THE ADVOCATE 427
VOL. 78 PART 3 MAY 2020
Real Estate Council. He had significant and precedent-setting cases acting
not just for realtors and real estate companies but also for the public.
Not all of Dad’s cases were wins, but he found the best outcomes for his
clients under challenging circumstances. He was widely regarded as one of
the top real estate lawyers in the province.
Dad was also an investor and real estate developer. He participated in
several projects, some as a silent partner and some more actively. His projects
included apartments and a land assembly as well as some projects in
Washington State. One project was a tree farm that he operated for more
than 20 years. He enjoyed the outside and hands-on work.
We all participated in a family company called Westside Firewood and
spent 20 years producing, importing and selling firewood. We had regular
family meetings to discuss our “family business”. But Dad was always juggling
several objectives at once, and selling firewood for a profit was not
necessarily the prime objective. What did come of our small family business
was that we each had jobs through our childhoods and developed a work
ethic as well as a business sense.
Later in my life, I read the financial literacy book Rich Dad Poor Dad. I
told Dad that I recognized many of the teachings he employed from that
book. At first, I was disappointed that these were not his original thoughts,
but I was happy to see that he had recognized good ideas and taught them
to us.
Dad left behind a legacy we appreciate in many ways: our business sense,
the value of communication with our families and others in our lives and
the priority of treating people equally and fairly.
After Dad died we had a family meeting. We discussed our short-term
plan to move forward and make all the necessary arrangements. It was conducted
in the same manner as our family business meetings over the years,
and I am sure Dad would have approved.
One family friend reminded me that “no project was too big” for my Dad.
At one time at our home on Hudson Street we had to remove a large, old,
very heavy porcelain bathtub, from the upstairs bathroom. Bringing it down
the stairs would have been very difficult and life threatening. Dad said, “No
problem, we’ll remove the big window out of the front room and push the
bathtub out the window.” A few of us worked to remove the window and put
a few shielding pieces of plywood down below to absorb the landing.
The bathtub went out the window and exploded with a loud crash, cracking
the concrete, but accomplishing the objective. Not your average day, but
it was an example of Dad’s creative thinking and practical method of moving
forward through obstacles.