Long-time City of Prince George employee, engineer, and community volunteer Dave Dyer has died.
During its Aug. 14 meeting, city council took a moment to remember Dyer and reflect on his 25 years of service to the city.
“Dave Dyer passed away on Aug. 6 of this year and Dave spent 25 years with the city of Prince George in a number of capacities and many of us around the table had the opportunity to work with Dave,” said Mayor Lyn Hall.
Dyer retired from the city in 2020 after a lengthy career where he spent his later years holding the position of general manager of engineering and public works.
“Dave was a soft-spoken guy, but he was very, very knowledgeable and intelligent about what this city was all about. Both our above-ground infrastructure and below-ground infrastructure – there were many meetings I was at, and in his own way, he schooled us with the knowledge he has about this community,” added Hall.
“When he retired it was a huge loss for us, and in hearing of his passing about a week-and-a-half or two weeks ago was even more difficult to comprehend and more difficult to imagine. Dave leaves a large family, children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and his wife. He will be sorely missed in our community.”
Hall added that when Dyer left the City of Prince George he became a volunteer and spent a lot of his time with the Rotary Club.
“That was his mission and unfortunately didn’t get a great deal of time after his retirement to enjoy that journey.”
City manager Walter Babicz echoed Hall's comments calling Dyer a consummate professional who had a strong commitment to personal integrity.
“He was highly respected by his peers both as a co-worker and as a friend and he was genuinely a great guy. Staff always enjoyed working with him. His knowledge was immense, and he has made huge contributions to the city and the community. We will all miss him very, very much and on behalf of the senior leadership team we would like to send our deepest sympathies to Dave’s family for their loss.”
Dyer was born in the small town of Matheson Ontario. He completed 13 years of school in 12 years after which he pursued his civil engineering degree at the University of Waterloo.
He grew up loving music and playing hockey and was a loyal Toronto Blue Jays fan. After graduation, his search for work and his love of hiking and canoeing led him to British Columbia where he started work for a consulting firm in 1981.
He relocated to Prince George in 1991, where he met and married the love of his life Grace Dyer.
In 1995, Dyer accepted an engineering position with the City of Prince George where he remained employed until he retired in 2020.
He was a faithful Rotarian, a committed Christian and served as chairperson for Timbers Community Church Board until pancreatic cancer stole his life.
His celebration of life was held at the Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church on August 13.
