The Chilcotin will never be the same. Longtime pioneer rancher Allan Bittner passed away March 17, 2015.
Allan was predeceased by his wife Bubby just seven months ago and leaves to mourn his five children Grant Bittner (Dee), Barb Lambe (Mike) Rex Bittner (Gail), Sandy Willson (Eddy), and Duncan Bittner (Meghan), also many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Tough, honest, proud and full of compassion are some of the words to describe Allan. He was sincere and hard working.
There was nobody that could out work him.
Born Sept. 10, 1927, Allan came from the prairies when he was 10 years old and moved to West Branch not far from Tatla Lake.
He moved out in the hungry 30s and knew what hard living was all about.
He bought his first property in the West Branch area on Bluff Lake, and started into the cattle ranching industry.
He loved cattle ranching — it was in his blood, which he was very good at, and very successful.
He was well respected in the industry and always raised nice looking cattle.
Allan had to be knowledgeable in all trades of the ranching industry.
He was mechanic, electrician, plumber, carpenter and many other trades that you had to do while living in the Chilcotin.
You either had to learn or go without.
Most of all he knew cattle — and it showed when it came to the sale ring.
He was also part of the cattle drives from the Chilcotin to Williams Lake many years ago.
A part of history that hopefully will never go forgotten.
Allan married Bubby in 1950 and together they raised their five children.
Allan’s family always came first.
His kids say that there was never another dad in this world as good as their dad.
Allan was an avid hunter and taught his boys to follow in his footsteps.
He raised his family on venison.
Allan had a love for the outdoors and all animals.
He was an excellent horseback rider and even dabbled in roping and cattle penning, but mostly he rode to work the ranch.
He always had a good working horse that he trained himself.
There was nothing he could not do. No task too big or small that he wouldn’t tackle.
Each fall the call of the mountains would beckon him and he would organize a trip by horseback and packhorse, with whichever members of his family that were available and off he would go.
He was so happy in the mountains —hunting and just being above timberline would bring happiness to Allan.
After his success in ranching the West Branch area he decided to go bigger and made a move with his family to Kleena Kleene.
His ranch was beautiful and he made many improvements to make it successful. Along with his own ranch he managed the Dane Ranch, one of the biggest ranches in the Chilcotin.
A very successful operation.
The Dane Ranch eventually sold and Allan along with, Bubby, settled in to ranching their own place until Allan was diagnosed with MS.
He knew they had to sell and moved to Barriere where they spent 10 wonderful years in retirement.
They made many new friends.
As Allan’s health deteriorated they decided to move to Bella Coola to their daughter Sandy’s place.
It wasn’t long before Allan had to move into the hospital into long-term care as he was so crippled with the disease.
Unfortunately the last 10 years of his life were not great.
He had no quality of life left but his wife Bubby never left his side.
She spent every day doing the half-hour journey to feed him lunch and visit with him.
It was a test of endurance for them both which they handled well.
Allan had many friends and respect from a lot of people.
He had a very strong personality and people knew not to mess with him.
If Allan gave you his word or a handshake it was as good as a done deal.
The family would like to thank the staff at the Bella Coola Hospital for his exceptional care and kindness that he received while there.
He will be hugely missed by all who knew him and by his loving family.
May he now rest in peace.
We will always love you dad, you will never be forgotten.
There will be no service at his request.