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We sorrowfully announce that Donald ‘Donnie’ Anderson died at noon on May 19 at Kootenay Lake Hospital of liver cancer. He was born in Burns Lake, BC on May 2, 1948. From early on he declared his confident (brassballed) and independent (freewheeling) nature, having to be delicately coaxed off the end of a log boom by his frantic mother at age 3. He could not be tethered or contained and these were qualities that served him his entire life. Donnie left school at a relatively early age (the idea was not original to him) and began a highly successful, if not notorious, career as one of Canada’s most well known and respected diamond drillers. He was known in the trade as a highballer amongst highballers and his work took him to many countries including China, India, Africa, Australia, South America, Central America and, for the last 10 years of his working life, Mexico. Donnie’s love of people, young and old, rich and poor, notables and misfits, hippies and crown prosecutors (ok, well, defence lawyers) and his unforgettable humour and wit, shenanigans and antics, his capers and escapades, make for a lifetime of iconic and legendary “Donnie stories” . He was a generous guy, principled, an exuberant and cheerful gambler, an armchair sports enthusiast and a lover of animals, especially dogs. He also loved to fish, hunt, golf, and in his earlier years, dive. Donnie was predeceased by his father Buel, his brother Murray and numerous close friends. Left to quietly process the emotional enormity of our loss (and the inestimable gain from having known him) are his mother Lea Anderson, his sister Trudy Keim (Ken), his sister Rose Anderson (Malik) his brother Bob Reynolds, his nieces Dawn and Danielle, his nephews Jonah, Dustin and Brooke, and numerous close friends. We extend heartfelt thank you’s to Dr. Tuvel, Dr. Bridger and Dr. Vance, to the compassionate and exemplary nurses on the third floor, to the Martin family and the Hume Hotel for their generous hospitality during his recent living wake, but especially to you, Dr. Malpass, thank you.



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