Bryan Edward Thirsk

Bryan will be dearly missed by his wife Mary of 65 years; children Sarah (Don), Rachel (Otto) and Adrian (Liz); grandchildren: Emma (Guido), Peter (Madi), Maria (Nic), Lydia, Trevor (Paige), Joel and Julia; great-grandchildren: Johanna and Mattias.

Bryan was born in London, England and during WWII he was one of many children who were separated from their families to be evacuated to the countryside. Reunited with his father, the latter part of his boyhood was spent in Weston-Super-Mare where he developed a love for being on water and started a navy career. By his early-twenties he had left the naval service for a career on land (accounting) with Weston-Super-Mare’s municipal office, spending his free time on adventures most often on the water, designing and building boats and growing the local kayaking club.

Bryan met Mary, a local nurse, when hospitalized after a sports injury. Just weeks later he went to a dance where he knew nurses would be in attendance. Bryan and Mary danced together all night and from that evening on never stopped striving to be in step with each other.

Bryan and Mary married in 1960 and three years later they moved to Guyana to further Bryan’s accounting career and seek travel adventures. In 1970, another career opportunity brought them to Montreal. There they became so enamoured with Canada that in 1975 they became Canadian choosing to finally settle down, in North Vancouver.

Then Bryan introduced sailing holidays to his children where many splendid and precious moments were had while working as a team, despite the crew’s protestations of being crammed into small boats. In retirement, Bryan continued to teach sailing, but his greatest joys were then found in grandparenthood. In 2005 Bryan and Mary moved to Ocean Park, south Surrey where they spent their golden years trying to slow down but Bryan always found a new cause, a way to contribute, leaving matters a little bit better than he found them. In 2019, when their energy had waned, they moved into a seniors’ housing complex where Bryan spent his days caring for Mary and contributing to his new community of friends.

From early on, Bryan revealed a resilient and curious spirit. He embraced adventures on water and land, sharing his joy for life with those he loved and befriended. He remained devoted to his family, steadfast in his passions, but over the years, he also grew in his faith and his commitment to understanding God through the Holy Bible.

A man of strong principles, faith and great purpose, Bryan leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter and endearing (enduring) stories.

We have been truly blessed to have known Bryan’s love as a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great friend.