Jan. 2, 1943 – March 14, 2017
Derek passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 in palliative care at the 100 Mile District Hospital. Derek leaves his loving wife Darrel; his daughters; Debbie (Sepp) Aschwanden from Williams Lake, BC and Christie (Luis) Lanza from Elk Point, Alberta; his step daughters; Amanda (Jesse) Stevens from Kelowna, BC and Nicole (Stew) Bird from Canoe, BC. He will be greatly missed by his five grandchildren: Josef, Kylie, Wyatt, Lily and Lincoln who put many smiles on his face.
Derek was born in Montreal, Quebec and as a toddler moved to West Vancouver, BC. Through high school he worked at the gas station at the Lions Bay Marina. His passion for cars, lead him to employment in Calgary and Richmond for Datsun.
Derek came to 100 Mile House in 1974 to work and connect with old friends. He started at 100 Mile Chrysler in 1974 as parts and service manager. In 1977 worked for T&R Motors. A year later partnering in the dealership in 1978 until retiring in 1998.
Derek was dedicated and ethical in his work and had many laughs with those around him (co-workers and customers). He returned to the workforce part-time as receiver at Century Hardware until September 2015. The many friends that Derek has made over his lifetime, both at work and play will miss him dearly.
Cars, cars, cars! Derek was passionate as an avid member of BCHRA, NHRA and the 100 Mile House Trojans Elite Car Club, where every member was President!
He was a competitive drag racer from 1988-1997 as well as attending many Show and Shines. Derek’s daughters; Debbie and Christie were his biggest fans and joined him on many occasions.
Derek’s smiling face, sense of humour
and devotion to those he cared about
will not be forgotten.
A celebration of Derek’s life will be held
in late spring – to be announced.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the South Cariboo Health Foundation. Derek had a great appreciation for the hospital care that he received over the years.
100 Mile Funeral Services Ltd. entrusted with the arrangements. 250-395-3243 Condolences can be sent to the family care of 100milefuneralservice@gmail.com