April 4, 1936 - April 11, 2020
It is with a great deal of sadness we announce the death of Thomas William Feely, April11. Tom was a kind, honourable, and gentle man, that held a very high regard for all he encountered.
He was the very beloved Husband, of Roberta (Currie) Feely, married Sept. 12, 1964. He was the loving Father of Jane, with her children Dennis (Stephanie), Nicole (Andrew) Tamara, and William, our daughter Helen (Forrest) their son Thomas, then David with daughter Zoey. Tom was born April 4, 1936 the eldest child of Thomas Herbert Feely and Jean Alexandre (Baikie) Feely. Tom always had a mind full of ambitious ideas that he gradually accomplished over time. He started out as a logger, received his log scaling certificate, then his grading ticket.
He then became a boom foreman for the Tahsis Co. in Gold River, later to Fair Harbour then back to Gold River. It was then that he could see the number of logs being lost, so asked if he could salvage the loose logs, and sell them back to the Company, thus becoming a 'Beachcomber.' He bought a tug boat and worked 7 days a week, dawn to dusk, to pay off the boat, meet a mortgage payment, keep 3 little babies, and a wife fed. While in Gold River, he was a volunteer fireman, a charter member of the Lions Club, and at the same time joined the Masonic Order in Campbell River. During this time, he then saw an opportunity to go hand logging down the inlet, a tough way to make a buck. An opportunity was then given to move to Campbell River, buy another boat, and push around more logs.
Tom always had a great love for boats, and his first boat was a very small Danish Junior' sail boat. He purchased this boat in Sydney, and proceeded up the West Coast to Tofino. This was the first leg of the journey. His Dad met him there to drive him home, but upon seeing the little sail boat, Tom's Dad had his first heart attack. Tom did then, later on, sail his boat on to Gold River.
The love of fishing went along with all of his boats, and he would try it all. His biggest salmon in Gold River was 52 lbs, he fished the Gold River for steel head, and any lake with a trout. His last memorable fishing trip was with his Son in Haida Gwaii.
His dream was always to move back to the 'Farm', and when his Dad asked if he would like to move back, and work for him driving truck for Feely Tank Truck Service, Tom was happy to move again. We totally renovated the old farm house, doing a lot of the work ourselves, under the guidance of a master builder, and thus creating the 5th generation at Grassi Point Farm.
Tom's Dad had just purchased a Charolais cow, so from her Tom built a beautiful herd of cattle, and from there naturally got involved in the Canadian Charolais Association, and then a director.
Being back on the Farm meant that Tom could introduce his kids to his love of skiing, at the Forbidden Plateau. Having been a 'Fanny Dunker' on the Plateau, from an earlier age, then to being an instructor. His biggest thrill was winning first place in the Kandahar Race. When Mount Washington finally opened Tom became involved in the kid's ski racing club.
As a child, Tom was always a very avid equestrian, along with his cousin Myrna (Baikie) Boulding, competing against each other. Being back on the Farm meant that his children would have riding lessons, and again be involved in horseshows, and horse 4-H.
His dedication to the Masonic Order was always high on his priority list, and he was affiliated with many of the different Lodges. In the recent past his family can't speak highly enough of the Masons that have visited Tom, provided his wife with rides to Victoria, moral support, and kind words. Thank you to these kind men.
Tom and Roberta joined the Comox Valley Probus Club, again meeting a wonderful new lot of people, and the best part for Tom was the duplicate bridge.
Tom's Dad was always very proud of his sweet corn, so to follow in this tradition, Tom planted corn to satisfy to Valley. He at first sold it from the bucket of the tractor, by the highway, and as the demand increased from the pickup box. He would then rob the vegetable garden of beats, beans or carrots, whatever he could get away with. The idea then came to him to build an 'on farm market', and of course with that he had to have greenhouses.
Tom and Roberta have travelled around the world a couple of times, crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, mostly on cruise ships, and I think the reason being, Tom wanted to cruise, was for the 'bridge lessons' and the duplicate bridge, that followed. We met some very delightful people, witnessed amazing sights, but realized that we have been so very blessed to live in most beautiful place on earth.
Tom and Roberta were married in the Church, and throughout our 54 years, of many ups and downs, Christ has been our foundation.
Tom died with Roberta holding his hand, and with the assurance that our Lord would gather us together again one day.