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Three Good Men
By Wayne Stetski
Op-Ed Commentary
Labour day traditionally marks the unofficial end of summer, and I have been reflecting on the kind of season it has been. One of the things it is important to do is to remember good people that we have lost, in this case three good men that I had the honour of knowing personally.
Floyd Herman Alpine passed on July 4.
A well-respected Ktunaxa elder, Herman was a man who was always willing to share his wisdom and his stories. He freely offered his time to provide a prayer and/or a blessing at community events, enriching both the event and those attending with his words and his presence. I especially appreciated the warmth of his smile, which he shared widely and always made you feel welcome.
Jim Edward Abbott passed on July 26.
While MP Jim and my MP politics couldn’t have been more different, we were friends because we both believed that people always come before politics.
The last conversation we had after the fall 2019 election was how we could work together to get an expanded centre (the Cranbrook History Centre has some amazing local fossils on display) to celebrate the incredible fossil history, including some dinosaur related, that we have here in the East Kootenay! This is a shared vision that I hope to carry on.
George Georgopoulos passed on August 26.
George could not afford to return to Greece for his parent’s funeral so to honour them he organized the first annual Senior’s Christmas Dinner in 1982. It became the largest senior’s gathering in Cranbrook with 400 people enjoying Colombo Hall’s famous meal annually! On February 7, 2012, as Mayor of Cranbrook, I had the great honour of presenting a special clock to George on your behalf in appreciation of his 30 years of coordinating this amazing event.
That same evening we recognized FJ Hurtak for his three decades of being the Master of Ceremonies for George’s dinner.
Herman, Jim and George – we have lost three good men this summer of 2020. We all have a responsibility to make sure that they are well-remembered.
Perhaps City of Cranbrook council should consider adding three bronze plaques to the citizen’s Wall of Recognition in Rotary Park in downtown Cranbrook?
Lead image: Jim Abbott, while working as Kootenay-Columbia MP, tours a newly refurbished Marble Canyon trail area in Kootenay National Park in 2010. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW file photo
– Cranbrook resident Wayne Stetski is former Kootenay-Columbia MP (NDP) and City of Cranbrook Mayor
