Brian Thomas Fishwick

Brian was born in Chorley, Lancashire, England. He was very proud of that fact. He and his mother travelled to Canada in 1941 and joined family in Stettler, AB. They moved to Calgary and then to Creston, BC. He attended Grade 1 in Creston before moving to Trail, BC. He graduated from JL Crowe High in 1957 (and finally attended a reunion in 2017). From there his family moved to Castlegar, BC. He went on to Grade 13 in Castlegar and then to Victoria to attend Victoria Teacher’s College.

After one year there he accepted his first teaching job in Telkwa, BC “because he hadn’t been north!” He taught in Telkwa for 2 years before being encouraged to move to Houston “to start a basketball program”. He stayed in Houston for 2 years and developed not only a basketball program but his love of steelhead fishing on the Morice River. He went back to UBC for 2 years to complete his teaching degree and accepted a job in Prince George in 1965. He remained in PG until he retired in 1997. He spent a lot of time coaching various elementary school sports teams as well as the PG Minor Basketball Program.

During that time, his love of steelhead fishing continued, and many weekends (and later weeks) were spent on the Morice River; there are many photos of “man in river with fish”, as one friend says. While in PG, he was involved in the men’s basketball league, and in canoeing for many years with the Northwest Brigade Canoe Club (and of course leading an annual club trip on the upper Morice in steelhead season). Many weeks in the summer were spent doing canoe trips on rivers in the north. He canoed the Bowron several times, Tweedsmuir twice, the upper Stikine, and Murtle Lake, etc. He became an avid curler as well; curling in several different leagues including Men’s, Mixed, Teacher’s and finally Senior’s. He also played a lot of golf especially after he retired.

A lot of time was spent camping through northern BC. Some of the major trips included Bella Coola (1979), Haida Gwaii, the Yukon and Dempster Highway to Inuvik (with a flight to Tuktoyuktuk), and a trip to Saskatchewan. We travelled to Finland in 2006 and visited Brian’s cousins in the Chorley area on the way home. Another big trip was to New Zealand for a month in 2008. A cruise to Alaska, one through the Panama Canal, one in the Caribbean, several trips to Mexico and Hawaii, and one to China rounded out our travel. We had also spent a week in Oliver recently with our daughter’s in-laws…that is where we were heading when he broke his hip!

Brian is survived by his wife of 49 years, Betty, their children Brad in PG, Karen (Jonathan) Richardson and his much-loved grandchildren Sara and Edward in Surrey. He is also survived by his sister, Kathy (Keith) Muirhead in Garibaldi Highlands, sister-in-law Muriel Fishwick in North Saanich, niece Adrienne (Greg) Hill in Calgary, nephews David (Barbara Ernesti) in Victoria, and Derek (Linelle Andrea) Muirhead in Surrey as well as extended family in Alberta and England. He was predeceased by his brother Alan. He also leaves behind many good friends.

No service (or speeches) by request.

An Open House will be held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.