Born in Fort William, Ontario to Ruth (Young) and Harry Tuckwell, Paul grew up with lots of family around, particularly at the family cottage at Loon Lake. Summers were spent carousing with cousins. When he reached an age to be sent off for summer employment, uncles with road crews around the north shore of Lake Superior were enlisted to keep Paul
busy. He was, however, quite resourceful in finding ways to get back to Loon for weekends, be it by train or hitchhiking. Following in the footsteps of his father, Paul loved and played all sports and as a member of the Fort William Rowing Club, met with success on rowing crews in the late 1940s and early 1950s. After leaving Port Arthur Collegiate Institute, Paul set off for higher learning. He sampled a number of institutions including RMC before finding a fit at Ryerson where he completed a diploma in Architectural Technology, and parlayed that into a long career in construction and real estate development, retiring from PCL Construction in 1994.
Unbeknownst to Paul, a fellow Loon Laker had apparently set her sights on him when she was 7, and some 15 years later, Lynda (Knights) snagged him and went off to Edmonton where Paul had moved after school. They were married for over 68 years, most of it speaking. They had three children; Cathy, Todd and John. All three were deeply influenced by Paul’s love of sweets, pranking people and travelling, be it to the cottage at Loon, Hawaii or more distant shores. The attached picture is from Maui in March 2024.
Paul and Lynda moved to Vancouver Island in 1994, settling in North Saanich. They commuted to Loon Lake with only a few misses in the last 30 years, even getting there for a month in summer 2024. Paul was a long time volunteer with the Anglican Church in Edmonton and a founding member of the Uplands Probus Club in Victoria.
Several months ago, one of Paul’s doctors told him he had another 10 years but some of the other systems didn’t get the memo. He went into hospital on December 23 with a suspected stroke and other failures were triggered. After several weeks of being in hospital, Paul elected to exercise a right his son John had been a stalwart advocate for, and died
peacefully with Lynda and Cathy and long time family friends by his side.
Paul is survived by Lynda, Cathy, his sister, Mary Sabiston and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Predeceased by his sons John and Todd. We will celebrate Paul’s life with a gathering in the spring.
I never knew Paul well but my Dad (Hugh) and I took the train to the lakehead (Fort William/Port Arthur for Paul & Lynda’s wedding. What a wonderful weekend that was, and a fun wedding also. Dad and I enjoyed every minute of it.My condolences to you Lynda. I am closing in on age 86 but doubt I will beat Paul and his age.
Hi, Mary. Thank you from both Mom and I for reaching out and telling us about your memory from their wedding … that would have been a great adventure to take with your Dad … we are thankful you shared it with us.
Best wishes.
Yasmin and I send our heartfelt condolences to Lynda, Cathy and Mary. We did not know this lovely man for very long but we were so very impressed by him and the wonderful connection he had with his dear wife. We will miss him deeply. Had I known he was employed by PCL Construction, we would have enjoyed talking about the trade as I hired PCL for several large-scale commercial projects.
May the peace that passes all understanding grant you comfort and may you cherish the memories forever.
Thank you very much for these kind words, Jeff and Yasmin. It is such a small world and connecting on PCL would have been very interesting. My father loved construction, as evidenced by many of the photos from our first family trip to Hawaii, … pictures of the elevator shafts of the Hyatt Regency hotel being built in Honolulu! 😁
We shared the curiosity about how things work.
Thank you again for reaching out.
Sincerest condolences Lynda and Cathy. May your loving memories of Paul be of great comfort to you both. 🙏 Hugs Heather & Ken 💕
Hi, Heather and Ken. Thank you for the kind words and thoughts… It’s a different world but we are so grateful for the memories.
Our deepest sympathies on the loss of Paul. As a Looner, we will miss his vigilant supervision of West Loon Drive and faithful keeper of all our traditions.
Your Loon neighbours, the Bartley-Norquay clan.
Hi, Susan and Jeff. Reading your note, I am reminded that I have been carrying the torch… 3rd generation of road supervision! 😁
Thank you for thinking of us as we celebrate his living so well for so long.
Dear Mrs. Tuckwell (Lynda): Our deepest sympathy in the loss of your husband Paul.
We remember you, Lynda, as our grade 4 teacher at Prospect Avenue School, Thunder Bay. Many good memories!
Thinking of You
Mom loved seeing this from you both. Thank you for thinking of us.
My sincere condolence’s, Lynda. I still have many fond memories with you & Paul from our Edmonton days.
Thank you for thinking of us. We are so grateful he lived so well for so long. Many happy memories from Edmonton for us too.
Best wishes.
Sorry to hear of Paul’s passing. He was my beacon at Loon and a great friend. Linda since we left Loon my best memories with you. (Cathy too)
Thanks
Duff and Holly
Thank you for thinking of us, Duff and Holly. No more pictures of Dad on a ladder inspecting the roof or the chimney or … whatever seemed like something a person of his vintage shouldn’t do. 😊
Your family have been great neighbours to us … we’ll be one short for the summers ahead.
Lynda and Cathy
My sincere condolences to both of you in losing yet another male in your family.
May all your fond memories sustain you at this time and going forward. Take care.
Janet Shears
Thank you very much for thinking of us. Dad’s illness came as a surprise to all of us, including him. And thanks to his living so well for so long, we have many great memories to treasure.
Lynda and Cathy
I have very fond memories of Paul. I met Paul when I started with Oxford in September of 1972. As a rookie I had to earn Paul’s respect and trust, which took some time. I was able to convince Paul and Vic Love that space planning was an integral part of office leasing and the relationship started to blossom. Paul had a quick wit and enjoyed practical jokes. Paul was a wealth of knowledge in design and construction, lessons learned helped me over my entire real estate career.
My sincere condolences to Lynda, Cathy and the whole family.
Bruce
It is so nice of you to reach out and share this, Bruce. One of my memories is of our first family vacation to Hawaii …. Although we weren’t big vacation picture takers at the time, we did have one camera with a roll of film for 36 pictures. Once developed, we found about 25 pictures of the elevator shafts of a hotel under construction. You will understand. 😁 I for one am still interested in how things are put together.
Thank you again!
Cathy
Dear Lynda and Cathy,
It’s not fair when we lose one of the “good guys”. We have the fondest, and some of the funniest, memories of sharing time with you and Paul. You and your family contributed to Edmonton in significant ways. Lynda – you and I were part of a walking group at the Glenora Club and could talk and laugh our way for hours. Cathy you were a wonderful friend to my family, including our dog Casper who ate all the steaks on the BBQ at your cottage. There are more stories as you know.
We will look forward to seeing you if you have a gathering in Edmonton to celebrate Paul.
Hi, Sue. Thank you thinking of us. Those were fun times in Edmonton and we cherish the memories. I found a letter from the RG letting him know he just had to wave that letter and would be welcomed at the club any time. We are planning a small celebration in Victoria in early May but if you ever get out that way, Mom would welcome a catch up. I would too but I am much farther away and not as pretty a setting! 😊
Dear Lynda & Cathy
My sincere condolences to you on the loss of your lifetime partner, Paul & your dear Dad.
Wishing you continuous happy memories of Paul and remember our many years of friendship at Loon.
hugs
Dianna (Burlington ON)
Dear Lynda & Cathy
My sincere condolences to you on the loss of your lifetime partner, Paul & your dear Dad.
Wishing you continuous happy memories of Paul and remember our many years of friendship at Loon.
hugs
Dianna (Burlington ON)
Hi, Diana. Thank you so much for thinking of us. Mom and Dad got to spend a month at Loon last summer… no measure of moral suasion could keep him off the ladder to inspect the roof around the chimney. You will understand the never ending list of little chores.
We are very thankful that he got to be with us for so long and so well. Many happy memories that include you and Jack. Thank you again.
Dear Lynda and Cathy Tuckwell
So sorry to learn about your husband and father’s death. For me, our Tuckwell neighbours have always been part of being at our Loon Lake summer camp. This neighborliness included both young and old through at least four generations.
When the book on the history of West Loon was published, I appreciated Paul’s adding the early history of our century old camp. It meant a lot to me, that like his Mom, we continued to have a Loon Lake historian in our midst. He’ll be missed this summer when I’m up at the lake.
Peggy
Thank you so much for these kind words, Peggy. It is really nice to have such long-standing neighbours. Mom and Dad got there for a month last summer and Mom and I are talking about this summer. I will keep tabs on you via Sandy and Candy. Thank you again.
So sad Paul has left us. A stalwart of the Edmonton gang, I learned, first hand, he didn’t believe in sparing the rod to spoil the child. Never was there a party that Paul couldn’t find a comfortable spot to have a little nap at or raucous laughter he wasn’t at the centre of. He was such a wonderful, fun and solid human. His accompaniment of my old friend John on his last big travel adventure was simply the greatest act of parental love I’ve ever seen. Wishing you all well and hoping there are some small smiles that can accompany your sadness as you remember his crazy sense of humour, and know that St. Peter is tearing his hair out trying to keep up with the zany things the Tuckwell boys are getting up to in heaven. Much love, John Balogh on behalf of the whole Balogh family.
Dear John. Mom and I both laughed reading your note – I distinctly recall the occasion!
We all grew up together, many years close at hand, more years far apart but always connected. We treasure the many memories. Thank you for thinking of us.
Best wishes.
Cathy
I’m sorry to learn of Paul’s passing. He and his family (particularly my friend and colleague, Todd) are the subject of many wonderful memories. Laughter and good company make for a lovely legacy.