Peter Jeffs WOOLLEY

1934 - 2022

WOOLLEY, Peter Jeffs MA, FCA January 11, 1934 - January 20, 2022 Peter Woolley lived a long, happy, prosperous and adventurous life. He was born with twin brother David in Hapsford, England. His childhood had idyllic moments: life on the farm; mischief making with David; playing rugby and cricket. But it had challenges too, as the Woolley boys lost their mother at a young age, and went off to boarding school. They grew up during wartime - though to hear Peter tell it, his childhood mostly involved pranking American army officers and having fun playing in bomb craters. After leaving school, Peter spent two years in mandatory National Service in the Royal Air Force, where he mastered Morse code and the art of avoiding boot wearing. He completed his degree in law and history at Trinity Hall Cambridge, where he also learned to fly as part of the RAF reserve, but after Cambridge switched gears, completing a CA designation. In 1960 Peter married Lois and, after daughter Rachel was born in 1961, emigrated to Canada to join David and older brother Ewart. Peter and Lois loved their adopted home. They embraced camping and - as soon as daughter Alice was old enough to help on the portages - wilderness adventures: canoeing the Bowron Lakes and Yukon River, and hiking the West Coast Trail. Over the years they travelled the length and breadth of the country, seeing the wonders of Haida Gwaii, taking the train across the prairies, and eating lobster in Newfoundland. Canada gave Peter the opportunity to switch into the career he was born for, teaching, where he was one of the founding members of the Department of Financial Management at BCIT. Peter taught financial accounting and auditing to students at BCIT and SFU, and in professional training programs, until his 80th birthday, telling generations of students "debits on the left, credits on the right." He enjoyed BCIT's lack of pretention, and took pride in his students, especially those who overcome hardships to achieve professional success. "Life is what you make it", Peter would say, and he and Lois made a wonderful life together, creating a beautiful home and garden in West Vancouver. Peter took great joy in everyday pleasures - ocean swimming in the summer, walks and hikes, the crossword puzzle, working out and playing squash at the Hollyburn, and trips with David to Exhibition Park and Cloverdale, where every won bet was a victory and every lost bet soon forgotten except to note the winner was on the top of their program. He chose to take a positive outlook on life. When the Canucks lost, or the pork bellies were down, he put it behind him, saying "If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same." Peter enjoyed a close and loving relationship with his daughters, visiting Frances and Alice in Ottawa and Calgary on a regular basis, and enjoying precious moments with Rachel and her family in Vancouver. His "girls" loved his positive confidence in their ability to succeed at everything they tried, his pride in their accomplishments and his welcoming of their opinions and perspectives, even when the person offering that opinion was very small. Peter gave his children the greatest gift any parent can give - his time and his interest - and all three of his daughters are grateful that they were able to return some of that over the last more difficult years of his life. He thought deeply about things, and came to his own, often idiosyncratic, conclusions. His loathed constraints on freedom. He supported drug legalization decades before the idea became mainstream, opposed solitary confinement and - at a personal level - stripped off his constraining clothing and went skinny-dipping whenever the opportunity arose. His sons-in-law Gerry and David have largely recovered from the probing questions asked as they met him for the first time (Gerry, what is your view on capital punishment?) and enjoyed his engaging and thoughtful approach to life. Peter also had close relationships with all of his grandchildren. He made every one of them feel special - taking Leslie to the racetrack, teaching Hilary to drive, dancing with Katy at her wedding, watching hockey with Chris, playing pitch and putt with Sasha, taking Emily to Haida Gwaii, and picnics at Theatre Under the Stars with John. Peter was so loved, and will be so missed, but all of us are grateful for the time he gave us, and that we spent with him. Grandpa, you are truly #1. Peter is survived by Lois, siblings David (Freda) and Christine (David Rodwell), daughters Rachel, Frances (David Long), and Alice (Gerry Grenon), grandchildren Leslie, Hilary (Nathaniel Lascon), Katherine (Jesse Waslowski), Christopher (Jessica Faust), Sasha, Emily and John, and great grandchildren, Sebastien and Vivienne. A celebration of life is planned for next summer. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Peter's memory to the BCIT Foundation.