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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
JONES, David Owen - It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.
Dave, or better known as the "Candy Man" passed away peacefully at home after a short battle with leukemia. He was just 10 weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
Dave was born in Northern Wales and immigrated to Canada in 1929. He had a wonderful and full life. He moved from Revelstoke to Victoria in 1942 and at 16 he went to work as a shipyard passer boy and then in December of that year went to sea on the SS Mcquinna travelling the west coast taking water samples. In 1944, he joined the Merchant Navy and sailed on the SS Mowhawk Park and SS Beaton Park. He was fortunate to have travelled the world 3 to 4 times and to experience the changing world at that time. At the end of the war, he was in Hobart Tasmania. Just a few of the places he travelled to were India, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Figi, South and East Africa, the Suez Canal, the Philippines and even had his ear pierced after he rounded Cape Horn. In 1950, he went to work for Dockyard until he retired in 1986. In 1951 he met the love of his life, Edna who he married only 6 months later and was married for 65 years. One of his highlights of his career was when he was chosen to drive for the Queen's Ladies in Waiting during the Royal Tour in 1971. Over the course of his lifetime Dave worked almost every job imaginable and there was nothing he could not build, fix or do.
Dave had a lot of hobbies over the years; a few were camping, hunting, and fishing; there wasn't a nook or a cranny in BC that he didn't explore! He could always be found in his garden, which some of you were fortunate to have walked away with a bag full of vegetables or a bouquet of dahlias. Dave loved to cook and bake. He made bread every week and was always trying out new recipes from a very worn out and a much loved, Betty Crocker cookbook! Dave curled for many years and then spent many more years watching it on TV or in person when it was in Victoria. He was a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion Esquimalt Branch 172 where he was known to raise a glass or two on occasion with all his friends. No matter where he went Dave always had a smile and a pocket full of candies.
Dave was predeceased by his wife Edna, father David; his mother Beatrice; his son David; his brother Tegid, and his sister Gwen Wickens.
Dave is survived by his son Kenny (Anita), his daughter Marla Zarelli (Denny), his son Bob; grandchildren Dennis Zarelli (Ali), Adele Jones-Venables (Matt), Robert Zarelli, Kane Miller; great grandchildren Isabella, Dragan, Sophia, and Luca Zarelli, Emmett Venables; and his sister Megan Walker (Bruce).
The family would like to thank Drs. Tim and Ross McKay for the wonderful care they provided him past and present. Dr. Leanne Genges for taking such great care of Dave for the past several years. Thank you to MAID and the nurses who allowed Dave to die at home with dignity. And last but not least, thank you to all of his wonderful neighbours, as well as the whole community of Esquimalt for their friendship and to everyone who ever dropped a card off in his mailbox, or stopped by wishing him a happy birthday, or just waved as you walked by...you all made his smile a little brighter.
As requested, there will be no service. (The Victoria Times Colonist 18 Jul 2026)
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