Bryce Alan McQUILLAN

April 05, 1943 - December 19, 2025

It is with deep sadness we share that Bryce Alan McQuillan passed away suddenly at Foothills Hospital just before Christmas at the age of 82. Bryce will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by his wife Susan MacAlister and his sisters Marian McDowell (Sam), Helen Gurney and Leona McQuillan and the widespread McQuillan family and his friends & neighbours.
Bryce will be remembered as very quiet, a bit serious and a man of few words. He enjoyed the laughter & conversation of others, but he just preferred to be the listener and let others talk. But to those who knew him better, he also was a quietly caring and capable man and a reliable brother, friend, neighbour and partner. He listened & shared his thoughts carefully and his wit was often subtle and wry. Bryce was a lifelong self learner, always curious and interested in the natural world. His life journey reveals the wide range of his interests. For a quiet man, he lived a full and interesting life. His presence in our lives will be missed.
Bryce was the youngest of twelve children; born to Dorothy E. and Robert J. McQuillan on Vancouver Island. He grew up in the 40's & 50's on the farm and later in Courtenay. He learned to be self sufficient following the modelling of his father and mother as they raised their large family. Summers were spent by the ocean at the family cabin with a sister in charge of the younger kids. Bryce did well in school & led an active life; basketball, track & field and clubs like Mechanics. He attended UBC & graduated in 1966 with his B.SC in Science. His education & interests led him to move away from the Island after university to see something of the world. Bryce became a geophysicist; a geologist; a skier; a curler; a scuba diver; a golfer; and a pilot among other adventures during his years in the Calgary oil patch and overseas, he and Susan lived a happy and active life together for 45 years.
Bryce was predeceased by his father Robert (1976), his mother Dorothy (1993) and eight of his siblings: Murray McQuillan (1945), Edwin McQuillan (2011), Eleanor Petterson (2018), Vi Stranberg (2022), Alma Linton (2023), Doreen Cooper (2024), Warren McQuillan (2025), and Darrell McQuillan (2025).
A Celebration of Life will be held for Bryce at 2:00 pm on March 19, 2026, at South Calgary Funeral Centre (12700 Macleod Trail S, Calgary, AB, T2J 7E5).
Condolence messages to the family can be left with Dignity Memorial South Calgary at southcalgaryfuneralcentre.ca.
Cards and letters can be sent c/o Susan to South Calgary FC at the address above.
southcalgaryfuneralcentre.ca