We regret to advise of the death of Captain John Edgar Akerley (Ret’d) P.Eng on 6 February 2016, suddenly, at his home near Princeton, BC.
Born in 1938 in St. Leonard, NB, John graduated in 1960 as a Chemical Engineer from the Royal Military College in Kingston, ON and Queen's University. His first posting was for two years at the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack, BC, followed by a three-year posting as Second in Command of No. 5 Army Works Company in Quebec City. John then took his release from the Canadian Forces and embarked on a life-long career in project management.
John first worked in Montreal as a construction engineer for Imperial Oil before returning to Quebec for two years as a consultant. He relocated to Vancouver in 1970 but that was only his home base as he spent 20 years on various projects in Africa, including a copper mining complex in the Republic of Congo with two mines, five villages with 35,000 direct dependents, a 100-bed hospital, three primary schools. a secondary school, and a 1000-hectare farm.
John then returned to Vancouver in 1992 and worked on the Rogers Arena project in 1994/95. Next was the Air Canada Centre in Toronto followed by several years in the Southern United States. In 2003 he 'retired' but that was short-lived as he soon became involved in the design and construction for the South Okanagan Event Centre. This was followed by a two year stint in Algeria for a one billion dollar trade and conference centre and a five-star Meridian Hotel. His latest project was as Project Manager and owner’s representative for "Centre Vidéotron" - the new Quebec City NHL-sized multi-purpose arena.
John was a dedicated and highly respected member of the Princeton community, serving as a volunteer in several organisations, including the Princeton Hospice and Palliative Care Society, the Princeton and District Skills Centre, the Princeton Committee of the South Okanagan Similkameen Community Foundation, and the Princeton Health Care Steering Committee. He was recently elected a Director on the Support Our Health Care Executive. {khMar2016}
