Obituary of Wayson Paul Gleave

GLEAVE, Wayson “Wesa” Paul (November 22,1964 - July 15, 2016 ) Wesa was born in a tiny First Nations community on Tourner Island, BC on November 22, 1964. His mother, Ebba, was a teacher on the island and when baby Wesa arrived early she couldn't make it safely to the hospital on the mainland, so Wesa was delivered by the local midwife. He spent most of his childhood in Notch Hill, BC, growing up in the log cabin he helped to build. Wesa loved the wild and always felt very at home there; be it in the woods of Nova Scotia, the mountains of Alberta and British Columbia, or the jungles of Central America. Throughout his life Wesa enjoyed traveling and telling stories and laughing and drinking beer and smoking dope. He was good at everything he put his hand to and was particularly adept at anything outdoorsy. A graduate in the department of biology at the University of Victoria, he was also a champ of a tree planter, an arborist, and later in his life a certified red seal instrumentation technician. Wesa could fix or figure out or grow anything that crossed his path. He was an avid ice climber, caver, snow boarder, hiker, paddler, gardener, bread maker, and chicken coop builder. In the last few years his greatest source of pride and most important and cherished job was being a dad. He loved his son Solomon, 6, very much. When the cancer came back with a vengeance last summer, he was able to take his son on a very special wilderness canoe trip to the Bowron Lakes, in BC. It meant so much to him to be able to go out and say goodbye to that wild land and the all the people there he loved so much and to spend that time with Solly. Wesa will be missed by Solomon and Solomon's mum Lisa, sisters Sarah, Anna and Danica, brother Tom, as well as their families, and by the many friends that he made here, there, and everywhere. Thanks very much to the staff at the Hants Community Hospital for all the care you gave Wesa in the past couple of months. And a very special thanks to Solomon's grandparents Anne and Richard Cochran for all their love, help and support. There will be an informal celebration and a whisky toast for Wesa on Thursday, July 28 from 5-7 p.m. at the Red Barn on the grounds of the Hantsport Memorial Community Centre in Hantsport. Donations can be made in his honour to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (www.natureconservancy.ca). Arrangements have been entrusted to DeMont Family Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 419 Albert St., PO Box 981, Windsor, NS B0N 2T0 (902-798-8317). Messages of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting: www.demontfamilyfuneralhome.ca