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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
APPS, Randy James - On May 11, 2024, Randy James Apps passed away at age of 74. Born on April 5, 1950, Randy was the first child of Thomas James Bruce Apps & Grace Leone Apps, and was followed by his brothers and sisters, Rick, Debbie, Renny, and Barb.
Randy grew up throughout British Columbia, his early childhood spent in the various towns and cities supporting his father’s growing career in the aviation industry. This nomadic upbringing undoubtedly cultivated the wanderlust he would feed in his early adult life, and simultaneously, nourished a deep admiration for the province he would always call home.
In Sprout Lake near Port Alberni, three brothers ordered bamboo fishing rods from a cereal box and began their careers as salmon fishermen. In Prince Rupert, two boys looked on in horror, amusement, or perhaps admiration as their oldest brother demonstrated downhill tricycle techniques, the descent providing somewhat painful results.
The Apps’s moved to Richmond and remained there for 10 years. Randy attended high school, Hugh Boyd Secondary and Steveston High. He witnessed the grand opening of the first McDonalds in Canada. The three brothers continued to fish. The Apps’s moved to Kamloops in 1968, and Randy attended NorKam Secondary School, where he discovered his passion for cooking. After graduating, he went on to work as an assistant chef at Stockmen’s Motor Inn and the Canadian Inn.
As creative outlets go, preparing the various menu offerings of a motor inn provides only so much, and Randy began to tinker with photography. Still, his feet grew itchy. Selling all his worldly possessions save his camera, Randy enlisted in the navy for a two-year tour of service. As creative outlets go… well, the structure and rigor of the military may not have been for him. Still, his fondness for his time in the navy was unmistakable when he spoke of it. Soon it was time for him to see other places the world had to offer. He lived in Australia for a year, prospecting for diamonds. He traveled to Greece, absorbing its history and its legends. He made friendships while traipsing through Europe.
Returning home, Randy applied the experiences he had gained prospecting to surveying. His work took him throughout BC, though he most notably remarked on his time working on the Mica Dam. Always returning to Kamloops, he began taking courses at Caribou College and in one of them he met his future wife, Debbie. They were married on October 23, 1976.
Debbie’s career took them to Vancouver in 1981. At the GVRD, Randy found an opportunity to express himself artistically through his profession until his eventual retirement. In 1987, Randy’s son Christopher was born. A boy and his dad bird watched in the backyard. They cheered for the Canucks. They hunted for treasure. Randy taught his son to fish. All told, they would create and share countless memories together. His pride for his son was unreserved. When Chris’s wife, Keely, joined his family, he had more than enough love to go around.
Randy was an incredibly caring person, and social too. Those qualities coupled with his particularity and routine made for close relationships with the people around him that the rest of the world might simply see as recurring characters in their own lives. With those closest to him – his old colleagues and acquaintances, neighbours, friends, and family – Randy was relentless in ensuring he was up on the latest details of their lives. We will miss him dearly.
Randy’s casual positivity stood in jarring contrast to his fierce conviction, and the combination always suited him. He loved to learn. He enjoyed subtle humor. Randy Apps was his own man, and he is irreplaceable.
A celebration of Randy’s life will be held on June 20, 2025 at 3:30pm in the Maple Room of the Delbrook Community Rec Center in North Vancouver. (Castanet 11 Apr 2024)
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