Tribute

Jim Block passed away on October 21st shortly after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Jim was born in Edmonton Alberta, the son of Ivy and Delmar Block. He spent his early adult years gold panning and living in a rustic cabin in the Yukon where he apparently shared his abode with a Chipmunk and a Jay. He enjoyed an occasional pint in the local tavern with the Yukon artist Ted Harrison. He attended the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology after his return to civilisation in Edmonton. He then returned to the land as a surveyor’s assistant, surveying places across Alberta for many years. He later became Recreation Facilities Manager for the Town of Devon. In 1981 he met his future wife Hayley and after owning a daycare business there, they moved with their 3-month old son Joshua to a Cobble Hill acreage on Vancouver Island in 1991. Jim purchased a company called D and D Sign Setters, working in the real estate industry on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Jim was a capable carpenter and leather-worker who crafted his own saddles for members of the family along with clothing and art. Fishing was his ‘get away’ hobby that he shared with his son Joshua. Jim and Josh were both members of the Cowichan Fly Fishing Club. Jim helped countless young anglers to get their fly fishing technique out of the classroom and onto the water. Jim is survived by his mother Ivy Block, sisters, Adell (Blize) and Bonnie (Chalmers) as well as brother Rob Block. A patient gentleman, Jim will be missed by many especially his son Joshua, his grandson Dominic, Stacey and Hayley. Jim has graduated to the great wilderness in the sky where the rivers run free and the fish are plentiful!

There is a place for innocence and free spirit;
It flows in the rivers over flat stones in the bed.
The trout and birds and mountains are witness
To the chill waters and the chatter of the creek.
A fish rises and follows the fly;
‘Our Jim passed by’, they whisper in the wind.