Thomas Paul Hollett
September 7, 1939 – March 17, 2023
Tom passed away peacefully on March 17, 2023, at the age of 83 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Tom was born in New Westminster, B.C., to Fred and Joyce Hollett. He grew up in Vancouver, B.C. and was the eldest of four children. As a boy, he was often involved in many antics, especially with his brother, Rod. Tom always loved the outdoors, camping, fishing, and hiking. As a boy and teenager, he always talked about his fishing trips.
His family fondly remembers later trips to many lakes and Campbell River, and camping on their property in Cle Elum, Washington. He loved the beach. Skipping stones on Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach, and agate hunting in Point Roberts were his favorite pursuits. In his retirement years, he enjoyed hiking clubs while snowbirding in Yuma, Arizona.
One of his greatest accomplishments was becoming a Queen’s Scout with the Boy Scouts of Canada. He had the honor of being one of three chosen to guard Queen Elizabeth II’s hotel room when she visited Victoria. She even spoke to him briefly. He always told the story of the night he slept alone in the woods with a cougar (he didn’t sleep a wink and built the biggest fire imaginable!).
While working at Christie Biscuits in his young adult years, he discovered he had a gift for numbers and went to night school at the University of British Columbia to get a degree in accounting. He became a Chartered Accountant and financial controller for Empress Foods, a division of Canada Safeway, then later at Western Foods. He also did the accounting for his wife’s retail business, Now & Then Interiors.
After retiring from accounting, Tom became one of the mail carriers for Point Roberts. He loved this job and the people of Point Roberts. People would often leave treats in their mailbox for him and consequently later down the route, residents would find chocolate smudges on their mail. Tom served on the Point Roberts Registered Voters Association and he also helped work on replacing the pier.
Tom had a dry sense of humor and a witty quip at the ready. He loved attention and would make certain he was noticed. For example, he would ask bakeries to take a broken cookie off their hands and he would almost always be given a full one!
Tom loved his family; his wife of almost 46 years, Jackie, and five children. When his kids wanted something, they learned to stroke his ego and call him “wonderful, handsome dad.” It didn’t always work, but he loved it.
The family remembers their camping and fishing trips, Hawaiian vacations (he begrudgingly fell in love with the place), ski trips to Whistler and later traveling to Europe with Jackie and friends. Always seeking attention, Tom even named the “bratty boy” in him, Garrett. Garrett notoriously gave the family completely useless gifts at Christmas. There were groans from the receivers but Tom beamed.
Tom loved being a grandpa best of all. He would get away with sneaking treats to the grandkids when their parents weren’t looking (and even when they were). He would intentionally teach the grandkids the wrong names of animals and they quickly learned to play along with “silly grandpa.”
Tom was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by the love of his life, Jackie, of Blaine; daughters Brenda Hansen of Blaine, Lesley (Daryl) Boden of Cloverdale, B.C., and Molly (Erik) Ernst of Blaine; sons Matt (Jean) Hollett of Penticton, B.C. and Mike (Deanna) Machula of Ocklawaha, Florida; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; brothers Rod and Dugan and sister Terry.
Family and friends will celebrate Tom’s life at a date to be determined this summer. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s Society or the Boy Scouts of America or Canada.
