May 3, 1933 - Oct 20, 2017
Brian Devine
Brian Devine (Squire) passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones on October 20, 2017 at the age of 84 years.
Brian was born and raised in Wingate County Durham, England. He began working in the underground coal mines at the age of 15 years and was a fire fighter for ten years.
On December 24, 1969 he married his beloved wife Pam and together they raised a large family. In 1974, they immigrated to Fernie, BC to work at the Kaiser Resources underground coal mine where he worked for a few years before transferring to the open pit mining operations. He started as an oiler for the shovels and worked his way up to become a highly respected operator of shovel #336, a 2100 shovel. He was known affectionately by his friends and co-workers at the mine as Squire. After the Westar mine closure in 1991, Brian was rehired back to the Elkview mine to work in the dry until he retired at the age of 65.
Brian, a coal miner through and through, was also an avid sports fan but his favourite sport of all time was football. In England, Brian, a loyal fan of Hartley Pool and Sunderland and a skilled player himself, both played and refereed games and passed on his love of the sport to his family.
He enjoyed many years in Fernie coaching and refereeing football for the Fernie Youth Soccer Association and was also a Scout Leader.
In his spare time, Brian enjoyed gardening, watching sports, especially football and boxing, sharing coal mining stories from way back when and spending time with his family.
A loving husband to Pam for 48 years, father and granddad (Grandan) and great granddad, Brian will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
No service was held at Brian's request.
A private family celebration of life was held on Saturday, October 28, 2017.