Jim Clements

We are heartbroken to share that Jim passed away peacefully after a short stay at
Ridge Meadows Hospital.

Jim was a gregarious man who never met a stranger. His network of friends and
colleagues was vast; just how vast we didnʼt know until tributes to him started
rolling in. He was a multi-faceted, multi-talented man with many interests,
including woodworking, golfing, travelling, gardening, botany, photography,
birding, and many more. In the eyes of his daughters he was the kind of Dad who it
seemed could build anything out of wood, from houses and stables to intricate
chessboards and model boats.

His early careers were almost as varied as his interests. As a young man craving
adventure, he went to work on the DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line very far north
in Canada. What he did there was never fully revealed, but the purpose of the
DEW line was to monitor the countryʼs northern border and to give us enough time
to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if the Soviets ever launched first.

Later he worked as a bank accountant where his gift for easily understanding
numbers and math was a true asset. Next he excelled as an electrician at Canadian
Telephone & Supplies, a subsidiary of BCTel, but he knew that he hadnʼt found his
calling yet. That calling finally found him in the early 1960s when he discovered
that working in air traffic control was where he was meant to be. Over the next
thirty-five years he built a remarkable career where he made many friends and was
a mentor to young controllers, guiding them and cheering them on as they built
their own careers.

Retiring in 1998 didnʼt stop Jimʼs desire to keep busy. He was not a man who liked
to keep still! He took a job as a chauffeur and regaled us with funny stories about
some of the passengers he transported. He also had a goal to photograph as
many of British Columbiaʼs native wildflowers as he could, a project that took him
4X4ʼing way off the beaten path. He was proud to have turned his photos into a
book called Wildflowers of British Columbia.

Jimʼs favourite adventure though, was courting his wife Marian. He eventually won
her heart and they married in September of 1960. They met at a dance and, after it
was over, he offered her a ride home but she declined because she had driven
there in her own car! That really impressed him and he was determined to learn
more about this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty. We lost Marian in 2017 and Jim
missed her deeply. He is now free to dance with his beloved for all of time.

Jim leaves behind a legacy through his two daughters, Shelley (Rob) and Susanne
(Bryan), his four grandchildren, Rogan (Cassie), Erinn (Tyler), Evan, and Colin, and
his great-granddaughter Brae.

Memories and refreshments will be shared at his Celebration of Life on Thursday,
March 27th at 1:00 pm in the Ebony Room at Meadow Gardens Golf Club, 19675
Meadow Gardens Way, Pitt Meadows. Please RSVP by March 12th to Shelley by
email at saeast@telus.net or by phone at 604-828-4685.

If youʼd like to speak at his Celebration, please let us know in your RSVP.
We have designated 2 to 3 minutes for each speaker. In lieu of flowers, please consider
a donation to the British Columbia Heart and Stroke Foundation.