July 12, 1936 - June 11, 2020
Roland (Rollie) Bourgeois passed away peacefully of natural causes on June 11, 2020 in his home in Williams Lake with his family at his side.
Rollie was born in Kamloops July 12, 1936. He lost his mother, Mary Williams, when he was 3 years old. He spent his early years at Dog Creek until grade 3 and spent grade 4 in New Westminster before returning to Dog Creek for grade 5. After grade 5 he went to live with his father, Marcel Bourgeois, at the Gang Ranch. There he stayed until his late teens.
He had many jobs in those years, mostly cowboying at Gang Ranch and Scallon Ranch working with many of the Chilcotin's well known cowboys over the years. He often talked about the days at the Gang Ranch taking movie stars out pheasant hunting or giving them the cowboy experience. Rollie found better pay working in the logging industry starting work for Cattermole Tretheway in the early 1970s. He continued running and maintaining equipment for local logging companies, and spent his final years working at Nazko Logging until his retirement in 2010. Rollie had two daughters, Yvette and Rolanda, with Lila Sellers from Sugar Cane.
His world revolved around making sure they had everything they needed. Spending time in the outdoors and spending a weekend camping somewhere west of the Fraser were a few of Rollie's favorite pastimes. With the arrival of his two grandchildren, Deveny & Kaelan, Rollie spent as much time as he could with them. He was the grandpa every child dreams about.
He spent his last years working in his shop building things for the special people in his life and always had a project on the go. He will be missed very much by his family and close friends.
There is a place in heaven that has a bench overlooking a river with the birds singing and a cat laying on his lap. Giving you a wink and a smile. Until we meet again.