Thomas Paul Hollett
September 7, 1939 - March 17, 2023
Tom passed away peacefully on March 17, 2023 at the age of 83, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Tom was born in New Westminster, BC, to Fred and Joyce Hollett. He grew up in Vancouver, BC and was the eldest of four children.
Tom always loved the outdoors, camping, fishing and hiking. As a boy and teenager he always talked about his fishing trips. This continued the rest of his life with his love for the beach and hiking. One of his greatest accomplishments was becoming a Queen Scout with the Boy Scouts of Canada. His favorite stories were of meeting Queen Elizabeth II and camping alone with a cougar (he didn’t sleep a wink!).
Tom had a gift for numbers and went to night school at the University of British Columbia to get his degree in accounting. He became a Registered Accountant and the financial controller for Empress Foods, a division of Canada Safeway, then later at Western Foods. He also did the accounting for his wife’s retail business, Now & Then Interiors.
Tom had a dry sense of humor and a witty quip at the ready. He loved attention. He would ask bakeries to take a broken cookie off their hands and he would almost always be given a full one!
Tom loved his family; his wife of almost 46 years, Jackie, and five children. When his kids wanted something, they learned to stroke his ego and call him “wonderful, handsome dad”. It didn’t always work, but he loved it. He loved being a grandpa best of all. He would get away with sneaking treats to the grandkids when their parents weren’t looking (and even when they were). He would intentionally teach the grandkids the wrong names of animals, of which they quickly learned to play along with “silly grandpa”.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by the love of his life, Jackie, of Blaine; daughters Brenda Hansen of Blaine, Lesley (Daryl) Boden of Cloverdale, BC, and Molly (Erik) Ernst of Blaine; sons Matt (Jean) Hollett of Penticton, BC and Mike (Deanna) Machula of Ocklawaha, FL; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; brothers Rod and Dugan and sister Terry.
Family and friends will celebrate Tom’s life at a date to be determined this summer.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s Society or the Boy Scouts of America or Canada.
