Michael James Rooney

Michael (Mike) James Rooney, 75, of Kamloops, BC passed away peacefully in Hospice in Kamloops on 21 December, 2018, after a six-month struggle with Leukemia, with his wife Laura (Nee McKinnon) and family by his side.

Mike was born in Port Alberni, BC to Thomas Patrick Rooney and Agnes Annie Rooney (nee Richmond), who are both deceased. As a youngster, he and his family lived all over the Thompson-Nicola and Shuswap as they followed the work of the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway through the area. When Mike’s father decided that his children needed a proper education, he settled the family in Burnaby where Mike attended St. Thomas More and graduated as part of the first graduating class (’64). After completion of High School, Mike attended BCIT and graduated in the first class of that school (’68), as a Forest Technologist.

The career of Forest Tech took him and his young family to various parts of the coast and Vancouver Island, before a move to Nakusp. From Nakusp, Mike made his way to Revelstoke, where a good long-time career in Reforestation kept him for 42 years. After retiring, a final move was made to Kamloops where the kids and grandkids had all seemed to migrate.

Mike was firstly a family man. When his daughter underwent a serious surgery in 2013, Mike went to Vancouver Island to be nanny, chief cook and bottle washer for three weeks. When his son built their house, Mike went to Kamloops and helped them do their own landscaping. As his father-in-law got older, Mike was the one who did the heavy lifting – shampooing all of the carpets, being the first to arrive and the last to leave for family occasions and the tasks involved.

He did not have a lot of hobbies, but one life-long hobby he did have, was photography. He kept up with the technology and embraced every change. That meant, that as technology changed, and film development became more affordable, and then digital came on scene, Mike could finally throw away the dark room equipment after it sat dormant for 20 years. He kind of didn’t like to throw things out. He spent hours editing his pictures. He also spent hours on Ancestry.ca where he has been quite successful with researching family history. All projects that are not quite complete…

Mike and Laura always enjoyed a good house-building or total home renovation and got to do that a few times together over the years.

Mike enjoyed taking his grandchildren on non-stop fishing outings, sometimes getting them out of bed at 6 AM to get out on the water. He pulled them around water-skiing and tube riding until his boat got kind of tired and could no longer pull them out of the water.

Left to mourn Mike are his wife Laura, two children Shawn (Donette) and Tracie (Bud), six grandchildren Levi (Karen), Samantha (Josh), Chelsea (Cy), Brandon (Kiana), Jasmine (Kurtis) and Josh. There is also one great-grandchild, Lucy and second coming soon.

Additionally, there are numerous extended family members, including his sister Teri and her son Mike (Jen) of Chilliwack and two nephews in Seattle, Mark and David. Laura’s family also considers themselves part of Mike’s family and will sorely miss him at every family gathering and reunion.

A Celebration of Life is planned in 2019 at Schoening Funeral Service, 513 Seymour St, Kamloops, BC V2C 2G8 on 11 May, 2019 at 1:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in his name to the Marjorie Willoughby Hospice House, 72 Whiteshield Crescent S, Kamloops, BC V2E 2S9 (donate online at: http://www.kamloopshospice.com/index.php/contribute/donate/