William "Bill" CALVERT

Bill Calvert

May 6 1954 – March 13 2023

Bill Calvert was born in Salmon Arm, BC , the oldest son of Margaret (Stone) Calvert and Wilfred Calvert. After Wilf’s death in 1960, Bill’s family moved to Prince George, where he learned to love the outdoors. After graduating from Prince George Senior Secondary School in 1972, Bill attended UBC and worked at various jobs in central and northern BC before joining the Coast Guard in 1983. At Coast Guard College he studied to be a marine engineer, and after graduating spent several years living in Quebec and working on Coast Guard icebreakers in Canada’s north. In 1991 he started working as a marine engineer with BC Ferries, rising to Chief Engineer, and Lead Safety Auditor (Engineering) before retiring in 2012.

While working on Saltspring Island in 1992 Bill met the love of his life, Mary Abbott. Their 31 years together took them to Alert Bay and Nanaimo, and on travels across North America and around the world, from the Mongolian steppes to the Mekong River to the Middle East.

Bill was a big, gentle and solid presence in our lives—always curious, a lover of stories and travel, of friends and family, of water and animals and boats.  His strong, unwavering moral compass meant his advice was always solid – whether you agreed with it or not.  He will be deeply missed by his wife Mary, by his brother Philip (Chantal Meagher), his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Charles and Gail Abbott, by his many nieces and nephews and cousins, and the friends and colleagues whose lives he touched.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Nanaimo SPCA, Nanaimo Hospice, or the Kidney Association of BC.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of William "Bill" CALVERT, please visit our floral store.