Lonnie William Hindle

Lonnie is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Nadyne, his daughter Natasha, son Jason (Melissa), and grandson Saxon. He was predeceased by his Mother and Father, Sarah and Bernard Hindle, sisters Rhoda Hindle, Dorreen Clowes, brother Chris Hindle, and nephew John Clowes.

Lonnie was fluent in English and the Gitksan language by the age of 3. He attended Hazleton Amalgamated Elementary School, it was the first amalgamated school in B.C., in 1951. In 1961 Lonnie and his team played in the All-Native basketball team in Prince Rupert and won first place. In the late 60’s Lonnie began working at various jobs, including Kenworth Trucks as a parts man, then attended the University of Albuquerque in New Mexico. During that time, Lonnie and Professor Bruce Rigsby corroborated together and produced “A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan Language”. In the 1970s Lonnie worked on a commercial fishing boat with Bud Recalma for a few years and later joined the Native Brotherhood as a Director, then became the head of Public Service Commission. From there, Lonnie returned to the Federal Fisheries and was assigned to the Qualicum Indian Band. In the 90’s Lonnie was a consultant for Native Issues until his retirement in 2010. Lonnie was fortunate to have a career that sent him to many areas throughout B.C. Lonnie and Nadyne resided on Bowen Island for 18 years and finally returned home to Vancouver Island in 2020 where he happily lived out the rest of his days.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the BC Alzheimer’s association