Boaters have always held a soft spot in their hearts for Billy Proctor who lived in the Broughton Archipelago his entire life as trapper, hand-logger, commercial fisherman, and in his latter years as conservationist. It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of Billy Proctor on May 13 at the age of 90, he truly lived a full life.
It has been a long-standing tradition for boaters to hike the trail from Echo Bay on Gilford Island to Billy’s property in Simoom Sound to visit his self-created museum, a collection of historic memorabilia and antiques from his varied activities and professions over the years. Billy later added a gift shop to feature local artists and book authors. He also built a replica of a hand-loggers shack containing artifacts, and a mini-schoolhouse with items from the original Echo Bay School, which was demolished around 2014.
Billy became an author himself, he teamed up with Alexandra Morton to write The Heart of the Raincoast: A Life Story, documenting his youth and aspirations to become a commercial fisherman. Alexandra had served as a deckhand on Billy Proctor’s fishboat after her husband died. In more recent years, he collaborated with neighbor Yvonne Maximchuk, to write and publish Full Moon Flood Tide, a collection of stories about people, places, and things he experienced throughout the Broughtons, followed by Tide Rips & Back Eddies, Bill Proctor’s Tales of Blackfish Sound.
Neighbor and co-author Yvonne Maximchuk describes Billy as the kind of person who knew the best bay for a floathouse and how to tie it up, someone who would bring you spare boomsticks, teach you how to fish, or help you build a house. When Yvonne’s husband needed to go to the hospital at 3:30 in the morning, Billy came to the rescue and took them in his fish boat across Queen Charlotte Strait.
Billy possessed a wealth of knowledge and experience having lived so close to nature. In his latter years, Billy worked to return the Pacific salmon and herring populations to the thriving runs that he remembered from his youth and contributed large sums of money towards the effort.
In the book, The Heart of the Raincoast: A Life Story, young Billy, or “wee Billy” is described as a headstrong boy who refused to do schoolwork, but learned on his own by reading a two-volume dictionary that his mother, Jae, purchased for him. Friend Heber Green loaned Billy books, including Saltwater Summer about the adventure of two boys becoming commercial fishermen, which caught Billy’s attention. By age five, Billy was selling his catch to Chinese men at the cannery in Glendale Cove. When the packer came to Proctor’s Fish Camp to pick up salmon, Billy would place his tub of cod aboard as well. Still a small boy, Billy had caught at 70-pound halibut, which he dragged along the float. You can read more adventures found in this publication, including how Billy sold salmon to his mother, a fish buyer, and then used the money to purchase more gear. Rowing around in his own boat, Billy became acquainted with Joe, a 50-foot humpback whale. As time passed, Billy was able to row right up next to the whale.
At age 14, Billy had a 12-foot, flat-bottom skiff with a two-horsepower outboard motor, this rig was his troller. Billy fulfilled his life dream of becoming a commercial troller, and made his living fishing the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, Blackfish Sound, and Queen Charlotte Strait. He owned several fishboats throughout his fishing career, Ocean Dawn being the last. Billy leaves behind two daughters, Patti and Joanie, and two grandsons.
“A lot of people think they own the things on this planet, but they are wrong because we are just visiting for a short time and then we are gone….Everything was here before we came here, and I hope that everything will be here after we are gone.” – Billy Proctor
Godspeed, we will miss you Billy Proctor, but we will never forget you.
Photos: Billy Proctor Collection
