John passed away peacefully at the hospital in Powell River, surrounded by the support of nursing staff and family. He was born in Megantic, Quebec, to Zelia and Donat Trepanier.
John was one of 13 children. He started working in logging at the age of 11 in Ontario.
John left Ontario/Quebec in his early teens with the Lapierre family of 11 by train to come to Maillardville, BC, where at 15 years of age met his wife to be Simone Bourassa. He worked in the forest industry his whole life, mainly as a faller.
After getting married in 1950, they lived and travelled to many different parts of BC, logging, and did a stint in Ontario, then back to BC where they finally settled in Powell River around 1957. Their daughter Jannine was born in Port Alberni in 1954.
John loved his wife, his family, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He had too many friends to list.
He is survived by his longtime wife of 72 years Simone; daughter Jannine (Real); two grandchildren Kevin (Liane) and Jennifer (Mikhael); four great-grandchildren Emma, Payton, Jacob and Paige; and also many nieces and nephews who had the opportunity to live with John and Simone over the years, as family members: Homer, Gay, Robert, Anne, Carmen and Bernice Trepanier; and Linda and Eddie Dennis.
John was never scared of work and from the age of 53 after retiring from logging, he decided to dig for gold in the interior of BC. They enjoyed spending time in the Fraser River, Soda Creek area in the summer looking for little gold nuggets. They enjoyed hunting over the years and in the winters, they spent over 40 years as snowbirds in Arizona.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Martin Andreae for his care over many years, as well as the other doctors and nurses throughout his hospital stay who stepped in to help in his final days.
John had a great life and will be missed dearly by everyone who knew him.
The family requests in lieu of flowers, to please donate to the Powell River Community Foundation in memory of John Trepanier at https://www.prcommunityfoundation.com/.
A service and celebration of life for John will take place at 1 pm on Saturday, November 12, at Church of the Assumption, 7109 Glacier Street, Powell River. For family and friends who are unable to attend but would like to watch service and celebration, go to Stubberfieldfh.com, scroll to Trepanier, recent tribute, and go to the “live service” tab.
Please note, there will be a 30-minute interval between the church service and celebration of life.
Prayers and viewing will take place at 7 pm on Friday, November 11, also at the church.
Sincerely, Réal and Jannine
