Roger Gilles Joseph Sylvestre
September 22, 1938 – January 27, 2023
Best known by everyone he met as a Diamond Driller, Landlord and Magician, Roger also studied at a Quebec seminary to be a priest (He did not follow through on this one!), was a welterweight boxing champion, truck driver and mover, sailed as a seaman in the Royal Canadian Navy, graduated from BCIT, sat on the board of 3 public companies, consulted for the UN, and owned his own drilling equipment. But more than anything, he was a Storyteller.
Roger’s life was full of adventure visiting every continent and seeing every ocean on earth. But, above all else he was a French-Canadian and was most proud of having visited every province and territory in Canada. Roger’s stories were legendary: Getting robbed by the police in Argentina, narrowly escaping the 1980 coup d’etat in Liberia, jumping from helicopter in the Himalayas or restoring a 1957 Chevy Apachee pick-up.
Predeceased by his parents Gilles and Mignonette Sylvestre, his first wife Simone and his brother Roland, Roger will be greatly missed by his wife of 52 years Runjeet (Rangie) Sylvestre, his sisters Jacqueline Lagasse, Denise Dube, his brother Edgar Sylvestre, many cousins, nieces, nephews and one aunt.
Born in Kirkland Lake and raised throughout Northern Ontario, Roger settled in Vancouver in 1962. Earlier in life he played many sports including hockey, tennis, badminton and boxing and later in life he enjoyed sitting on the deck at the Jericho Tennis Club or watching sports on TV and flying the BC Lions and Canucks flags on his patio in Kitsilano.
Roger’s legacy is one of supporting and connecting his family, entertaining friends, provoking wonder in children and he will always be remembered for being a part of our story and letting us be a part of his.
A special thanks to the staff at St. Paul’s Hospital and St. John Hospice at UBC for providing such compassionate and dignified care in his final days.
A private funeral service and internment will be held at Hamilton Harron Funeral Home - 5390 Fraser St. Vancouver, BC on Saturday February 11, 2023 at 10am. This service will also be available on ZOOM.
A celebration of life will be held at the Jericho Tennis Club – 3837 Point Grey Road, Vancouver, BC on Sunday February 19, 2pm – 5pm.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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