Alec Robert Merriman

After a long and fruitful life, Alec passed away peacefully at the Priory at the age of 96. Predeceased by daughter Lucille, wife Taffy, brother Fred and brother-in-law Bob, he is survived by his sister Joy Obee, sister-in-law Lorna, daughter Barbara (Stew), son-in-law Clayton, grandchildren Jennifer, Greg, Andrea and Lauren as well as eight great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Some people are born to fish and that is definitely the case with Alec. From an early age his greatest pleasure was fishing off of Foul Bay in his rowboat. Writing was also in Alec’s blood as he was born into a newspaper family with his father, Tom, being editor of the Victoria Daily Times. Hospitality was second nature to Alec. His home on Langford Lake and the cabin at Sooke were always full of people. Those three things alone were a recipe for an adventurous life but finding the perfect wife and his best friend in Welsh war-bride Taffy Jones started the ball rolling. After the war Alec was involved with some private publications but landed a job in 1951 on his Dad’s competition, The Daily Colonist. He worked as a photographer and reporter in many areas including police, legislative and local politics. He became City Editor and gradually worked his way into his true passion — fishing. Alec took over the King Fisherman Contest from Jim Tang, his friend and colleague in 1953 and started writing a twice-weekly column entitled Outdoors with Alec Merriman in 1960. He wrote this column for 25 years and it became the bible for local fishing enthusiasts. Alec became editor of the Islander Magazine and and wrote five books on outdoor travel and fishing on Vancouver Island. Two of the books, Logging Road Travel 1 and 2, were co-authored by Taffy. He has been honoured for his work on salmonid enhancement and has been made a life member of many fishing organizations as well as being inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 under the media category. Alec’s philosophy was that our beautiful outdoor recreation areas and our wonderful fishery belong to everyone. He campaigned and was successful in getting access for everyone to forest company controlled lands even to the extent that some companies created public camping facilities. There is no doubt that Alec made a huge contribution to outdoors and fishing on Vancouver Island that will be remembered for generations to come. So, to use your signature sign-off: Tight lines Alec.

A Memorial service will be held at First Memorial Funeral Services, 4725 Falaise Drive, Victoria on Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 2:00 pm.

Arrangements under the direction of First Memorial Funeral Services, Victoria, BC.