Obituary of Graeme Wills

Graeme Wills was a man who never failed to bring a smile to your face and brighten the day of those around him. He sadly passed away early on the 1^st of January 2022. He was a brother, son, father, friend and beloved husband to Kelly. He was a man worth knowing even if only briefly crossing paths in life.

Graeme was born 16^th of November 1974 to parents Gordon and Karen in Easington, Durham County, UK. He was the older brother to Daniel.  He grew up in Billingham, Cleveland County, UK.

In his youth he played both rugby and football (the English kind). The latter of which, he would continue in his adulthood. He finished his career playing for Aldergrove United (BC) where he scored the team’s final goal for 2021. He was also an avid supporter of Sunderland AFC.

Prior to moving to Canada, he went to Hartlepool College to become a surveyor before realizing his passion lay elsewhere. Graeme spent his formative years learning his trade and gaining experience. Dedicated to his craft of cladding commercial and industrial buildings, he left his imprint on various projects he had worked on. After 21 years, he mastered the necessary skill set to land his dream job as a superintendent in Vancouver, BC.

His life in the UK consisted of Football Sundays and frequenting The Merlin, the Billingham equivalent of the Cheers bar. A place where he knew everyone, and everyone knew him. This was where he would spend most of his time with his closest friends. Graeme never failed to mention an outlandish anecdote of his time there, that couldn’t help but make you want to visit it. The most meaningful event though is that this is where he would eventually meet Kelly.

In 2010, he moved to Spruce Grove, Alberta to pursue new opportunities in Canada. Kelly and their first daughter, Figgy, would follow behind a couple of months later. From here, their beautiful family grew with daughters Kitty and Dixy. Spruce Grove welcomed The Wills and introduced them to the Canadian way of living. Many long-term relationships were built during their time there.

He was eventually offered the opportunity to pursue that dream job with Metro Roofing in a different part of the country. In May 2019 the family moved to Langley, BC. This place proved to be so warm and welcoming that they finally felt at home and live the life they have always dreamt. Graeme had a big impact to those that had the pleasure of working with him. He always had a joke or a prank to lighten the mood and ensure that everyone’s morale was high to tackle the day ahead. There was never an issue that couldn’t be solved with a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of glue.

 A passionate fan of music, he was always first on the dance floor and was the DJ on Friday nights with friends. He always maintained that everyone needs to experience at least one proper music festival in their life.

Graeme was the fun dad. He always let his three girls do the things that made Kelly nervous. From playing in the waves in Tofino, driving around with tunes blasting, to wrestling and goofing off. Graeme loved his girls; from playing his video games with Kitty, kayaking in the river with Dixy and teasing and joking about mom with Figgy.

Their most epic adventure was the 3 week long road trip, in the summer of 2018, that took the family from Spruce Grove to Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, BC and then back home. Graeme planned every stop and toiled for months to make the trip one his 4 girls would never forget.

Graeme leaves behind his loving wife Kelly, daughters Figgy, Kitty, Dixy, father Gordon, in-laws Alan and Joan, sister in law Victoria, Brother in law Chris, nephew Ted and nieces Olivia and Lemmy. We will all miss Graeme terribly and can’t imagine our lives without him.

To commemorate Graeme, a celebration of life will be held on the 20^th of March, 2022. Details of which will provided at a later time.