Some men build a good life for themselves. Some men build a solid reputation. Some men build a family and a circle of friends. John West built all of the above, and in the process, he helped to build a community.
West, known to his family as "Pop," was a hard-working man with a warm smile, a kind disposition and a co-operative spirit that helped to develop a family, a property, a business and a community.
West died last Friday night (Jan. 6) in his sleep, in his bed, in the house he built on the most beautiful piece of property in the world - exactly the way he wished.
Born in 1913 in Vancou-ver, he grew up on Nel-son Island and in Vancouver.
West worked as an apprentice wood worker at a sash and door factory (doing bank jobs), a logger and fisherman in his youth and later as a commercial troller.
He moved to Egmont in 1940 and married Mary Griffith. Later that year, he and Mary bought property on the Sechelt Inlet, near the confluence of the Agamemnon Passage and Sechelt Inlet. They built a house and began raising their three children Peter, Graeme and Heather. This was before the road, when all the lots were water access only.
In 1949, he built a sawmill to cut the lumber required to build a new fish boat, the Mary Ann W, which he built the following year.
Over the years, he cut lumber for many of the homes in and around Egmont as well as more fish boats. He operated on his property as Egmont Marine Ways and Sawmill.
West's contributions and efforts on behalf of the town are legend. Perhaps the most influential was in 1953, when the B.C.F.P. logging camp on Brittain River was breaking up, he negotiated the purchase of the recreation hall, built by the loggers themselves. The Egmont Community Club issued $1 to West to complete the transaction.
The hall was cut in half, loaded onto two wrapped barges (logs, wrapped together with cables spiked into place to hold them) and moved to Secret Bay in Egmont.
The hall was winched up the hill and re-assembled at its current site.
In the mid-1950s, Egmont Road was built, connecting the community with the Sunshine Coast Highway and the outside world. West worked with the Highways Department to put in Egmont Road and later Maple Road, then to have them paved. He was also instrumental in working with BC Hydro to bring electricity to Egmont.
Tourists began to arrive and change the complexion of the town. In 1965, West's Resort grew out of the incredible sports fishing in and around Egmont at that time. Each winter, West cleared more land, built a bit more onto the resort and extended the docks where many a fisherman landed a prize catch.
Rest in peace, Pop. We will miss you.
