Friends and family are mourning the loss of Amrik Prihar, who died suddenly of a heart attack last Thursday at age 67.
"He was the centre of my world growing up, and my strength and beacon as an adult," said his daughter Monica Parmar in a post on Facebook.
"The world around him was a better place for his remarkable work and dedication to improving education in British Columbia and helping people who did not have a voice," she said.
Prihar was elected to the Cowichan Valley board of education in 2011 and was again standing as a candidate for that body.
As a former teacher, Prihar was passionate about public education and said his first and only priority was the students he wanted to serve.
Prihar also worked as a consultant for the Ministry of Education and for the B.C. Teachers' Federation. Prihar received teaching excellence awards at the provincial and national levels.
A funeral for Prihar is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the New Life Church on Tzouhalem Road in Duncan.