William Exner Memorial Fund
William Exner, 1981-2005
William was the youngest of five children –the oldest baby died when living in the Arctic in 1974. He grew up with two older sisters (Kirsty and Amy) and an older brother (Iain) – all close in age. He went to Cook Avenue Elementary School, which was a happy environment for William.
William was the youngest of five children –the oldest baby died when living in the Arctic in 1974. He grew up with two older sisters (Kirsty and Amy) and an older brother (Iain) – all close in age. He went to Cook Avenue Elementary School, which was a happy environment for William.
Will loved to ski from an early age and mountain bike in summer. He went to Rossland Secondary School where he graduated from grade 12. He had many friends at school and they got together on occasion for movies, cribbage and a few beers. Will spent a year at Selkirk College taking courses while deciding on his next move. That move was to UBC to study Metals and Materials Engineering, which he completed in June 2005. Work placements from UBC took him to Hanover, Germany, as well as Kitimat, Hugh Keenleyside Dam and Teck Cominco.
Will also enjoyed travel. With family he visited Scotland twice. Then, there were two or three trips to Mexico and Honolulu; a family trip to Nevis in the Caribbean; and, meeting lots of relatives. Also, Will visited Australia where his brother Iain was playing professional rugby for the Gold Coast Breakers in Queensland.
Following studies at UBC, Will visited India and Nepal where he did the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas. He met some amazing people and had some hair-raising adventures during that time. He also got very sick and lost a lot of weight. He returned August 22, 2005.
Returning to Vancouver, Will was looking for work and had applied for jobs. After going to a big football game at the stadium with friends on September 18, 2005, he was walking home across the Granville Bridge and jumped off under a full moon on a warm evening around midnight. He had previously talked with his girlfriend Sarah about how he would like to try it. He had had too much to drink, as was found out later, and he was also a bit of a daredevil.
So many friends and family travelled to Vancouver to help with the search for Will. The search was called off after about a week. He was found not far from the bridge eleven days later. The community-at-large raised nearly $3,000 and $25,000 came from a life-insurance policy. This money was used to establish a fund with the Le Roi Foundation in Will’s memory. Will’s family wanted to leave a legacy in his name to help others in the Greater Trail Community, a community that had given so much to Will. Will’s family feel strongly about helping people with mental health problems and addictions.
Will with his father Richard and mother Trish
Will at Taj Mahal
Will’s mother Trish remembers her beloved son through this alphabetic listing of his characteristics.
A
Athletic, Aware of others. Love of Animals.
B
Bold. Bike riding. Colour Blue.
C
Courageous. Considerate. Caring. Cribbage. Nice Car
D
Daredevil. Determined. Diary with maps of detailed bike trails.
E
Endearing. Encouraging.
F
Fearless. William wore a t-shirt with “No Fear.” Friends were important.
G
Generous. Setting Goals.
H
Humorous. Humble. Huckleberries. Holidays (Scotland, Honolulu, Mexico, Australia).
I
Independent. Travel to India.
J
Jeopardy. Loved Jeopardy on TV.
K
Kathmandu. Travelled to Kathmandu, Nepal and India in 2005. Kitimat (work placement).
L
Good Listener.
M
Music, love of, movies… ’Braveheart’ a favourite.
N
Neighbourly. Night-owl.
O
Orderly with possessions.
P
Pearl Jam. Patient. Pepsi. Polite.
Q
Quiet by nature.
R
Relaxing company. Risk taker.
S
Sensitive to others. Not Showy. Sarah, longtime girlfriend. Loved Skiing.
T
Thoughtful. Tolerant
U
Uncle to nephew & niece.
V
Vector cereal.
W
Wilderness
X
Xmas. XL Welding –father’s business. X-ner!
Y
Youngest in family of 4.
Z
ZZZ liked to sleep.
Family update 2019 – 14 years later, present circumstances:
• Richard, Will’s father died in December 2018 in California
• Trish lives in Rossland
• Kirsty lives in Rossland with husband and two daughters (6 and 3 years) and is a physiotherapist
• Amy lives in Rossland with husband and two children (son 17 and daughter 15) and is a Registered nurse in Trail
• Iain lives in Procter with wife and three children (daughter 7, sons 5 and 3). He owns land and buildings at XL Welding and works in Trail part time as a welder and steel fabricator. They have animals at their place in Procter.
• Sara G, Will’s girlfriend is married to a classmate of Will’s from UBC and they have two daughters (4 and 2)
