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Earl Lincoln Sept shared his last story on June 16, 2022, in Nelson, B.C. He passed away peacefully at home with family by his side.
Earl was born to Lincoln and Ida Sept in Medicine Hat, AB, on November 16, 1944, and was the big brother to two sisters. Descended from generations of Bessarabian-German farmers, Earl deeply valued his roots—a legacy that shaped his sense of self-reliance, respect for hard work, and appreciation of the outdoors.
In 1952, the Sept family followed the Canadian Pacific Railway line west to Nelson, establishing a farm off Silver King Road in Rosemont. While attending Central School, Trafalgar, and L.V. Rogers, Earl dabbled in hockey, baseball, and soccer but spent most of his time working around the farm with his dog, Blackie. He finished high school in 1963 and started his post-secondary studies at Notre Dame University College in Nelson before moving to Vancouver. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 1975.
Earl started working in the forest industry after high school and spent most of his career working for the B.C. Ministry of Forests. While he had an affinity for administration, it was his early experience collecting data for forest inventory that had the greatest impact on his future.
Earl’s most memorable inventory project took him into Northern B.C. along the Taku River—a small team, isolated in the bush, with a totally legitimate reason to go camping and fishing with some whitewater rafting thrown in. With a couple of excursions into Alaska and the Yukon added on, this time in the wilderness sparked his love for the North.
But it was a different project, along the Skeena River, that took him to the village of Kitwanga (Gitwangak) and the same spring dance as Louisa Pik Hwa, a schoolteacher who’d recently immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong via the U.S. Earl liked to think he’d made a particularly good first impression with the wok he owned and his Asian cooking skills.
Earl and Louisa were married on December 24, 1976, in Nelson. After some early days living in an upscale tent near Slocan on another inventory project, they moved to Prince Rupert where Louisa continued her career as a teacher and Earl moved into timber management activities. While there, they welcomed their daughter, Amy, and decided to move closer to the family that had stayed in Nelson.
Moving back to Nelson brought every opportunity to get the family into the outdoors. Earl always kept a garden going, even if it was just big enough to provide fresh salads through the summer. Adventures in camping and ice skating came and went, but golfing, fishing, and skiing were part of the annual routine for years. Countless hours were spent hiking the woods every fall, ostensibly searching for pine mushrooms. As age caught up with his joints, Earl embraced mountain biking and often cycled along Kootenay Lake or the Great Northern Rail Trail.
While he enjoyed his years working for the Ministry of Forests, Earl quite happily retired in 2001. He used part of this next season of life to focus on family—supporting his mother after her move back to Alberta, researching his family’s history in Europe, and visiting Amy as she moved around.
Earl and Louisa were able to travel extensively through Europe and around the Mediterranean, Asia, the U.S., and Latin America, including journeys through the Scandinavian countries, the Bosporus Strait, and the Panama Canal, around Cape Horn to Antarctica, and several cruises with friends and family up the Inside Passage to Alaska. When travel was no longer an option, Earl kept exploring online and via Amy’s experiences living overseas.
A perpetual storyteller, Earl believed a good story is like a good wine: It only gets better with age. Sharing memories of a well-lived life, and the many people who were part of it, brought him a lot of joy and laughter until the last.
Earl leaves behind his wife Louisa, daughter Amy (Evan), sister Sharlene (Walt), and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, a sister who died in infancy, and his youngest sister, Marilyn (Ken).
The past few years have brought a number of challenges and the family would like to thank Dr. Lee MacKay and Dr. Brandon Tuvel for their attentive care and support, as well as Interior Health Home Care.
In lieu of flowers, please consider honouring Earl’s memory by making a donation to Kootenay Lake Hospital. A small private service will be held at a later date.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Earl Lincoln Sept November 16 1944
June 16 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Nelson, Province: Colombie britanique