CRIMINALS IN the city reached a new low when someone broke into a home and robbed it while the owner lay deceased in his bed Dec. 29.
George Yeast, 78, who owned Norco Septic Service until it sold in 2000, was terminally ill from cancer when he passed away, said his son Douglas.
“He was really sick and we think the people that broke into the house while he was dead, we think they were watching him,”said Douglas.
While his body lay there on the bed, the thieves rifled through his pants pockets – the pants were on the side of the bed.
The thieves also took George's late wife's wedding ring set, a ruby ring with a distinctive setting, a set of house and pickup keys from the house and, from the shop, took a black and white Craftsman air compressor with an orange hose, an impact wrench, sockets and a Westward socket set.
“There was nothing of any value, just sentimental stuff,” said Douglas.
“Lowlifes are also a fact of life but you would almost think in a case like this even their group of friends would be appalled,” said Douglas.
"It is likely that it was known the man was deceased while the home was went through," said Terrace RCMP spokesperson Const. Angela Rabut.
His death and the break and enter are not related, she added.
Also stolen from the shop on the property according to police were two red plastic 20 L Jerry cans - one marked “STRAIT GAS” and an orange gas powered weed whacker.
“He was a really, really, really good guy,” said Douglas about what he'd like others to know about his dad.
George was a businessman in the area for more than 30 years and was a well-known and liked person who would always try his best to help anybody out, he added.
George was born in Saskatchewan and moved to Terrace in 1965.
He came here to work at Alcan and then he worked at Kitimat Express in Kitimat afterward.
A Terrace branch started up and he came here and bought Norco, said Douglas.
Woodworking was George's hobby and word of mouth kept him busy at it as people would stop by and put in their orders for him to build, he added.
Douglas asks the public to keep an eye out for the stolen items.
“If anyone offers you a cheap wedding ring, a ruby ring, a black diamond ring, an air compressor, socket sets, air tools, please think about where these might have come from,” he said.
There is no funeral service for George Yeast but there will be a memorial service in the spring.