As with every year that passes there are those that have made their mark on Prince George that die, leaving behind lasting contributions to the community and great memories to share while celebrating a life well spent.
Here are a few community members who passed away in 2015:
Ben Meisner
Long-time Prince George media personality Ben Meisner died on April 2 after a brief battle with cancer. Meisner, best known for his strong opinions, was an open-line talk show host with CKPG for almost 30 years before he left over clashing opinions.
Meisner, born June 3, 1938 in Saskatchewan, began his broadcasting career at 17 years old in Dauphin, Man. He went on to work in Toronto and Kamloops and spent more than 40 years in Prince George. He launched an online product called Opinion250.com in 2005 that is now called 250news.com.
Bob Headrick
Long-time Fraser-Fort George Regional District director Bob Headrick died Nov. 8. He stayed true to both his political beliefs and his sense of humour to the very end.
"Weary of reading obituaries noting someone's courageous battle with death, Bob wanted it known that he died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctor's orders, and the recent election of the Liberal party to the Canadian government," his obituary in The Citizen stated.
Headrick delivered for his electoral area, whether it be the Pineview Community Hall and daycare, added ball diamonds at Malcolm McLeod Memorial Park or restoration of Tabor Lake after a major fish kill.
Headrick was known as a big supporter of the volunteer fire departments. One of his last acts as a director was to get a backup water tanker for departments across the whole electoral area.
Headrick, who was a barber by profession, stepped away from the regional district in November 2011. At his last meeting, he received a standing ovation from his colleagues for his service.
Helen Moffat
Helen Moffat died Sept. 6, just six days short of her 98 birthday.
Next to her family, Moffat's passion was music.
She was a member of the Cariboo Chorus that traveled throughout the province for two weeks in the spring of 1958 to celebrate the centennial as the Colony of British Columbia was established by an Act of the British Parliament in 1858.
"It was a big step for her," said daughter Marilyn Blair, because to make the trip her mother had to leave her family.
Moffat, born Sept. 14, 1917, taught piano in her home for about 20 years and was the organist for St. Andrew's United Church for 17 years and directed the choir as well.
She always had a great sense of humour and was always looking on the bright side," said Blair.
"She saw the good in people. Mum was a long-time member of Eastern Star and received her 75-year pin, which is quite unusual.
"She was so personable and she had a lot of friends. She made a lasting impression on people. She certainly had a unique way of being in the world."
During husband Harold Moffat's mayoral reign from 1969 to 1979, the royal family visited in 1971 for British Columbia's centennial commemorating the province entering into Confederation in 1871.
Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess Anne visited in May.
"There was always a child-like wonder even to the very end," said Jack Blair, Marilyn's husband. "She would say 'I am almost 98, can you imagine a machine operating for that long?' I think we could all take a step back and think 'why can't we be like that?'"
He said he greatly admired Moffat for her spunk and spirit.
Janet Holder
Janet Holder died Aug. 31 after a long battle with leukemia. Holder was regarded as the local figurehead for Enbridge's controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. Holder joined Enbridge in 1992 and was president of gas distribution from 2008 to 2011.
Holder, who grew up in Prince George, had moved away for a time and returned to the city in 2011 when she was named Enbridge's vice-president for western access and headed the team overseeing the project.
A year later, a new office was opened at Parkwood Place in Prince George as part of a plan to be closer to the communities the project would affect.
"We want to be part of the community," Holder said at the time.
In an interview with The Citizen at the time she took on the Enbridge job, Holder said her fondest memories of the city were the "hours and hours" on the ball diamond.
In 2012, Holder bid a record $52,500 for Bea's Tree at the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation's Festival of Trees.
The little three-foot silver Christmas tree was one that long-time Prince George notable Bea Dezell bought in the 1950s for her Brownie and Girl Guide Christmas parties.
At the end of 2014, Holder retired saying she wanted to "take a step back and focus on my family and my personal health."
Pte. Kirby Tott
Kirby Tott, 25, was a private in the Canadian Forces Reserve, who died Aug. 25, while taking basic reserve infantry training in Manitoba at Canadian Forces Base Shilo with the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre, a month-long program required to become an infantry soldier. His dream was to become an RCMP officer.
The Department of National Defence offered no details on the circumstances of his death, only saying it followed "an incident during training."
Kirby worked full-time at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre and worked on the side as a reservist with the Rocky Mountain Rangers in Prince George since 2012.
"He was a great guy," said his mother Michelle.
"Happy, good-natured. He liked to joke a lot and laugh."
Former prime minister Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney, the former minister of National Defence, both issued statements offering condolences to Tott's family.
Alastair McNair
Alastair McNair, former publisher of the Prince George Citizen, died May 25, after battling cancer.
McNair took the position of publisher at The Prince George Citizen on Aug. 1, 1987 and left in 1994.
He took over the position from Bryson Stone who moved to the Kamloops News as publisher.
McNair was circulation director at Pacific Press in Vancouver, managing the circulation departments at both the Vancouver Sun and the Province newspapers, before moving to Prince George with his wife, Lynne, and their three children, Nicola, Toni and Alison.
McNair was an active community member and a former hobby farmer whose family had a lifelong interest in show horses and 4-H Clubs.
"Al was a wonderful, generous man who really cared about his employees and he really cared about this community," said Lu Verticchio, former Citizen advertising director.
"He was an ideas man, a renaissance man, and I think the biggest thing was how much he cared about his employees and the community. He was a real joy to work with."
— with files from Mark Nielsen and Samantha Wright Allen
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