Roy Eppler

Roy was born Rudolf Gotthilf Eppler on March 11, 1942, in Kamloops to parents Gus and Lottie and is survived by wife Deanne (Dee), sister Janet (Vivian, Julie) Williams and sons Mark (Cherie, Kyra, Kelsi), Todd (Shirley, Claire, Garet) and Jayson (Alison, Beckett, Rourke).

Roy spent his youth first in Kamloops where his parents had an apple orchard and then later in Burnaby where he went to high school. In high school he played basketball and worked part time as a construction labourer. After graduating, Roy got hired on as a deck hand on a Norwegian freighter where he sailed to Japan and then to Texas via the Panama Canal. After that adventure, Roy was hired by the RCMP and went through training at ‘Depot’ in Regina. After completing his training, Roy was stationed in Saskatchewan.

Roy met Dee, the love of his life while stationed in Uranium City. They were married in Prince Albert in 1967 and then spent the next 27 years in Saskatchewan raising their boys and living in a number of communities (Hudson Bay, Cut Knife, La Ronge, Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Spiritwood). During that time, Roy and Dee built a log cabin by hand on an island on Lac La Ronge which served as the family summer vacation spot for many years. At the lake, Roy’s CB-radio call sign was aptly ‘Jolly Green’. Roy loved the outdoors, including fishing at the lake and annual moose hunting trips near Hudson Bay with his friend Peter and brothers-in-law Ron and Vivian.

Roy retired from the RCMP as Staff Sergeant in 1994 and then he and Dee built a house on Gabriola Island in BC to enjoy warmer winters and be near Roy’s parents and Janet and Vivian. While on Gabriola, Roy worked for a number of years in Nanaimo including as a Commissionaire and for the City of Nanaimo at the front desk of the RCMP office. Following that Roy and Dee enjoyed their retirement on Gabriola, hosting family and friends and spending time with their grandchildren at their beautiful home in the woods overlooking Vancouver Island. During this time, they bought an RV and spent a number of happy winters in Casa Grande Arizona.