Roy Edward Hetherington

Roy Hetherington passed away at the age of 89 years on December 10, after a ten-month battle with pancreatic cancer, surrounded by his wife and family. He leaves behind the love of his life wife Patricia, three children Gretta (Dean), Rolf, Ian (Dana), eight grandchildren, brother David (Valerie), and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and sister.

A dignified, kind man, Roy had a good sense of humour and loved his family very much. He was born and raised in Slough, England and wrote a short memoir of his early childhood experiences living on the outskirts of London during the Second World War, in which the family survived numerous nighttime aerial bombing raids. As a teenager, he played trumpet in the Slough Boy’s Brigade and after completing an apprenticeship in plumbing, did his Military National Service in the Royal Artillery Band 1956-1958.

When not marching, his love of classical and jazz music grew and afterwards, he played in the Slough Philharmonic Orchestra semi-professionally and occasionally in a jazz club in Slough. In his younger days, he was part of a diving club where he was an avid scuba diver and water-skied, and had a keen love of the ocean.

Roy immigrated to Canada in September 1970 with his wife and nearly one year old daughter on the last sailing of “The Empress of Canada”, from Liverpool to Montreal. From there, a car was purchased and the three of them drove across the country to British Columbia to start a new life. Within a few years, he built a new house for his family on an acre of forest, close to Guildford in Surrey, BC, where his three children were raised.

His love of music continued in Canada, with him playing the trumpet in the New Westminster Orchestra and in a Navy band in Vancouver in the 1970s and 80s. He inspired a deep love of music in his children, grandchildren and wife, with several becoming accomplished musicians. When his children were younger, he enjoyed some downhill skiing with them and shared his love of the ocean, with boating and spending a lot of time in and on the water.

Roy ran a small, successful plumbing and gas fitting business until his retirement. He and his wife lived 17 years in Vernon where he nurtured a love of growing a variety of vegetables in his home garden and a community garden plot, which included his ever-evolving creations to improve watering, fertilizing, and crop productivity, often inspiring neighbours or those passing by. In January 2023, Roy and his wife moved to Salmon Arm, which he loved for its landscape, the people he met and the neighbourhood in which he resided. He often expressed how fortunate he was to have lived in such a beautiful part of BC and Canada.

Throughout his 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer he never complained, and regularly expressed gratitude for the kindness and medical care of the Shuswap General Hospital Oncology department and family physicians Dr. Montgomery and Dr. McKeough. He was also deeply appreciative of all the prayerful support he received from many sources, which he felt kept him pain-free at home until his last three days that were spent in the hospital. A private memorial for family will be held in Spring. He will be deeply missed and his memory always cherished.