Oliver "Olly" Stuart Douglas Willmot

Oliver “Olly” Willmot was born on May 24th, 2006 in Terrace, B.C. 

As a young child, Olly was a keen observer of everything around him, loved to play soccer, and spent hours in the small woods behind his home with his sister and neighbourhood friends. His early days were filled with family hikes, skiing at Shames Mountain, swimming in lakes, ocean fishing, and beach combing in Haida Gwaii. Olly had a quiet but resolved love of nature and would make a point to stop and take in its beauty, be it a rainbow, sunset, or a calm walk on the beach. 

When Olly was 10, his family moved to Salmon Arm where he made new friends through school, sports, and his part-time jobs at Co-op and Save On Foods. He was widely known for making others feel included and at ease. Listening to others with intent came naturally to Olly. He didn’t talk to fill air space. Instead, he shared what he felt was thoughtful and purposeful. The people Olly cared about knew they were important to him. In the words of a friend, “Olly had a way of being there when you needed him. He made sure you didn’t feel alone.” His laugh was beautiful and he smiled with his eyes.  He was known by many as being a great kid.

Olly loved being outside in the fresh air and would never miss the lure of the sunset calling him out for a dog walk. He was a committed dog walker and a true animal lover. When the sunset was particularly breathtaking, he would message his mom to share his awe.

One of Olly’s favourite pastimes was downhill skiing and his biggest smiles came after a long day on the hill with his family and friends at Silver Star or Revelstoke. His Dad remembers watching Olly become a better skier than him in real-time as he flew past him like he was standing still on Attridge Face at Silver Star. Olly loved to boat on the Shuswap with friends and spent days wakeboarding, fishing and cliff jumping.  He was also very disciplined about fitness and was a fixture at Shuswap Total Fitness.

Olly loved to spend time with his family, often having suggestions for family movie nights, usually a comedy he thought everyone would like. He enjoyed family vacations abroad in Hawaii, Mexico and Ireland, and looked forward to annual family reunions and the company of his aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Olly was a master of enjoying the moment and he immersed himself fully with those around him, like the time he skipped rocks until the sun went down at the family reunion on Stuart Lake.

Olly had plans to travel the world.  After graduating early, Olly started a new job Power Tree Werx where he met new people and learned new skills. Olly had three of his friends hired onto the crew and was looking forward to a summer working together. In January, Olly started his post-secondary education at Okanagan College in Kelowna studying business.  Olly thought that he might one day want his own arborist company focused on residential trees. 

Olly will be deeply missed by his mom Liz, his dad Nick, and his younger sister Maddy, as well as his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He will also be missed by the family dogs Trixie and Piper.

Olly’s journey ended unexpectedly when he fell through the ice while walking his dog Trixie on Shuswap Lake.

Please join us to celebrate Olly’s life on Friday, February 28th at 3pm at The Nexus at First (Salmon Arm United Church, 450 Okanagan Avenue East).

Memories can be shared with the family by email: lizwillmot@yahoo.ca

In honour of Olly never let a beautiful sunset pass you by.