William John Robert O'Brien

Bill leaves behind his two children Shawn O’Brien and Tami McQuat and Rosalyn Toutant and Jacqueline Judge, the two daughters of his late wife, Lynn Judge. He is survived by his two brothers Danial and Ed and grandchildren from both families

Bill’s late parents Gertrude (nee Sutherland) was one of 9 children and William (Harry) O’Brien was one of 6. Bill had 28 cousins, 25 are still alive.

Bill had a passion for the automobile from an early age, He had a collection of “dinky toy cars” that he "customized”. His brothers inherited some “very cool” hot rod models. Bill also became a bug building expert. The back yard had a car and then a truck/bus. That sat on the ground and never moved but had a steering wheel and wheels tacked on the side. Bill shared them with the neighbourhood children who spent countless hours “driving “ them.

Bill took many things apart to repair them. He became the families go to when something was not working. His legacy from that was that he was able to fix almost anything/everything .

At around the age of 14 Bill started “hanging around” the gas station on Kingsway at Nelson Avenue and eventually was given jobs: sweeping floors, cleaning the shop, assisting the mechanics and pumping gas. He also had a new next door neighbour with a passion for cars as well and was working on cars in his backyard garage. Bill started buying “old” cars and “fixing” them up; a passion he had throughout his life. He owned a race car for a time.

Bill first full time employment was in tire installation and then front end alignment. He eventually started his own very successful alignment business in Langley. His daughter Tami took all of the auto mechanic courses in school. She would work with her Dad.

Bill gave back to his community he was involved in the Kiwanis, a mens service club. Bill was the driving force in raising funds for a curling and skating rinks in Langley. He served as president

In his teens, Bill’s son Shawn approached the local Safeway and with Dad’s help he picked up donated groceries and distributed them to people in need every week. Bill continued on his own when Shawn grew up and left home, until Safeway was sold.