George Anthony Crawshaw, 74, of Quadra Island, passed away September 18, 2016 in his home surrounded by family. George was born in Vancouver, BC to Raymond and Virginia Crawshaw on June 22,1942. He went to high school at North Vancouver Secondary and graduated in 1959. He went on to earn his helicopter engineer's ticket at BCIT and found one of the only two jobs available to helicopter engineers at Okanagan Helicopters in 1963. He worked as an engineer for 40 years, with 20 years as a base manager. His love of adventure was not limited to aviation however, as he was an avid scuba diver and taught Scuba in Campbell River from 1965-78. During that time he introduced many locals and visitors to the beauty of Discovery Passage and helped start the Riptide Diving Club.
If you were to ask George what the most important thing to him was it would be his loving wife of 50 years, Jo-Ann Crawshaw and his family. George and Jo-Ann built a life for themselves on Quadra Island starting in 1969 and experienced everything available to an "islander" family - community development, store ownership, production of local maps and books, and general involvement in the social fabric of the island. Jo-Ann was quick to make friends and was George's way to meet the world: once introduced he'd make his mark by providing humour and compassion that no one would forget.
George is survived by his wife Jo-Ann; son Joe (Natalie); son Michael and granddaughter Linnaea.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Dr. Graham and the Staff at the Quadra Clinic, the staff of the Campbell River Hospital and their many friends for their support in his final days. A memorial service will be planned in the spring.