Lane Large left this world peacefully, with his wife and son holding his hand. Born and raised in Powell River, he graduated from high school and left to go to vocational school in Nanaimo, where he took heavy-duty mechanics. There he met me, his future wife, by bouncing a ping-pong ball off my forehead.
We married on April 15, 1968, a week before his 21st birthday, so his mom had to sign permission; he laughed about that many times. Our son arrived in March 1971.
Deciding he didn’t want to spend his life under heavy equipment, Lane took a job with the municipality for a few years until he had the opportunity to apply and get an electrical apprentice position at the mill, work he enjoyed for the rest of his working life.
Lane was excited to take early retirement when offered. He packed a lot into his life: many wild skiing trips with friends, hunting all over BC, fishing up and down the coast and at home with friends, especially Al, his best buddy. One of his proudest accomplishments was building our house, gazebo and a viewing deck on our beautiful waterfront property. We spent many hours watching whales, dolphins and whatever went by.
We also travelled, mostly camping but several fun cruises until Lane’s many health problems got in the way. The last several years were devastating for him as he lost the ability to do all of the things he loved so much and did so easily. Evergreen Care Unit was not where he wanted to be; he wanted to be “Mr. Fix It” for our friends and riding his motorcycle. We are so sad that all we have are memories.
Thank you to the wonderful nurses and to Sean who made his life at Evergreen Care Unit bearable. I will be forever grateful. Thank you to the wonderful friends and neighbours. You have been there for us and are truly the “wind beneath my wings.”
