Benjamin James Wilson

Ben was born in Quill Lake, Saskatchewan and grew up on a mixed farm nearby. He is pre-deceased by his parents Mary and Marshall Wilson as well as his ex-wife Elsie. He is survived by his son Les (Saori) in Japan and his daughter Tami in Vancouver, his brother Tom in Lake Cowichan, and his grandchildren Kai, Rei and Abi. What follows next is the story of Ben's life as written by Ben. Ben started working in construction at age 15 and furthered his career as a journeyman carpenter by attending SIAAS Trade school in Saskatoon. He continued to live in Saskatoon and work as a carpenter for 7 years. In that time he also had a stint working in a farm equipment factory, Smith Roles. In 1973 Ben moved to Calgary where he worked in construction for a year. He really loved Calgary but decided to move to Victoria in 1974 where he owned his own drywall company for a number of years. Ben then went into a number of different businesses including a retail business, and a weekly auction house at Whippletree Junction. During Ben's time in Victoria, he invested in residential real estate largely in Victoria and Saskatoon. He really believed in the value of owning real estate. In Ben's younger years he enjoyed playing softball. Later he took up fastball and played for Quill Lake and Saskatoon teams. However, after moving to Victoria and playing in the evenings in cold ballparks he retired from fastball at age 28. Upon retiring from fastball, Ben decided to go back to a sport he had learned at a very young age in Saskatchewan; that sport was curling. Curling quickly became his most important sport. Ben curled at the Playland Curling Club until it closed. He then moved to the Esquimalt Curling Club playing a variety of leagues and bonspiels. He also coached juvenile and junior curling teams for several years until the politics of the game got too much for Ben. After semi-retiring he went back to another game that he also learned at a young age, golf. Ben felt very fortunate to get both an 8 ender in curling (Juan de Fuca Curling Club) and a hole in one in golf (Vernon, BC). Ben loved to travel. His first major trip was to New Zealand in 1976 where he attended the World Fastball Championships in which the Victoria Bate team finished in a 3 way tie for first place due to a rainout. Later he traveled many times to the usual tourist places like Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Dominion Republic and most of the United States. Since 1990 he started travelling Asia to such places as Hong Kong, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. However Ben travelled most often to the Philippines after first going there in 1992. He really enjoyed playing pool in his travels. Ben attended 3 world championship events, as a spectator. There he met many of the great players such as Archer, Strickland and Reyes. Ben battled with Crohn's Disease for the majority of his life having 3 surgeries over the years, and 3 major cancers, included the big ones (Lung cancer and Pancreatic cancer). Despite all of this Ben felt he had a very good life. There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, July 29th, 2017 at 11:00 AM at the Quill Lake Cemetery with a reception to follow at the Quill Lake Senior Centre. There will be another Celebration of Life to be held at a later date in Victoria BC.

Graveside