September 7, 1928 - July 31, 2022
In loving memory ~
William Ernest Thompson, also known as Bill, Red and Barnacle Bill, passed away in the wee hours of Sunday, July 31, 2022.
Born on September 7, 1928, Bill was raised in various areas on Vancouver Island, including a house-boat in Youbou and a farm in Wellington. As a commercial fisherman, he met Marjorie (nee-Errington) while living on Gabriola Island. In 1953 they married in Burnaby where they settled, started a family, and Bill began his plumbing carreer.
An avid sportsman, he was continually and passionately involved in coaching and managing the teams of his sons and grandchildren. This included baseball, soccer, curling, hockey, football and fastball in Burnaby South, Comox, Saanich and later Cordova Bay. He also relished in his many executive roles with service clubs - notably as the Grand Exalted Ruler at Elk's Lodge #1, a Lions Club Zone Chairperson, and a Timmy's Springtime Telethon Chairperson.
A plumber-pipefitter by trade, he rose to become the Deputy Maintenance Supervisor for the entire main UBC campus in Vancouver, before moving into tourism as a small resort owner/operator at Kye Bay in the Comox Valley, while operating his own plumbing business. Bill later retired as the Contract Supervisor at CFB Esquimalt.
Bill was a people person. In his youth he was known as Red, as his fiery red hair made him stand out in the crowd. Perhaps this is what allowed him to entertain so many, so easily. The communtiies he resided in were better served by his presence.
When we were old enough to walk, it seemed we were always on the ball field, the soccer field, at the hockey rink, or curling rink often at 6am before school. He taught and instilled in all of us the beauty of team sport and the comradery of sportsmanship..and then he'd go kick dirt on the umpire.
Bill is survived by Marjorie, loving wife of 69 years, his three sons Robert(Mylisa), Allan and Russell(Audrey), his grandchildren Bronwynn(Ian) and Reece(Maddy) and great-grandchild Lily.
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