Roy Alexander Davidson

January 13, 1929 - August 6, 2018
in Winnipeg, Manitoba and a long resident of Lake Cowichan, B.C., Roy passed away peacefully in Vancouver, B.C. Predeceased by Vi, his wife of 50+ years, Roy will be fondly missed by his brother George and his nieces Fiona (Paul) and Flora (Paul.) Many thanks to the kind staff at Sunrise Senior Living in Vancouver and to his friends and neighbors and former students in Lake Cowichan.

Roy had a somewhat difficult start in life, enduring several orthopedic operations as a child during the antibiotic era.His upbringing in Winnipeg gave him a love of the Prairies and of the outdoors, as well as memories of summers with his parents at Hillside Beach, or with his cousins on their farms in the Teulon area. His Winnipeg High School introduced him to curling, which he played and enjoyed for, for much of his life, usually as skip.

After his family moved to Vancouver, Roy turned his love of nature into a degree in Biology from UBC. Roy ultimately became a teacher, working in several communities up and down B.C., until settling in Lake Cowichan, where he taught Grade 5 for many years, passing on his enthusiasm for the natural world and the occasional chicken hatchling from his classroom. Roy loved reading, curling, playing bridge, watching Rugby, nosing around garage sales, bake sales and bazaars as well as spending a sunny afternoon picking wild berries or apples from abandoned orchards he had spotted beside the highway.

In his later years he loved to sit on his balcony overlooking the Cowichan River watching the wildlife, although he still made occasional trips over to Vancouver for Dim Sum with his brother and family and to bring them his latest crop of tomato seedlings or home grown exotic fruit plants. He loved a good road trip, travelling to the Okanagan, or further afield to the Southern USA or Mexico on many occasions. He took one last solo road trip in 2013 to see the Whooping Crane habitat in Aransas Texas. Roy was a generous and kind man, with a unique personality and a ready laugh, who will be sadly missed and fondly remembered.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Roy in Vancouver on Friday, April 12th. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Lake Cowichan SPCA or Friends of the Earth.