A Fond Farewell to Peter MacPhee
- kc dyer
- Jun 18
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 19
A daughter remembers
by Katherine McPhee
Peter Leslie MacPhee, longtime Lions Bay resident, born July 11, 1942, died on March 16, 2025 in Squamish, B.C.
His children Katherine (Tom) and Jenny (Eric), cherished grandchildren Jamie, Ella, Maya and Zadie, sister Barbara Haydon (Phil), partner Heidi Andrie, friends, neighbours, colleagues and extended family carry his love and friendship with them.
Peter was loving, patient and deeply intelligent. He was reserved but also a warm conversationalist. He was well liked in the village.
One villager shared, “I have reflected on his gentle, intelligent manner and his easy humour. I always felt very relaxed and happy in his calm presence. The world just felt better for that time.”
Peter was born and raised in Edmonton in a caring family. He worked in Tuktoyaktuk, went to university in Alberta and Manitoba, and travelled in Europe before settling on the West Coast. After marrying Rosalind in 1970, the young couple had a Hassell/Griblin house built in Lions Bay to raise their family.
Peter was one of a small group of ambulance volunteers who started the Lions Bay Ambulance Station in the 1970s. He was hard working and well-respected in his career in office space consulting and sales. When not working, he could be found walking the dog in the village (and later walking with his neighbour Douglas and his dogs).
After losing his wife Rosalind in 1996, Peter did his absolute best to fill the void for his daughters. He delighted in spending time with his grandchildren. Retirement was wonderful for him. Finally he could read all day long and relish the house he had built. He found more time to enjoy nature, art and design, literature, history, numbers, woodworking and travelling with Heidi. He was endlessly curious.
As his life advanced, he became fascinated by the history of humanity and loved to share what he had learned. Peter moved out of the village in 2018 when his mobility became a challenge but it remained a special place to him. In the last five years, Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) gradually stole his physical abilities but it did not take his appreciation for the gift of life.
Please feel free to share your memories of Peter MacPhee by posting
your comment below
or emailing editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca
Peter was a lovely man and great neighbour. I always enjoyed our long chats!
It was always a pleasure to walk and talk with Peter along Mountain Drive. He was a dear man.
Thank you, Katherine, for this wonderful tribute to your Dad, a gentle man who will be remembered fondly by all those of us who were privileged to know him.
Peter was a wonderful neighbour and became a dear friend. I think of him daily.
Thank you, Katherine, for sharing this with the community.