Remembrance Day was always important to Jim.  He never missed attending services, no matter where he was.

Here is Jim trying the first TROV Bellypack Controller, that he conceived and asked RMS to build for him (circa 1977). What a guy for concepts and inventions!  No matter whether Jim and I were at sea on the MV Emerald together or in a coffee shop,  he constantly used his inventive mind and spirit to encourage the next feat.   Jim greeted each engineering breakthrough product with a kid-like joy.  Thank you Jim for mentoring and giving so many Canadians opportunities. 

He always had that little smile that said, I know something you don't

Dad and Julie on the pier in Monterey having a wonderful day

Grampy at Seascape with Julie, Amylia, Avalon, Maridee, and Christopher, four out of five grandchildren with him.

Andrew Ronan, the Right Honorable Judy Foote Dad, and Ron McKinnon in 2017. 

Grampy with Avalon, Alexander, Loli, Rudolfo, Alyssa, and Amylia, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren

Grampy and Maridee on the road again. They traveled the world together.

Great Grampie with his great-granddaughter Loli, Dad loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The day we finished Pagoo, what a journey that was. 

In spring 2017, Dad back home with Mom after a close call. 

A young officer with his beautiful lady, my parents, in Fredricton, NB circa 1955 

This photo certainly had pride of place--Order of Canada was just one of Jim McFarlane Sr's many awards and honours.

I am grateful for the many times I got to interview and write about Jim Sr.  One of the last was when photographer Harry Bohm and I were at ISE and Jim put on the ball cap that summed up his philosophy: Git-r-Done! He was so proud of all the vessels, ROVs, AUVs, semi-submersibles and other tech inventions that ISE fabricated. He was--and still is--a true icon in B.C.'s subsea tech industry. 


Dad, In the Navy and learning to sail, he was about 20 when this was taken.

The opening of 1734 Broadway Street with the Mayor of Port Coquitlam. 

My father, Uncle Wayne, and my grandparents circa 1940 Manitoba, living in a one-room home.

Jim, A.R. , AND Al Trice at ISER.  He was an inspiration to me and my career in the underwater biz. His adventure continues…..

Harry Bohm


Fast forward to 1971 when Jim left the Navy and he and Noreen moved back 
to B.C.  From 1972 on, Jean and I hosted Christmas dinners at our home 
for both our families; some years we had quite a crowd--lots of fun and 
good food.  In later years when we could no longer do this, Jim would 
come and visit for a few hours Christmas morning.  We all looked forward 
to these visits for him to catch up with us and to reconnect with Jeremy and Sarah, our grandchildren.   A few times during the year, I would phone him at the plant around 06;00, when I could be sure of finding him even on his birthday.  In the past few years, we have really missed these occasions.  We all miss Uncle Jim now.  Well done, Brother.

Many thanks to his friends and colleagues for supporting him in his last years.

Wayne McFarlane


Remembering my brother:

When Jim was four and I was two, we moved to a farm at Clandeboye, 
Manitoba--my first memories are from there.  Mum had to convince us to 
play outside and explore because until then we had been confined to a 
small apartment in Winnipeg, and were afraid to even step out the door 
without our parents.  My first memory was of us walking over our field 
to the neighbour's fence where their Jersey cows came right up to see 
us.  We were terrified; although we had two cows ourselves, they weren't 
friendly and they didn't have dark spooky rings around their eyes.  
Eventually, we caught on and discovered the freedom to explore and 
develop some independence.

This time was on the heels of the depression and everybody was broke. As 
children we had to be resourceful, we made a lot of our own toys from 
found objects and saved every scrap of blank paper and cardboard for 
drawing.  Jim was always making things--whenever he had a few cents he 
would buy the balsa wood model airplane kits (rubber band driven).   As 
I recall, when was nine or ten, he was designing runners for an 
ice-sailing boat (old kitchen knife blades and planks) to take to Lake 
Winnipeg some 30 miles away. It never got built but the spark for 
invention was always there. Full of energy and chafing for adventure, 
around the same time, once in the summer when Dad and Mum had to go into 
town for a few hours, he rode one of our big draft horses around the 
field--bareback, trying to get him to gallop.  Dad would have been 
furious.  In 1947, we moved to B.C.  In 1949, we moved to Cultus Lake.  
For flat-prairie kids this was a new world--swimming, boating, hiking.  
Dad and Mum ran the store at Lindell Beach where we got an introduction 
to business and serving the public.We attended school at Chilliwack 
Senior High School, where we had some teachers who encouraged 
independent thinking.  It was from here, when he was 18, Jim joined the Navy.

Jim and I served in the Destroyer HMCS Fraser and lived in 10 mess. He was a stoker and I was an electricians mate.
Years later we met in Port Coquitlam while I was on leave visiting James Ferguson,a fellow Submarine Officer. Jim had the advantage of recognizing me and called "Brock" when we met.He asked me what I was doing, and when I could come to work for him. At the time I was getting ready to go to sea for another tour.But James Ferguson offered me a position as project manager ,so I considered my options and took an early retirement. I started work with ISE Dec 17 1981 in Halifax NS. My contribution was:  Dolphin; SDL-1; West Edmonton Mall tourist subs and Theseus,in various roles. Thanks Jim!

I first met Jim in 1981 on sea trials in Indian Arm when my husband, James, started working at ISE. After that, Jim became an integral part of our family always welcoming our daughter Lindsay at ISE from a young age and taking an interest in her as she grew up.

But it was for me that Jim contributed most — he was instrumental in supporting the research for Through a Canadian Periscope: The Story of the Canadian Submarine Service. Without his and ISE's financial help the book would never have been published or become the ongoing success it has. But the support didn't end there, Jim provided names and contact info that I could not have achieved myself; his door was always open to me for unlimited Q&A sessions; and he patiently fulfilled my need for engineering advice.

I am saddened by Jim's passing and need to repeat how indebted I am to him, even though I told him many times in life. I mourn with everyone.


 



Jim’s passing is a huge loss to our industry.  I had the pleasure of first working with Jim back in the mid 1970’s and that relationship continued to almost present day.  Aside from his brilliance as an engineer, he was a marvelous person.  He passed many of those same traits to Jim Jr who I also had the pleasure of working with.  A fond memory I will always remember is seeing Jim run down the stairs at ISE’s new facility with the agility of someone 30 years his junior while eating a carrot. Silly maybe, but the memory will stay with me as it was so Jim.

I'm so sorry to hear this news. I will carry a some great memories of Jim MacFarlane and my time working at ISE.  Jim was a unique personality and ISE was a unique place to work.  

Sad news for the industry and his friends. Jim Mc Farlane, founder of ISE and pioneer in manned vehicles, ROV and AUV systems worldwide died November 1, 2022.  He and the gang at ISE played a large part in Can-Dive/Oceaneering and many other companies, governments and institutions various projects over the years. His innovative ideas were always ahead of their time with development of a 250+ HP vehicle in the 1980s and introducing semi-submersible and fully submersible AUVs well ahead of others. He will be missed by everyone. A few more images below of Jim doing what he loved.....

Jim's 84th birthday in 2018 surrounded by friends, cohorts and family. It was a grand party.

Jim impacted and worked with people from all across the globe. Here with Anatoly Sagalevich in 2016.

Jim was a man to be admired for so many reasons. Obviously it was for his intelligence and drive in developing ISE into a world-class company. But it was also for his character as a person, which found expression in his lifelong love for, and dedication to, Noreen, to "young Jim",  grand daughter Maridee, and to his mother, Opal, and brother Wayne.

I have one small memory of Jim that I will always retain , for to me it spoke of the man's inner character. It was back in 1994. My wife and I had taken our young daughters on a cross-country trek to see  the country and to meet our relatives on both sides. We stopped in Port Coquitlam and while we were there, Jim invited us to join him and his crew on his research ship while they went out onto the Sound to do some tests. He let us have the run of the ship while he otherwise went about his work. At one point, I happened to be in a position where I could see Jim but he couldn't see me. I witnessed him clamber up a flight of steps  from one deck to another, and he did so with such a spring in his step that it was clear that, for all the technical sophistication involved in his work (and it was a very high level), he was having as much fun as a kid in the bathtub. I loved that about him. His joy was transparent to me in that brief moment.

Jim was also important to me because of his willingness to recall my father (who died in 1959, when I was just a boy). Jim was himself a boy when the war began, and his memories of my dad were vivid. He was present on that momentous day when he arrived home after almost three years in German POW camps. My dad had a huge grin on his face, and all the women were crying. He then described the big welcome home party that ensued up at Clandeboye. His words were sparse, but they inferred much: he simply noted that "mad cows were milked with shaky hands the next morning." Enough said.

Jim was a gift in my life, and in the life of our family. We were all so lucky to have had him.



I wish to pay a heartfelt tribute to Jim McFarlane who was my friend since his days at The University of New Brunswick. It was my great joy to introduce him to his sweet wife and life companion, Noreen Wood. Theirs was a marriage of deep mutual respect, constant friendship and abiding love. Jim was brilliant, hard working, modest and honest. His accomplishments are well known for which he received the Order of Canada as well as international recognition. Jim and Noreen were proud of their son “little Jim” and their granddaughter, Marilee.  They leave an inspiring story!

Jim and Maridee our sincere condolences.
We are so proud of Uncle Jim. When ever one of his submarines made the news, we took great pride in saying “ He’s our Uncle “
Together again with aunt Noreen, two exceptional people .
❤️ Terry and Susan 




AVIS DE DÉCÈS

James Ross McFarlane

20 juin 1934 – 1 novembre 2022

Burkeview Memorial Services

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