Wyatt Alexander Laing

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beloved father Wyatt (Sandy) Laing of Okanagan Centre. Wyatt is predeceased by his wife of 52 years Sharon, his brother Bruce and sister Enabelle Gorek, and is survived by his children and grandchildren: Mark(Deb) Chey, Jorden and Brelyn of Oshawa Ontario, David(Jacquie) Alexandre and Mattea of Nelson,BC and Lisa(Shayne Watson) Shealyn, Brandt and Sydney of Vernon,BC.

Wyatt was born on September 14th, 1937 in Nelson, BC to parents Frank and Margaret Laing, Wyatt was an avid storyteller and loved sharing stories of his childhood that was full of adventures. His childhood included travel throughout the Kootenay area and frequent trips via the railways to family in Brooks and Medicine Hat Alberta. His most recent visits to his family in Nelson resulted in so much joy with him touring the area and telling stories of dairy farms, cherry orchards and industry throughout Nelson CIty. He loved sharing memories of how he and his friends caught sucker fish and sold them for a nickel to migrant rail workers in the black sands shanty town to him playing his first hockey games at the Civic as a young child. Walks along the railbed above Nelson reminded him of watching the hobos jump the Great Northern Rail trains from Spokane as they arrived at Mountain Station to be chased into the forest by the rail police and putting pennies on the tracks for the old steam powered GNR locomotives to turn into a good luck charm.

As a teenager, Wyatt moved to southeastern Alberta to play hockey and live with extended family, riding horses and working as a ranch hand. At 19 he joined the Royal Canadian Airforce, where by his early 20's he was a co-pilot of the Avro CF 100 Canuck.

His RCAF days took him to Canadian Base 2 Wing in Grostenquin, France during the early 1960's. His favorite stories to share from that time were being involved in a mid air collision with a Canadair Sabre, and flying parallel to an East German USSR MiG 15 from the allied side in West Germany to name but a few. The underlying theme to his non flying stories from that time period usually included him ending up with a lot of explaining to do to his commanding officers after weekends off in Paris, and unexpected visits to the local police station. There was no shortage of stories from Wyatt's military service.

In September of 1963, aboard the ARKADIA passenger ship, enroute back to Europe from leave in North America, Wyatt found the love of his life. In the middle of the Atlantic, he met Sharon Gibbons, a newly graduated nurse from Royal Columbian. On that passenger ship, Dad from the Kootenay and Mom from the Okanagan began a lifetime of adventure, and they were soon married and began to travel the world even further. His career brought him to so many locations around the world including Christchurch New Zealand as an air traffic control officer for years. In 1967 he came back to the RCAF, and with his family in tow he was stationed in Moose Jaw, Cold Lake, Goose Bay and Canadian Forces Base Lahr West Germany. In the early 1980's Wyatt and Sharon moved their family to Winfield BC, home to Sharon's orcharding parents and grandparents to settle once Wyatt began his retirement from the RCAF. While his family was in the Okanagan, he did a few stints in the Northwest Territories on the DEW line with NORAD which rounded off his military career.

Once he retired from his prestigious career in the RCAF, Wyatt transitioned to his new full time role as an orchardist. For over 30 years Wyatt was a fixture in the Okanagan apple growing community as well as an avid down hill skier and endurance horse rider. Until his early 80's he continued both passions, skiing black diamond on Big White, to big powder on Whitewater, endurance horse rides from Fort Nelson to General Custer's last stand in Montana, nothing slowed Wyatt down.

Family was the center of his life and although his last years were challenging, he never lost his sense of humor and passion for his children and grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at the Okanagan Centre Hall, 11099 Maddock Avenue, Okanagan Centre, British Columbia on May 30th, 2026 at 11am.

Wheels Up! Saddle On! Skis Waxed!

A life well lived.