1932-2021 ~ It's with great sadness that the Livgard family announces the passing of Egil Livgard on September 5, 2021 at the age of 89. Egil was born in Nesbyen, Norway to Astrid and Ole Livgard in 1932.
He had a very adventurous life. As a boy he fell through the ice in the local river at around age 12 and was able to grab the edge of the ice before he went under and crawl out to save himself.
At around age 15, a boy was floating down the river on an innertube when he fell off and went under the water. Egil witnessed the event from the shore and estimated where the boy would be under the water and dove down to find him. He grabbed the boy and brought him back to shore. He had the boy in his arms and as he was running up the shore, the boy started coughing up water and breathing again, saving his life.
In the last year of high school, he was the student class president and head of the celebrations on the Norwegian National day. He then served in the Norwegian military where he was a guard outside of the King's castle in Oslo for two years.
Immigrating to Canada shortly thereafter at the age of 21, he attended the University of British Columbia to study geology. At the International house on campus many foreign students gathered to socialize and have intellectual discussions on current topics of the day. It was here that he met his wife, Pearl, who was from Ireland.
The core group remained friends throughout their lives. Many have passed on now but a few still remain. Some of the second generation carries on the relationship as lifelong friends as well.
Egil spent his working life as a geological engineer based out of the lower mainland and worked all over the world making many friends along the way. He raised his family in Vancouver where he loved to watch his son Paul coaching his grandson's soccer teams every weekend.
After losing his wife in 2008 and his son Bryan in 2010, Egil moved to Terrace to be with his eldest son Dag and his family. He loved to garden, go for walks, hang out at the library, meditate and participate in tai chi classes. He also enjoyed travelling and completed much of his bucket list items in his early 80s including white water rafting in Costa Rica at the age of 84.
He was fascinated by Archeology and Anthropology and travelled to Italy to see the 5000 year old iceman and to Mexico City to go to the museums there. Although he retired, he continued to dabble in mining right up until the end.
Egil is predeceased by his wife, Pearl, his son Bryan and Infant son Sean and his brother Kare.
He is survived by his two sons, Dag(Julie), and Paul, and daughter in law, Shelley as well as his six grandchildren; Hunter, Trent, Allura, Sean, Jamaica and Cole. His wishes are for his cremated remains to be taken to Norway to the family plot where his parents, wife and son are resting.
A celebration of life/memorial is planned for next summer with a small gathering of family and friends.
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