Gary Francis Bissenden Wright

Gary Francis Bissenden Wright was born February 6, 1943 in Fort William, Ontario. Gary died on April 13th, 2023 in St. Michael’s Hospice, Burnaby, BC after a brief illness with pancreatic cancer. He leaves behind to mourn his loving wife Sharon of 56 years, his 3 children; Kevin and twins Janice and Jeffrey, his 3 grandchildren (from his beautiful daughter Janice); Michael, Melissa and Mitchell, his sister in law Helen, his nephew Marten and wife Laurie and their 3 sons, his cherished aunt Ruth and many cousins. Mourning his loss is his Mother in law Freda, Sharon’s 8 brothers and sisters and their families. Gary was predeceased by parents Edna and Frank Wright, loving brother Bill and his grandparents.

Gary was a devoted, loving husband, wonderful father and grandfather. He always joked “when they start coming 2 at a time, you stop”. His family was his life and they spent countless hours making toys, playing games and cards, and traveling on many road trips. He loved his dogs that followed him everywhere. Camping and fishing were his favorite past-times, especially with his brothers in law and sons. He enjoyed curling with friends for fun. In his younger days he was an avid skier, downhill and cross country.

Gary was a dedicated, loyal and extremely hard worker. He excelled at every job he worked at. Sometimes he balanced 2 or 3 jobs at a time to support his quickly growing family. He was an editor for the Daily Times Journal in Fort William, Ontario, an award winning photographer, a part-time school bus driver, a tour bus driver, and he was a foreman at Canada Malting in Thunder Bay. Later he became an office manager at Canfor Weldwood. In 1991, he decided to make a move to beautiful British Columbia and loved it, despite the rain. He worked as a building manager until 2010 then retired and worked part-time as the building manager’s assistant until January 15th, 2023, as he could no longer walk. One of his favorite tasks was power-washing around the building, which he did every year, or snowblowing 2 or 3 times a year. It's Vancouver after all! You could always find Gary sitting outside in a chair or on the edge of the flower beds, greeting his neighbors as they left for work or the kids as they left for school, always with a smile.

If you needed something done, Gary would help. If you needed a tool of any kind, Gary had it. If you borrowed it, you had better put it back where you got it from. He would know if it was missing. He loved his organized workshops.

He was a gentle soul with a kind heart and generous to a fault. He was fondly nicknamed “The Grinch” ( But not the mean one!). After retiring, Gary discovered cruising. He loved Alaska so much, he went 7 times. He cruised with family to San Francisco, Hawaii, and eastern Caribbean. He even did the zip line with Andy! Gary travelled a few times by car back to Thunder Bay, his home town, to visit the family. He will be sadly missed. May he rest in peace.