James BURGESS

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BURGESS: The family wishes to convey the passing of James Keith Burgess, who died on Saturday August 28th at the Nanaimo General Hospital at the age of 83. Keith was born in Sintaluta, SK on Jan. 16th 1927 and grew up in Lauder and Brandon, MB. In his 20s, he was an avid baseball player and played in the longest game in Canadian history (26 innings!) in 1950. His first job was delivering bread by horse drawn wagon with McGavin’s Bakery in Brandon during the 1940s. In 1952 he took a job with Anglo Canadian Oil, which later became Royalite Oiland then Gulf Oil. He went on to become a Western Canadian Manager, and he remained with the company for 33 years until his retirement in 1985. His happiest days were with his friends at Gulf, and he truly loved his job. In 1985, he opened Encore Video with his sons David & Tyler in Richmond BC, which they ran until 1998. His later years were spent bowling, cheering for his Canucks, and enjoying his children, grandchildren anddogs. He loved the water and would often walk the dogs by the river, smoking his favorite cigar. He battled diabetes, and after a heart attack, underwent a quintuple bypass in 2004. The bullets kept coming, and he kept dodging, but the hospital visits became more frequent and his health was failing. Through it all, he never lost his sense of humor, nor the mischievousglint in his eye. He was a remarkably likeable man, friendly and generous to a fault and loved dearly by his friends. His family meant the world to him and the mountains of love he leaves behind are his true legacy. With his ex-wife Eunice, he raised four children - David, Mark, Tyler (Stacey), and Michelle (Ted). He also cherished his grand-daughters Brittany, Kaelyn and Asia. His best friend Barbara deserves special mention for all the loving care and attention she gave him over the past 32 years. A celebration of his life will take place on Thursday Sept. 16th at 1:00 p.m. at the Brechin United Church in Nanaimo. There will also be a reception in Brandon, Manitoba on Saturday, October 16th at 1:00 p.m. at The Victoria Inn. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Keith’s name to the Canucks Place Hospice for Sick Kids. Please contact Ty Burgess for more information 604-986–3536 or tyburgess@gmail.com

As published in Brandon Sun on Sep 11, 2010