Brian Claude Esplen

Brian C. Esplen, Husband to Laura G, Dad of 3, Bry, Cathy and Donna, Grandpa of 2, Nolan & Alex. Our dad always fought a good fight, never gave up at anything. A builder and developer, a note-keeper, post-it note lover and organizer. An avid golfer, Yahtzee and croquet player, and always game for pumpkin carving, Xmas ornament creations and even baking decorating, because it was with family. He loved vintage cars, garage sale bargoons and junk treasure hunts. Many lamps acquired!!! A lotto enthusiast, because you just never know. Playful, silly at times and funny, he made us laugh!!!  He loved Sinatra, The Rat Pack and big band tunes, but most of all he loved his family. He was happy watching over their shoulders, seeing their successes and happiness and was always there in the downturns. We will love you always Dad!!!!''

A few words from Bry

He was my Dad

My Hockey Coach

My Business Associate

And my Friend

Dad always put Family first.  Even when times were difficult, he would always try to find a way to put family first and make sure everyone was ‘OK.’  He had a kind heart, and I will never forget all the times he helped and supported me over the years.   Any time he would come over for a visit you could always count on him asking “how can I help?”   It did not matter whether it was a large or small task, he just wanted to be supportive and help in any way he could.

He lived and worked in Hawaii as a construction manager for many years, and the family had many great trips to visit him there over the years.   Dad would unfailingly greet you at the airport day or night with Hawaiian leis and ready to give you a ride to wherever you needed to go.   Several years before he passed away, he moved back to the mainland and was able to spend his last years back home in Canada closer to Family which I am sure meant a lot to him.

Dad, thank you for all you did for me and the family over the years.  Through the good times and difficult times, you were always there trying to help and for that I will always be grateful.

We will miss you.

Bry Esplen (Jr)

More words from Cathy

While there is crushing wave of sadness with the passing of our Dad, in this time of reflection there is a flood of memories of his life and all the times we were lucky to spend together.   As all families do in greater and lesser degrees, we had our challenges but the constants in our family has always been the love and support we have for each other and that Dad was always here for his family, even as he bravely fought a 2 year battle with Parkinson’s his number one priority each & every day was for his family to be okay.

Dad’s life journey began with a difficult childhood but with each phase of his life, he learned, grew and moved forward.   In his youth, he played with the Regina Pats and his love of hockey was embedded in his life as he continued to play in his adult years and co-founded the Sherwood Park Lancers hockey team and also coached many teams, including Bry’s hockey team.  The family spent many hours in hockey arenas cheering on our Dad, who was known for spending “quality time” in the Bad Box (aka Penalty Box), which was not surprising as he was a fierce competitor in any sport/game he played be it hockey, golf, croquette, Yahtzee, Chinese Checkers - he played to win but it was more about spending time with family and he so enjoyed when he got to play a round of golf with Bry & Nolan, croquette matches with the family, Yahtzee with Don & Alex or Chinese Checkers with me.

Dad’s began his career as a Surveyor in the oil patches which took him across the Prairies, where he met our Mom (Laura) in Saskatchewan and their journey continued when Dad got into the construction business working on hydro dams, highways, office buildings, gold mine operations, big box stores, resort homes that took our family across Western Canada to the West Coast and ultimately Dad moved to Hawaii but home was always in Vancouver with his family.

For Dad it was important to spend time with family and he always made time to play with us kids – be it ski-dooing in farmers fields around Sherwood Park, tobogganing in what Dad thought was a prime spot on the hill that Bry, Don & I happily went flying down and right over a cliff (we were doing extreme sports before it was popular), there were many family vacations, house-boating in the Okanagan, road trips that included our infamous Winnebago trip - not fun for our beagle Tippy & Don’s hamster Squiggy when the Winnebago broke down in the desert and they had to be wrapped in cool towels until the tin-can on wheels was road-worthy again -  regardless of any obstacles we encountered, Dad would always say “we are going to have FUN, which we did.    We also enjoyed many fun trips to Hawaii, which became Dad’s second home for over 20+ years where he ran his construction management business, so  we all enjoyed our visits to see Dad and he always made time in his work schedule to take us to our favourite places be it the Aloha Stadium Flea Market, trips up island to the North Shore or to one of many beaches to collect seashells.  

Our Dad was always about family – he enjoyed helping out with any house / yard / vehicle projects that needed to be done at Bry, Ally & Nolan’s home / Don & Alex’s home / Mom & my home and we always made sure there was a project for Dad to dive into, he always came home for Christmas and enjoyed helping each household decorate their Christmas trees, he was thrilled when we had the Esplen family reunion in Vancouver, he loved spending time with his brother (Barry), he loved Frank Sinatra music and his favourite song was “My Way”, he loved John Wayne movies, he loved driving around Honolulu in his TOY, he loved coffee, he HATED snakes (the infamous snake toss of 1970 – who knew snakes could fly – lesson learned by us 3 kids never to hand Dad a rubber snake when he thought he was getting car keys!), he loved Mom’s shortbread cookies, he loved post-it-notes but most of all he loved his family and being with his family.

We all have our favourite and special memories of Dad.   I’m going to miss our weekend visits, our many Chinese checkers matches, watching golf, curling and when we could watch the Indy 500 together, which Dad got to attend when Bry arranged a trip for he, Dad & Nolan to Indy (a thrill for Dad), I’m going to miss Dad’s weekly phone calls to check-in to see how we were doing and discussing all the world issues and how we could solve them, I’m going to miss his wonderful sense of humour/silliness, I’m going to miss being called CJ that only Dad called me and most of all will miss being able to spend time together but I’m so thankful that in spite of COVID over this past year that I was able to have weekly visits with Dad at the care-facility and that before he passed away that we finally got to hug each other once again.

My heart is hurting that Dad’s time here has passed but he was here, he was Bry, Don and my Dad, he was Nolan and Alex’s Granpa, he was Ally’s Dad-in-Law, he was a husband, he was a son, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he was a friend and he lived 86 years bravely and he will be dearly missed but forever loved and with each of us in our hearts and memories always.    Love you always Dad.   Cath ( CJ )