Roderick James Dyck
February 13, 1955 – June 28, 2014
Rod was born in Quesnel, BC on Feb 13th 1955, to Walter and Val Dyck. Rod was blessed with a sister, Janet. From a very early age and throughout his life Rod loved and excelled at sports, including hockey, baseball, golf and curling. He felt at home in the outdoors which led to much time spent camping, fishing, snowmobiling with family and friends.
As a young man Rod left Quesnel to play junior hockey with the Vancouver Villas. His junior career continued with the Kamloops Chiefs, Penticton Broncos, Vernon Vikings, and the Medicine Hat Tigers. He then played for the Quesnel Kangaroos until leaving for South Africa in the summer of 1976 to play hockey there. While in South Africa, Rod was recruited to Morges, Switzerland, where he played for two seasons from 1976 -1978. It was in Switzerland that Rod met Patricia who shared his life for the next few years and remained his life-long friend. Rod returned to Europe in 1979 to play with EV Ravensburg Germany, performing as a player/coach in the latter
years, until he returned to Canada for good in 1984.
In 1990 Rod moved to Vancouver Island where he eventually called his beloved Bamfield home. Here he started a construction company and a building supply store. Rod was a skilled and talented carpenter, often generously sharing his wealth of knowledge. One does not have to look very far in Bamfield to see Rod’s hand.
Here Rod met his partner, Kelley Bartlett and in 1996 they welcomed their daughter Erin into their lives’. The last 20 years of Rod’s life revolved around life with Kelley and Erin in Bamfield. Here he found purpose and joy in raising his daughter, and peace and tranquility in the beauty of the ocean and the rainforest. In later years he also found serenity on the golf course.
Rod lived his life with humour, honesty and integrity. He was a practical, insightful man who was quietly effective in so many ways. He was strong and courageous, almost seeming invincible at times – a role model to all who knew him well.
Rod was predeceased by his parents Walter and Valerie Dyck and is survived by his partner Kelley, daughter Erin, sister Janet (Jules), nephews Waylon (Brooke) and Kayle as well as great nieces Jersey and Presley.
A celebration of life will be held for Rod at his residence in Coombs on July 20, 2014, at 1:30pm. Please see Rod Dyck’s Memorial facebook page for a map to the location or call (250) 937-1550 or (250) 586-4541 for directions.
A bursary has been set up in Rod’s name to go towards underprivileged youth to play hockey. Donations can be sent to Rod Dyck Memorial Hockey Bursary, 480 Pachena Rd, Bamfield,BC V0R 1B0
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost