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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
SPROULE, Joseph Peter Hugh - Hugh died suddenly on January 18th at Nanaimo Regional Hospital. He is survived by his loving wife Jean, Nova Scotia family Mary Doucet, Pat Sproule (Janet), Deborah and Lee Thibault; Nanaimo family Trevor Davis (Wanda) and Keith Davis (Chrissy); grandchildren Curtis Hugh, Christopher Lee, Jennifer, Raye-Anne, Ryan, Trevor Nickerson, Melissa and Amanda, Sonya, Cyrus and Ryland and great-grandchildren; brother David of Victoria, and nieces and nephews across Canada. Hugh was born in Port Credit, Ontario and had a happy boyhood playing hockey, swimming in the river, high school football, sea scouts and sailing at the local yacht club. In 1951 he joined the Royal Canadian Navy, trained on the east coast and saw service in Korea onboard the HMCS HURON. Back in Canada he had postings to Cornwallis, Shearwater and Halifax. In civilian life he worked as an aquatic and athletic director with the YMCA in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He kept up his Navy career in the reserves and in the 1980s worked as a fulltime reservist at Maritime Command HQ in Halifax retiring as a Navy Lieutenant in 1990. Hugh loved sailing and owned several sailboats while on the east coast. Hugh and Jean ran a B&B for several years on Gabriola Island but also lived in Port Alberni and then Digby, NS before finally settling in Nanaimo in 2015. He and Jean have been members of the United Church in whatever community they were living, contributing significantly to their church community. Hugh coached generations of swimmers both in Nova Scotia and in British Columbia. He will be missed by friends and family across Canada and by cousins in the United States. The family wishes to thank the staff at Nanaimo Regional Hospital Emergency and for the kind and gentle palliative care that Hugh received. (Victoria Times Colonist 30 Jan 2021)
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