Eugene Fetterly, who often sought the mayor’s seat during municipal elections in Prince George’s history, died Sept. 5 at the age of 69 and his memorial is on election day this Saturday.
Fetterly was planning another run at the mayor's chair this year with his memorable campaign slogan ‘Remember the F Word’ while undergoing treatment for terminal kidney cancer when he succumbed to the disease.
“He had just filled out the forms for his latest run for mayor when he took a turn and passed away,” daughter Sara Waldner, a nurse, said.
She has been accessing the Citizen’s digitized archives to print off the many colourfully opinionated letters to the editor her had sent to the Citizen over the years.
“That was a pretty big part of his life – he was kind of a local legend,” Sara said about Eugene, who worked for BC Rail.
“He wanted to bring awareness to political issues and always wanted to get more people involved. He was the middle man, the blue collar worker and everything was always about paying taxes and sticking it to the man - he wanted fairness for everybody – well, I should say there was a bit of prejudice there,” Sara laughed. “There are some very colourful things he included in his letters to the editor but he always wanted everyone to be included and I think that’s important for people to know about him. He wanted everybody to have a voice and he knew everyone should have some sort of say.”
Despite his rough, tough, intimidating demeanour, as a friend Eugene was as loyal and supportive as they come, Sara said.
“He always fought for the underdog and I remember years ago he had a friend going through cancer treatment and his friend was worried how he was going to look when he lost all his hair so my dad shaved his head so his friend wouldn’t feel so alone,” Sara recalled. “That’s the kind of person he was.”
As a dad, Eugene was always there for his children and very supportive, Sara said.
“Education was very important to him and each of his kids went to post-secondary school,” Sara added. “Knowledge is power, he always said. He had thousands and thousands of books and we all became avid readers because of him. And he always encouraged us to do better and he had high standards for us and we were expected to get only As and Bs in school and as his kids we all followed through. He always said we should be who we wanted to be and we are all unique individuals and f*** you if you dare stand in our way – that was his attitude. This is what you need to do for you, he would tell us – don’t let anyone stand in the way of your dreams and we didn't.”
Eugene leaves behind his three beloved children, Jenny Waldner, Sara Waldner and Thor Fetterly along with grandchildren Brooklyn, Katie, Linkin, Jake, Maeve and Ben. Eugene is predecessed by Lenore (sister), Tyler (brother), Elroy (father) and Lorna (mother).
And what’s most important for people to remember about Eugene Fetterly?
“Remember the F Word,” Sara said. “I just finished painting a bunch of signs for his memorial so just Remember the F Word.”
The family invites friends near and far to join in a Celebration of Life Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m. at the Pineview Hall, 6470 Bendixon Road. There will be a pig roast barbecue and bar service to follow a short eulogy. Please send photos and stories to share to E.Fetterly.Memorial@gmail.com or call 778-349-1019.
