Peter Allen Lloyd born October 19,1956, in New Westminster, BC passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of the morning of April 25, 2020 at the age of 63.
He is survived by his loving wife of 29 years Lelainia, his son Carver (Lisa Harding), his mother Betty Lloyd, brothers Steve (Bev) and Rick (Shari), nephews Dylan, Curtis, Chris, Anthony & Adam & niece Chelsea.
Pete was predeceased by his Dad, Albert James Lloyd in February 2018.
Pete grew up in Coquitlam on Glen Drive and attended Glen Elementary, Mary Hill Jr. Secondary and Port Coquitlam Senior Secondary. (Now known as Terry Fox Senior Secondary.) He belonged to Forest Rangers and Cubs in elementary school and competed in rugby, swimming and wrestling in high school. His summers were spent with his dad and brothers salmon fishing off of Deep Bay on Vancouver Island and tubing down the Coquitlam river.
He drove his motorcycle to Tucson, Arizona in 1986 and found a job there laying blacktop. He moved back to BC in 1988 and settled in New Westminster. In 1989, he met Lelainia, who was his neighbour in the apartment block they lived in. They went on their first date on New Year’s Eve to see his beloved Philadelphia Flyers play. The date went well. On April 27th, 1990, Pete proposed and she accepted. They were married October 27th, 1990, on Lelainia’s Grandparents’ 45th anniversary (for good luck) at Betty and Al’s home in Maple Ridge, BC.
On June 6, 1991, they welcomed their son Carver into the world. Pete was an amazing father-it was a role he was born for. He enjoyed teaching Carver how to swim, ride a bike, and often took him fishing and hiking. He loved watching Carver play rugby, swim and wrestling in high school, all the sports he’d participated in growing up. When Carver was 10, he’d take him to work on a Saturday if he was working on smaller job sites that were safe. As Carver got older, he arranged for him to work with him during spring break and during the summer, teaching him how to be an ironworker. He loved working side by side with his son and in the last couple of years watching as he earned his B ticket to operate cranes and work towards his A ticket certification. They would often cross paths on skytrain on their way to or from work. Recently he was on a job site where he could watch Carver climbing up and down the crane at the beginning and end of the day. He had a fear of heights and really admired his son’s ability to work that high up.
Pete love the outdoors. As an adult, he enjoyed long distance cycling to Kelowna, which he did on several occasions. He enjoyed marathon swimming and competed in the Vancouver Open Water Swim Association’s (VOWSA) swim series which benefits the Special Olympics for several years. He swam at Kits, Bunsen Lake and one year even tackled the swim from Lighthouse Park across the bay to Kits. His younger brother Rick crewed for him and it was the coldest temperature for the bay on record. Only six swimmers actually finished that race-all the rest were pulled from the water before they reached Kits Beach, due to concerns of hypothermia. Pete swam the Skaha Lake Ultra Swim from Penticton to Okanagan Falls (11.6 km) three times. On his first attempt, he didn’t quite finish, but undeterred, he tried again the following year and was successful. The third year, a thunder and lightning storm rolled in while he was in the water. It was pretty scary for those of us watching, but eventually the storm moved on and he made it safely to shore.
In September 2012, Pete was diagnosed with kidney cancer, likely due to workplace exposure. Pete took it all in stride. He had surgery in November to have his left kidney removed and then he worked hard on his recovery, returning to cycling to build up his strength. The time on the bike helped him both physically and mentally. He made a point of doing the Terry Fox run annually after his bout with kidney cancer and proudly wore his red survivor shirts. He built up a nice collection over the years and on days when he wasn’t wearing a Flyers shirt or jersey, he’d be wearing those red shirts.
In 2015, just 4 days after Father’s Day, he suffered a heart attack at work that almost killed him. He was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital and underwent emergency surgery to save his life. Two weeks after his heart attack, the retina in his left eye started to detach and he underwent a total of 6 eye surgeries to save his vision. Never one to give up, he somehow managed to bounce back.
Pete cared about his community and spent a lot of time volunteering. He was a volunteer for the Telus 25 Hour Relay for 22 years, generously taking the overnight shifts to help keep runners safe. He volunteered at the Colony Farm Community Garden, assisting other gardeners dig their plots so they could get their gardens started. He also volunteered to make voter calls for a friend’s political campaign. If anyone ever needed his help, he would drop what he was doing to be there for them. He was always so kind and generous with his time and energy.
Pete was the consummate family man and he was happiest when spending time with those he loved. He loved hockey and was a life-long Philadelphia Flyers fan-Lelainia always said she did more orange and black laundry than the actual team did. He loved the Little River Band-and went to see them play every time they were in town. Any time Pete and Lelainia went on a road trip, their albums would be on endless play while they drove.
Pete enjoyed the 2010 Olympics, Canadian Women’s soccer and Star Wars, all things Lelainia made him fall in love with. He and Carver loved going to Canadian’s baseball games at Nat Bailey Stadium and rock concerts together. He was always so good to Lelainia’s Gramps, who would always have a long list of jobs for him to do when he was supposed to be on vacation. Gramps would say “Pete, I’ve got a job for you!” and whatever it was, he’d take care of it, without complaining. One time it involved crawling underneath the house in the world’s tiniest crawl space and another time, helping install a massive Martin birdhouse.
He loved good food (ribs & lasagna and lemon meringue pie were his favourite) and gathering with friends. Pete also really loved their black Lab, Indiana Jones (Indy) whom he gave as a gift to Lelainia when she was really struggling with her health. As much as he referred to Indy as “her dog”, he had a special relationship with him and made many friends with fellow dog owners in their neighbourhood while out on endless walks.
Pete was the kind of person who was impossible not to love and a true and loyal friend. Everyone whose life he touched never had anything but good things to say about him. Lelainia and Carver will miss his laughter and light. Indy will miss his hugs and sharing his snacks. He will be deeply and forever missed. Our lives are better for having had the gift of knowing him.
Due to the pandemic and the need for social distancing, a gathering of friends and family will be postponed until we can do so safely. We’ll be posting details when they are available on Pete’s Facebook page as well as here. Everyone who wants to attend will be welcome.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) which breeds and trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities. Please follow the link to learn more and to make a donation.
www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/in-memory-of-peter-alan-lloyd/
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Peter Lloyd Saturday April 25th 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Coquitlam, Province: Colombie britanique