so that their daughters could go to a proper school and Cliff started working for the local Catholic Diocese.

He started as a mechanic, refurbishing the broken machinery and buses people had donated to the diocese, and this led to his position as the Diocese Business Manager. As the Diocese

Business Manager, Cliff was instrumental in the development of the Prince George neighbourhood of College Heights. Stringer Crescent, in College Heights, is named after him. He

remained with the Diocese until his retirement in 1994. He and Colette retired to Kelowna where he lived until 2023, when they moved back to Prince George. While Cliff was an incredibly intelligent and hard-working man, his family remember him simply as a warm and loving father and grandfather. It seemed like Dad/Grandpa knew how to do anything and could build anything and fix everything. He loved to spend time with his family either at the cabin he built at Cluculz Lake, or around the acreage in West Beverly. His grandchildren have many fond memories of staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Kelowna after they retired there and Robert and Sandra loved to golf with Cliff and Colette. Even after his health declined and he could no longer golf himself, Cliff would often ride in the golf cart while the other three enjoyed a day on the links.

In his final years, his great-grandchildren were a source of great joy for Cliff. He loved to be around all of his family members, but the youngest ones brought the biggest smiles to his face.

A memorial service will be held at Westside Family Fellowship Church on Friday, July 31st at 2 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Prince George Hospice Society.