Rod was born in Burgeo, Newfoundland and settled in Victoria with his wife and friend Ethel who is a nurse manager. Ethel still lives in Victoria with their dog "dockboy" that went everywhere with him. He owned a Yacht Sales business and was skippering a vessel for a client in Alaska at the time of his passing. Anyone who has ever spent even just a few minutes in his company knows the energy he put into every speck of his life for he had just come back off a run when it happened. One of his heroes was Bruce Lee so weights and body building was only part of his all round regime to keep himself in shape. He was also a bush pilot and scuba instructor. He had many friends here in Victoria and two sisters , Linda and Sandy, and their families. As a tribute to his love of the sea, his ashes were spread both on the waters off Vancouver Island and Burgeo. A statue was also erected on Arbutus Island (photo attached) that you can see from the British Columbia ferry as you come into port at Sidney on Vancouver Island. The last Arbutus tree died since the first dives we had together on Arbutus Island but a few of us are nurturing some seedlings to plant in his honor. We’ll never forget Rod.