Gary Leonard Wesa

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Gary Wesa on January 12th, 2024 after being diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer. He was predeceased by his father, Leo, and his mother, Della. He is survived by his wife, Rose, daughter, Sheila, step-daughter, Aileen (husband Gil), grandchildren, Ghaffar and Olivia, brother, Donald and many friends and extended family.

Gary was born on November 15th, 1949 in Balcarres Hospital. He was raised on the family farm situated right next to the small village of Lipton, receiving his entire education at Lipton School. Upon graduation he then enrolled in the University of Regina in 1968, achieving a BSc. in Geology in 1974. Gary had already done extensive work in mineral exploration as early as 1970 when he was employed by Cordilleran Engineering in searching for copper pyrite in the Kootenays in the province of British Columbia. Because of his continuous involvement in the surrounding district he eventually decided to move in 1976 from Saskatchewan to Vancouver. Gary explored vast areas of British Columbia, the Yukon, North-West Territories, the Arctic Islands, parts of Northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as various areas of Ontario and Newfoundland. He was also contracted to search abandoned gold properties in Brazil while based out of British Guiana. His retirement came in 2019 after he successfully helped locate a major gold discovery south of Hope, British Columbia.

In April 1988 outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, he met the woman who would later become is wife, Rose. They were married in 1989, first in their apartment and had a secondary wedding later in May 1990 in Maui, Hawaii, where most of Rose's immediate family reside. They then had Sheila in January 1992 and sponsored Aileen in August of the same year.

Although Gary lived on the West Coast, he never lost his love of the prairies. At each and every opportunity he would return to the family farm where he was born and raised to help his younger brother harvest another grain crop in the fall. Even after his brother retired from farming Gary would still return to Saskatchewan in the fall, just to be out on the flat prairie landscape, surrounded by the smell of grain dust in the air and the sound of combines working in the many fields within the district.

Gary was also a devout member of the Seventh Day Adventist church in New Westminster. He was particularly proud of his work in the church as leader of the Bread Ministry, and this led to his desire to distribute bread to those in need every Saturday morning.

Gary was always intent on sharing his passions and interests with his family & friends, which resulted in everyone in his life at one point or another learning the properties of different rocks and minerals, variations in farming equipment and the different adventures he'd experienced over his lifetime. He was always particularly keen on giving away "free loot" from various mining conferences he attended, and one could always expect the warm offer of notepads and pens, and in his later years, bread, when visiting the Wesa household. Gary and his desire to share (whether it be information, food or stationary!) will be deeply missed.