Hello,
I was so saddened by the news that William had passed on. I knew him for many years when I was the Manager at Quinsam River Hatchery in Campbell River, and we collaborated on the hatchery display room renewal several years ago.
I always enjoyed his visits to the hatchery and we gave him specimens of fish and eggs to take home and cast into displays that are widely seen to this day. His passion for “getting it right” was incredible, and we would have long conversations about shapes sand colours. His display that is the centrepiece at Quinsam is truly a masterpiece, showing the life of our local rivers from crayfish to adult salmon spawning. I know he was so proud of this and I share in it every time I take my grandkids to tour the hatchery.
On his visits with me, he would always have questions to ask about the fisheries resource, and would bring me scientific papers that he had come across to discuss. He was an expert in the life history of all the animals he created, and he really got it right, down to the fine detail of a scale, a gill arch, the way a fin sat on the body, etc.
I’ve been retired from DFO for going on 8 years now, and I truly miss the visits I had with William. Please know that his legacy will live on and I will have my “talks” with him every time I visit the hatchery and pay homage to his art. All the best!