On September 2, 1948, Fishery Officer Kenneth E. Weaver was conducting aerial surveillance of the commercial salmon seine fishery in Johnstone Strait, BC when his plane crashed, killing him and the pilot.

On that fateful day his chartered Bellanca Skyrocket left Alert Bay at 4:16 p.m.

At 5 p.m. it passed low over fishing vessels before climbing near Cracroft Island. Rising above the trees it appeared to stall and exploded on impact.

Fifty-six years later on September 26, 2004, Kenneth E. Weaver’s name was engraved on the granite monuments honouring fallen police and peace officers in Ottawa and Victoria.

The Society of Pacific Region Fishery Officers had started a project in 2003 to preserve and showcase the history of the department’s enforcement officers. A letter dated from 1948 was found where officers organised a collection for Shelagh Weaver and her children. The Society’s Historian, Fishery Officer S. Beckmann researched the crash with the help of Officers B. Atagi and S. Greenway.

A 1948 microfiched newspaper article started an investigation that led the officers into BC and National Archives, Immigration, Transportation, Fisheries, Military and RCMP records. The article mentioned that Mrs. Weaver and her three children, including a 7 week old had moved to Duncan. Beckmann began phoning Weavers listed for Duncan and Victoria. None had heard of Kenneth Weaver except one 12 year old boy who exclaimed: “That’s my grandfather”! His mother suggested he speak with his widow who was 93 years of age, living in a Sidney retirement home. Over tea this tragic story was filled in. Following the crash, the Minister sent condolences with a cheque for $90 which was one months’ salary. The native fishermen of Alert Bay collected $400 for her. With money tight, she worked as a maid at Victoria’s Empress Hotel before joining the Provincial Government for 23 years of service. She never remarried.

Supported by her records the applications to both National and BC Memorials were successful.

Shelagh Weaver and her grown children Kerry, Kevin and Kenneth were escorted to the Victoria ceremony by Officer Beckmann. Thirty Fishery Officers marched with 800 police and peace officers to BC’s Legislature.

Kenneth Weaver’s inscribed name was read out along with 97 other fallen officers. The family laid a wreath and roses in remembrance. It was a very special day for the family and the department.

Kenneth Weaver
Biography

On September 2, 1948, he was conducting air patrols of the salmon purse seine fishery in Johnstone Strait when his chartered aircraft crashed. Both he and the pilot were killed in the fiery crash.

On August 14, 1926 he immigrated to Canada at age 16.

Served as Constable & Acting Lance Corporal in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from July 24, 1929 to May 31, 1937. Postings in B, E, J, A and G Div. included Ottawa, Ont.; Victoria, BC and Aklavik, NWT.

Married Kathleen Shelagh Weaver in 1937.

Traded furs in the Northwest Territories from 1937 to 1941.

Served in the Royal Canadian Airforce from October 31, 1941 to April 25, 1945. He attained the rank of Flight Lieutenant as an air gunner while based in the United Kingdom during WWII.

On his return from duty he joined the Department of Fisheries. His first task was to lead a pack train to the remote area of Meziaden Lake, B.C. He then took on fisheries enforcement duties at the Vancouver waterfront.

After taking appropriate training he transferred to Alert Bay, B.C. in 1946.

On Sept. 2, 1948, his patrol aircraft crashed, killing him and the pilot.

Following his death his wife and three children moved to Duncan, B.C. to be closer to family.

Mrs. Weaver, age 94, is living in a retirement home in Victoria, B.C. in relatively good health. Her sons live in nearby Esquimalt and Duncan. Her daughter lives in Coquitlam on the mainland.

On September 26, 2004 the Society of Pacific Region Fishery Officers succeeded in having his name honoured and inscribed at both Police and Peace Officer Memorials in Ottawa and Victoria.

Mrs. Kathleen "Sheila" Weaver at the Police and Peace Officers Memorial, Victoria, British Columbia

Kathleen "Sheila " Weaver (Nee Donnelly)
1911 - 2009

A long and remarkable life has sadly come to a close May 16, 2009. Born in 1911 in Hong Kong, Sheila was schooled in China, England, Duncan and Victoria, graduating from Oak Bay High in 1929. She went back to China where she taught school until returning to Victoria in the early thirties.

Sheila married Kenneth Edwin Weaver and they had a daughter Kerry. Ken joined the R.A.F during the 2nd World War and returned home in 1944. In his absence Sheila taught at Queen Margaret's school in Duncan. After the war, Ken joined the Department Of Fisheries and was stationed in Alert Bay where Kevin and Kenneth were born. While on duty September 2nd, 1948, Ken was killed in a plane crash leaving Sheila with three small children.

Eventually returning to Victoria, Sheila worked as a chambermaid at the Empress Hotel and later was employed by the Provincial Government in the micro film department where she stayed until her retirement in 1973.

Sheila cared for her children at a time when single parenting was rare. For several years Sheila shared her home with Lilian Metcalfe and children Eric , Marc and Deborrah. The door of her home was always open to any family member or friend in need of a bed.

Sheila was known for her fierce loyalty and faced all obstacles with determination and tenacity. Her passions were her family, fishing on her boat 'Ewo', gardening, reading, ping pong, writing letters to the many relatives and keeping up family ties. She had an inquiring mind and never tired of learning. Her life spanned the greatest changes ever seen in human history... and Sheila adapted to these changes with ease.

A high point in her nineties was when her late husband's name was engraved on the Fallen Peace Officer's Memorial in Victoria and Ottawa 56 years after his death.

Predeceased by her sister Noreen and brothers Brian and Terence. Sheila will be remembered with love by her sister Patricia Mead-Robins, daughter Kerry Howard, sons Kevin (Jennifer) and Kenneth. Grandchildren Lauren (Robert), great granddaughter Erin Merrett and great grandson Michael Vandenhaak, Rob and Russ Saunders, Ken, James and Sean Weaver, Tess, Mack, Cy and Madelin Weaver, An extended family of Howards, Leeanne, Terry (Scott), Rick (Carmen), Tony (Vicki) and children Kaycee, Kyle, Selena and Nicole. Special nieces Paddi (Brian) Wood and Gillian Mead-Robins, special nephews Patrick (Sandi) Mead-Robins and Denis (Lynne) Donnelly. A vast array of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends in Victoria and the world over.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 30 at 10 a.m. at First Memorial Chapel, 4725 Falaise Drive for family and friends to honour and remember Sheila. Flowers gratefully declined. A heartfelt thank you for the wonderful care from the staff at Lodge A1, The Lodge At Boradmead.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. "

Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist on 5/24/2009

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