Tribute

It is with a very heavy heart that I advise that the love of my life, Chris Caskenette, has passed away two years after his diagnosis with Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. Chris is survived by his loving wife, Nicole, children Tianna and Connor, father Allan and sister Candice (Scott) Reithaug.  Chris was predeceased by his mother, Denise, earlier this year from the same illness.

Chris was born in Galt, Ontario in 1972 to his loving parents Allan (Butch) and Denise Caskenette. Though he was born in Galt, the families hearts were strongly connected to Trout Creek, Ontario which is where Chris spent the majority of his childhood and teen years. As a youngster, Chris spent many fond summers at the Osborne family cottage on Crooked (Luxton) Lake with his sister, aunt & uncles and his grandparents. The family took part in numerous adventures including driving across Canada, portaging in Algonquin Park and moving across the country twice to live in Fort McMurray in 1977 and then settling on Vancouver Island in 1994.

Chris completed his certificate as an Electronics Engineering Technician in 1993 at Canadore College in North Bay, Ontario. When his parents and sister moved to Duncan, BC in 1993, he eventually followed in June of 1994. He worked at Canadian Tire in the Parts and Service Department for several years before moving onto Discovery Honda in 1999, and later to the Catalyst Mill in 2007. At Catalyst Mill, he started on the foreshore and after a period of two years, he obtained his Class 4 Power Engineering. In 2015, he completed his Red Seal Certification as a Industrial Instrument Mechanic.

While working with Canadian Tire in 1995, Chris was introduced to his sister’s friend, Nicole. It would be an understatement to say that I was smitten with Chris from the moment I saw him and after 26 years together, my heart would still skip a beat when I would see him unexpectedly. After 4 years together, we were married and started our family without delay. We welcomed our daughter, Tianna (otherwise affectionately called Sweetie Pea or Miss Lynn by Chris) in 2000 and our son Connor in 2002. In 2004, Chris joined the Duncan Fire Department and for the next 7 years, we enjoyed many friendships and functions as a family with the department. As the children grew older, Chris could be found at the local hockey arenas, baseball fields and field hockey pitch watching his children play. Chris didn’t watch mainstream sports, so when asked what his favourite sports teams were, he would be quoted as saying, “Whichever team my kids play on is my favourite team.” Through our children’s activities over the years, Chris formed a very close group of friends who have been instrumental to Chris’ emotional health during this journey. Despite Covid, we were able to arrange many fun activities and weekend getaways with friends.

When I asked Chris if he was disappointed that Covid prevented us from doing all of the big activities we had planned, he would say, “It doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing, as long as I am with my people.”

At Chris’ request, there will not be a formal service. Instead, he would like you to spend some quality time with “your people”.