April 12, 1925 ~
March 22, 2016
It is with deep sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Harry William (Red) Wassick on March 22, 2016. He was born on April 12, 1925 in Nelson, BC, to Harry and Annie Wassick, the eldest child with siblings Richard, Robert, Elizabeth(Agnew) and Dorothy(Anderson). Red was a lifetime Nelson resident and decorated WWII veteran. He spent 3 years at war in the navy on the HMCS Guelph, a Flower-class corvette, and concluded his service aboard the minesweeper Fort Francis. He’d grown from a teenager to a young man and in the following year married Dorothy Colman, a Nelson resident, at St. Saviours church. He resumed his athletic pursuits, patrolling the blue line for a few seasons with the Nelson Maple Leafs and playing senior baseball and lacrosse. His career was spent in the Forest Service and he was an avid hunter, trapper, musician and fisherman with a Canadian record for Bull Trout. A quote from Red was “My favorite memories of the Forest Service all have something to do with fishing. I remember being up around Cartwright Lake [Invermere], inspecting a big blowdown there. Of course I had brought my fly rod with me, and in the evening I went over to the lake. I stood real quiet for a while before I started casting, and I could see a big brute out in the water, his dorsal fin was just breaking the surface. I laid my Spratley fly about six feet ahead of him, and he took it, a beautiful trout about ten pounds.”
He was a silviculturist who rejuvenated many forests from the Alberta border to Rock Creek (Kootenay Region). Red easily spent more time fishing on Kootenay Lake than anyone in history. He is joining his son Dave and brother Rich and grandson Jason in heaven, and is survived by his wife of 69 years Dorothy, daughters Harriet (Bowolin) and Juliet (Genero) and sons Guy and Brant, along with 10 loving grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
His passion in life was definitely fishing and his violin and bass fiddle playing music days ensured he had money to invest in a lot of new rods, tackle and boats.
A celebration of Reds life will be held at the Prestige Lake Resort, 701 Lakeside Drive, Nelson on Sunday April 10 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. In lieu of flowers, you may consider making a donation in his memory to the Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation or the West Arm Outdoors Club c/o Gord Grunerud, 7504 McKinnon Rd., Nelson BC V1L 6R5
Online condolences may be expressed at
www.thompsonfs.ca
Megan Johnson of Thompson Funeral Service has
been entrusted with the funeral arrangements.