James Daniel McMechan

1976 - 2023

"Jamie" as he was affectionately known by his family, will be greatly missed by his mother Pauline, brothers Duane (Mary) and Craig, nephews Jorde (Sidney) and Colton, nieces Iryn and Ella, and aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He is predeceased by his father Daryll McMechan, and both maternal and paternal grandparents.

Jamie was born in Kamloops and attended Kamloops Christian School, spending several years on the senior boys basketball team, and graduated in 1994. After graduation he joined Lifeforce, a youth discipleship and missions organization, and travelled throughout Canada and parts of Europe. Later he returned home to Kamloops and began his foray into music, joining punk legends Thee Pirates as their drummer. It was as a member of the band that he first became known as "Scurvy Bones", a name that he of course embraced and which many of his friends called him for the rest of his life. (Certain family members were also required to refer to him as "Uncle Scurvy", at his insistence.)

After his early adult years in Kamloops, he became an electrician and spent a number of years living in downtown Calgary as well as east Vancouver, making friends and falling in love with both places. He lived a short while in Kelowna and Saskatoon as well, before returning back home to Kamloops once again in 2012.

It was during this time in Kamloops that Jamie was first diagnosed with lymphoma (cancer), which he fought on and off for eight years. He became involved in men's and recovery groups at Full Gospel Church, where he had attended with his family as a child. Faced with being unable to continue working as an electrician, he went back to school at TRU to pursue a degree. He eventually settled on social work, as he had a passion for those that were less fortunate than him. He finished his first year of the program, as well as his practicum at New Life Mission in spring of this year, but was very disappointed that his declining health would not allow him to continue.

We will remember Jamie as a kind, considerate, thoughtful and compassionate man who loved God and others deeply. He carried in his heart a longing for justice – for the wrongs of the world to be made right, for the hurts to be made whole – and to understand the part he was meant to play. He was an avid reader, and was usually drawn to these themes in whatever he read, whether literature or non-fiction. His final years were incredibly hard, but at the same time so much about Jamie was easy – his easy laugh, his easygoing nature; as well as being easy to like, and easy to get along with.

Jamie never married, but built strong lasting friendships along his life's journey, with numerous close friends coming to say their goodbyes the day before he lost his fight. He passed away peacefully, ready to meet his Maker, with his family and a few close friends surrounding him.

The family wishes to sincerely thank Dr. Proctor for his many years of care for Jamie, as well as palliative care Dr. Trudeau and the community nurses that visited him at home. We also wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to the doctors and nurses that cared for him during his recent short stay at Royal Inland Hospital.

Celebration of Life to be held Saturday November 4, 2023 at 2:00 pm, at Full Gospel Tabernacle, 1550 Tranquille Rd, Kamloops, BC.