Robert Charles Mowatt (Sonny, Daga Yee) was born in Hazelton, BC on October 30, 1954. He was the youngest of two brothers and seven sisters. He spent most of his childhood and adolescent years between Hazelton and North Pacific Cannery learning to hunt, fish, preserve, and provide for the whole community.
Sonny met his wife, Val, in elementary school and welcomed their first child, Kelley, at the age of 21. Sonny and Val married in 1983. Although Sonny and Val separated in 2002, he continued to tell her and his children that he loved her every day until the very end. Sonny was also grateful for four more children; Kim, Kerry, Robert, and Preston.
Sonny was always a very hard worker and bought his first gillnetter when he was 16 years old. When fishing was no longer able to provide for his family, he pursued other occupations. Throughout his life, he also worked as a laborer at the sawmill in Hazelton, became a class one truck driver, operated a sports fishing tour, and drove a bus and a cab in Prince Rupert. If he could have continued fishing to provide, he would have, it was one of his favourite things to do!
Sonny became a grandpa in 2002 to his first grandchild, Zander. He was so excited to welcome his first grandchild that he went to the hospital to welcome him first! He sat with Kim as she waited excitedly for him to arrive and couldn’t wait to hold him. When it was time to welcome baby Zander, suddenly Sonny was nowhere to be found! He was eventually found outside the hospital smoking one cigarette after another. When asked where he went, he said “I couldn’t hear her in pain anymore so I came out here”. When he knew that things were better, he joined the family in the delivery room to visit baby Zander and loved him instantly. Sonny lived with Kim, Jason, and Zander off and on throughout the next two years and formed a special bond with Zander over that time. In that same year, Sonny gained another grandson, Karson and two years later, a granddaughter, Zari, who he favoured right to the end. Zari never hesitated to go and give him a hug before leaving his side after every visit.
Eleven years later, Sonny became a grandpa to four more granddaughters whom he enjoyed spending time with everyday. Sonny moved in with Kerry, Josh, Lennox, Val, and Robert in 2018 shortly before his last granddaughter, Oaklynn was born. Oaklynn grew up very close to her ye’eh and feared to be the favorite but he claimed he was only protecting her cause she was so crazy just like himself. He taught her the craziest words, to speak her mind, and to take no shit. He resided with them until two weeks prior to his passing.
In his last years, Sonny worked constantly, driving truck to and from Vancouver and to Prince Rupert. Constantly calling the grandchildren out to the truck to visit with him as he made stops in Prince George cause he missed them so much. He would always come home from his travels with little gifts for them. While living with his grand daughters he loved to help in taking care of them by making them “mush”, cooking random meals that they would never eat (picky eaters), chopping up all their fruit for them, giving them all the fruit by the foot that they could get away with, sneaking off to the room with a box of ice cream sandwiches and popsicles so they could eat them all together, and dancing and “shaking their booty’s” in his room when we finally put an Alexa in his room. He loved to entertain his grandbabies, no matter how exhausted he would get, no matter how much trouble he would get into by mom or grandma, and no matter how much money it cost, if it was for the grand babies; it didn’t matter.
In his last months, Sonny enjoyed spending time watching his grandchildren do what they loved. He spent many days at the side of the rink watching them play hockey and also watching them dance at the studio. He would be texting often to ask “when’s Zari’s next game?” and was so excited to watch her win silver in the playoffs of her final year in Minor Hockey. He would be heard cheering her on from the sidelines “good job Zari” when she’d get penalties for hitting the boys too hard. He was so proud of her. He would make every effort to make it to the next game or recital. We know that no matter where he is now he will always be there when it means a lot to the grandbabies.
Sonny loved to make new friends everywhere he went. He would spark up a conversation with anyone around him – at the rink making friends with the other hockey parents/grandparents, at the casino talking to anyone who sat at the machine next to him, even at the WorkBC office where he went to get some help to look for another job recently, he made friends with a hockey parent that he met at Zari’s hockey games who shared some of the stories she had of him getting frustrated with using a computer and excited to come and help with his granddaughter’s birthday parties. He loved to be around people and spent time at the casino visiting with everyone he knew even if he wasn’t gambling.
Sonny was known for his laughter, his crazy stories, and the crazy things he did throughout his life. There are so many crazy stories of his hunting trips, fishing trips, while he was driving his truck, his crazy Halloween costumes made by Val, and how much he has passed on some of those crazy traits to his children and grandchildren. We will miss his antics, his big laugh, but most of all his loving and accepting presence at all of our family events.
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