Michael Leonard von Zuben

I knew Mike when we both attended West Van High School in the late 1950s, where he was known as "Mick." However, our friendship truly blossomed when we took similar courses at UBC. During the 1961 Christmas break at UBC, he and Judi traveled with Heather Scott and me in my 1947 Chevrolet to Vernon to join others on a ski holiday at SilverStar Mountain.

After UBC graduation, our career paths took us in different directions until 1976, when we both moved to Toronto to take a job and discovered that Mike was also working there. We reconnected shortly after both he and Judi, and Heather and I had moved into our new west coast-style homes north of Toronto. Both of our families lived about the same distance north of Toronto, but we were in Pottageville, about 30 km west of their home near Balantrae. We had a lot in common, both having lived in Europe, having a daughter and son, and building new homes in the countryside north of Toronto. We enjoyed many exchange visits and particularly enjoyed cross-country skiing on their pine tree-covered acreage and savouring each other’s homemade maple syrup and apple cider.

After a 5-year stint in Germany, we returned to our Pottageville home in 1985 and resumed our friendship with the von Zubens and were pleased to be invited to Michael’s wedding in 1990. In 1993, we left Ontario for good to take a UN job in Geneva, Switzerland, which lasted just over 7 years. In the late 1990s, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a visit from Mike and Judi when they rode their bicycles all the way from Belgium to Switzerland.

I retired to West Vancouver in December 2000. By this time, Mike and Judi were living on their boat on the West Coast, which made it difficult to connect with them, but we did arrange to meet them on their boat while they were wintering in Victoria Harbour. They also came on their boat once to visit us at our property on Gambier Island. While they were moving into their new home on Bowen Island, they attended our daughter’s wedding in November of 2002. It was immediately after the wedding that we found out that Judi’s cancer had returned. We kept in touch by phone with Mike during his difficult time caring for Judi during her declining months. Our next meeting with him was at Judi’s celebration of life ceremony at the West Van United Church, where we were married in 1964.

During his years as a widower, we kept in touch with Mike when he wasn’t away traveling. He came to visit us on Gambier Island by himself in July of 2003, and in August of 2008, he came again, this time on his kayak from Bowen Island. On a very stormy day in November of 2006, Mike and I traveled by BC Ferries to visit with an old high school friend, Dave Rolston, who was visiting from Montreal at his family cottage at Hopkins Landing. In the two winters leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mike joined friends and me for three cross-country ski outings at the Olympic Nordic venue in Callaghan Valley. On one occasion, he surprised us with the accuracy of his target shooting on the biathlon course. At the 50th high school reunion in May of 2009, we made a point of getting Mike and Kathleen together, which was the start of their lasting friendship. In subsequent years, we got together with them at both of their homes and at our property on Gambier Island.

In July of 2021, Mike got on his e-bike and joined friends and me for a ride around Stanley Park, and, later in early October, he joined the same group for a bike ride on Bowen Island that was organized by Court Brousson. Also, in October of 2021, Heather and I participated with friends in one of Mike’s hatchery tours. In March of 2023, we were upset to learn that Mike had been admitted for what turned out to be a lengthy stay in the 4-West sub-acute medicine unit at the Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. On 31 March, I took him a small birthday cake in the hospital to help him celebrate his 82nd birthday, which was that day.

After he finally got settled at the German-Canadian Care Home, we visited with him several times, including taking him out for lunch three times. He was always pleased to see us, had no trouble remembering our names, and always politely thanked us for our visits when leaving. During his stay in care homes and hospitals, we appreciated getting updates on his condition from both Lea and Kathleen.

We will cherish these memories of our friendship with Mike, dating back to our days at West Van High School.

Peter and Heather Scholefield

When we were children, the world was a simpler place.

My older brother Mike and I lived in West Van as kids. Our family had cabins - Skunk Hollow and then Sno Foolin - on Hollyburn Mountain where we spent many, many weekends. That’s where Mike learned to ski. I think it’s also where his love of the out of doors began. His passion for skiing, hiking and snowshoeing would follow him throughout his lifetime.

When we weren’t on Hollyburn we built tree forts across the street from where we lived on Mathers, and played there with the McCuaig’s, Linda Williams and other neighbourhood friends.

As teenagers we went swimming at Dundarave beach and fished off the pier. When Mike wasn’t having fun with his buddies, he was folding and delivering thousands of newspapers during the years he had his paper route.

At Pauline Johnson elementary, Inglewood Junior High and West Van high school Mike was a top student. His scholastic success inspired me to work harder for better grades, which I accomplished, and for that I give credit to my brother.

Mike went on to UBC and eventually to IBM where he was posted first in Calgary, then Brussels and finally Ontario, where he retired.

Mike and Judi lived in Europe, boated in the Caribbean, piloted Mañana up to Alaska. Their love of travel and adventure inspired John and I and we followed in their footsteps as often as we could.

At Judi’s passing, I finally felt I was able to give something back to my big brother. I was there with Mike in her final moments, providing comfort when he needed it the most.

In our later years, at happier times, we shared trips with Mike to Palm Springs, Costa Rica and cruised through the Panama Canal. We celebrated many Christmas dinners together in various locales like Bowen Island, False Creek, Delta and Harrison Mills.

The world is a different place than it was when we were growing up. And of course it’s a little emptier now without Mike. But I have all those wonderful memories of Mike to cherish and I’m grateful for them, and for the influence he had on my life.

On behalf of the Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club I’d like to express our sincere condolences to you for the loss of your father and grandfather. I’d also like you to know what a hugely positive impact Mike has had on our Club and its activities in supporting Pacific salmon through his nearly 20 years of volunteering in the maintenance and operation of the island’s salmon hatchery and associated streamkeeping activities.
It’s my understanding that Mike’s involvement started in the Fall of 2002, when he came upon Bill Rush, in the middle of Killarney Creek at the Bridal Veil Falls fish ladder. Bill was struggling to return salmon back into the ladder after the fish had been washed out of the ladder during a high flow, storm event. Mike lent a hand and became hooked on salmon enhancement efforts. He recognized he could contribute and committed to improving the chances of these magnificent creatures in their struggle to survive and thrive within Bowen’s creeks.
Mike’s science background, combined with an innate curiosity and ‘can-do’ attitude made him the perfect person to grow within the club.
Bill Rush became a longtime mentor to Mike. He introduced him to Bill Newport, who’s administrative and record keeping skills were much appreciated. For many years Mike worked directly with DFO’s Community Advisor, Rod Bell-Irving, who supported the club financially and answered many of Mike’s technical questions that would inevitably arise from operating the hatchery. In the years I’m aware of, peak production of salmon fry reached over 220,000 under Mike’s supervision (2016). As part of the BIFWC team Mike and other Board members, including current President Tim Pardee, were able to access funds generously donated by the Pacific Salmon Foundation for numerous local enhancement projects.
Mike liked to tell stories about projects he’d worked on. One of those streamkeeping projects Mike was intimately involved with was the enhancement of spawning bed gravels located at the base of the Bridal Veil Falls fish ladder. The project involved importing and placing spawning substrate, gravels and cobbly material, suited for that purpose. Sounds easy except that the closest place a truck could deliver material was located 50 feet above a very steep embankment that led down to the spawn area. The elegant solution worked out between Mike and Eddie Weismiller was to dump the material into a chute that ran down much of the embankment. Sounds good, until with the first delivery, Mike and a few other hearty volunteers found themselves directly in range of ricochetting cobbles and gravels as they bounced and flew out in a fan near the chute base. This ‘near-death’ experience, with the Cannonball-Express delivery method, was effective but caused Mike to be a bit more cautious on future projects. These spawning gravels are once again attracting adult salmon returns this season.
Mike stayed curious, even as he wound down from hatchery operations. When an opportunity came up in 2019 to explore climate change through local stream temperature monitoring Mike again volunteered. He led the field monitoring and data collection effort until 2021.
Finally, I’d like to say that Mike was a mentor to me. He made volunteering, not only possible, but enjoyable and, to say the least, entertaining, for which I’ll be forever grateful.

Mike’s legacy can be seen in:
• the continued return of salmon to the local streams,
• a functioning hatchery program,
• a stream keeping group that is actively monitoring, developing and maintaining stream enhancement structures, and
• making others aware of the precious resource that salmon represent and how they are reflective of ecosystem health.

Mike von Zuben changed my life.

I was a camper. I liked smoky campfires, tents and provincial parks.

Then I met Mike, and everything changed. Mike showed me a bigger world. Hawaii, the Caribbean, bread pudding.

Wait. What? Bread pudding? Yeah, I’ll get to that in a moment.

Mike was a talker. And an adventurer. I was a listener.

His tales of foreign lands, exotic places and tropical climates hooked me. Mike lived large. Made me want to do the same.

Pat and I were married back in 1975. Mike came in from Ontario to give the bride away. He was always there for her, and us.

A little later, Patricia and I joined Mike and Judi in Hawaii. No smoky campfires here. Beautiful beaches, warm ocean water into which I learned to snorkel. Hey, this was nice!

In the eighties Mike and Judi invited us to the British Virgin Islands. Two weeks on their yacht, Mañana. The Caribbean was stunning. Even more stunning was what Mike had on board. He had ice, a blender, gallons of Piña Colada mix and lots of potent Caribbean rum. I already knew about those things but what was new was the recipe. A guarded secret. The von Zuben Painkiller, Mike called his special concoction. Wow! On that trip the blender got a real workout every afternoon at four o’clock. Thanks Mike, thanks Judi. The vacation was the best I’d ever had.

Made me hungry for more.

Later, Mike took his family to Alaska on a Holland America cruise ship.

Afterward, he spent hours telling us about it. He described the trip in great detail. The inlets, the glaciers, the bread pudding - the desert Holland America prides itself on.

A short time after that, when Patricia and I had saved up enough money, we booked a Panama Canal cruise. Mike came along to show us newbies all about cruising. He introduced us to the buffet.

Mike said, “Here’s the bread pudding I was telling you about.”

The rest is history. I’ve been overweight ever since.

Oh, the times we had! Canoeing on a lake in Ontario in a downpour so fierce it felt like Niagara Falls. On board a jet during a blizzard in Toronto, waiting to be de-iced before flying to Miami. Blizzard, storm, de-icing. Didn’t bother Mike. He was the most relaxed guy I’d ever met.

In Palm Springs we played a painful round of golf at Mesquite. That’s one thing we had in common: our golf games sucked.

In an open air restaurant on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua I tried to show off my Spanish when I ordered a café con leche (coffee with milk). Mike, whose Spanish was, well, fractured, tried to follow suit when he told the Spanish speaking server, “ Café blanco.” Which translates to white coffee. The puzzled expression on the face of the waitress, and the memory of it, still makes us smile.

I think the poor woman was mystified, where on earth could she find white coffee for the gringo guest? Anyway, maybe you had to be there but it sure seemed funny at the time!

There were many, many shared Christmas dinners - Bowen Island, False Creek, Delta, Harrison Mills. Mike liked to help out in the kitchen, tinkering, supervising. His contribution to the menu was a baked brie and cranberry appetizer. Delicious. I often gorged myself on it until I had no room for the turkey that followed.

On Pat’s surprise 50th birthday party, celebrated at Monk McQueen’s in False Creek, Pat was so excited at seeing daughter Lori who had secretly flown down from Whitehorse for the event, that when Mike (who had flown in from distant Stouffville) strode up to the table, indicated the empty chair beside his sister and inquired, “Is this seat taken?” Pat merely glanced at him, replied, “No it’s not,” and returned her focus to Lori. It made Mike smile, being ignored by distracted Pat. But a moment later his sudden appearance sunk in and Pat gave him a rib-crunching hug. That tale also makes us chuckle even to this day. But again, maybe you had to be there to appreciate the humour.

Everywhere we went - Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, Australia, Mike’s footprints were there ahead of us.

When we learned of Mike’s passing we were. - where else? - on a cruise ship. And gazing out over the sun-dazzled blue water, remembering the good times, we could sense his presence, his approval. From that moment on we knew that wherever we travelled, he would be with us.

Mike, thank you for showing us the way. Thanks for the fun, the laughter, the memories. I was, and am, honoured to be your brother-in-law.

Mike and I were close friends during the last sixteen years of his life. At our 50th high school reunion, mutual friends--the Frosts and the Scholefields--made sure we had the chance to connect. We had both lost our life partners and our friends knew we had much to share. Having a companion who understood the magnitude of losing a life partner was just so much easier and more fun than moving on alone!

Together we explored more than fifteen countries, often with friends. So many of our travels were enriched by the friends we brought from our earlier, separate lives and by our previous travel experiences. A highlight for me was going to the Oberammergau Passion Play: five performance decades after my grandmother had attended in 1960. There were many other standouts: riding in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia, having close-up encounters with tigers in Ranthambore, driving over the volcanic destruction on La Palma, exploring Rome from an apartment overlooking Trevi Fountain, and sailing with Windstar through the Greek Islands. We enjoyed road trips around Sicily, down the coast of Croatia and along the "Fairy-tale Road" through Germany.

Back home, a road trip to see Pat and John in Palm Springs led us to hike in Bryce Canyon and Mike got to indulge his passion for organ music at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. --I always appreciated Mike's indulgence in my passion for swimming wherever we went that the water was warm...enough! We celebrated Canada Day in Ottawa one year, saw Chris graduate from high school and Ella from elementary, flew with Bill Hone over Prince Edward County in his owner-built airpane. Closer to home there were good times on Hollyburn (even a night spent in "Snowfoolin''), on Bowen, at Sandy Hook, and on the the waters and shores of Sechelt Inlet. Mike's unfailing willingness to help with maintenance tasks at the cabin was greatly appreciated.

We relied on each other through life's challenges, and we recognized our good fortune in having the special relationship we'd enjoyed as we aged. Even through the many months in care, Mike brightened with our connection. Here's to reunions and old friends!

I've looked through the myriad of pictures that record our times together and have sent a sampling for Lea to downsize and add here as she sees fit. They show more than words the "joie de vivre" Mike brought to his elder years--and mine.

My favourite memory of Mike is being able to almost see his smile over the phone.

We always had a lot of laughs particularly as it relates to his travels and travel stories. The best one's will stay secret between us.

Anytime I talked to Mike, he made my day better!!

Growing up with Mike:
Mike and I crossed paths on many fronts, from daily treks to school, paper routes, scouting, weekends on Hollyburn Mountain, travel, and as a part of a group of friends who had a share of Mike’s life for almost 75 of his years.
We all lived in the same 2 block neighborhood to start with, and we were all around the same age, and all progressed through our lives on a very similar timeline. We all had paper routes which ran in the same direction, but were a street apart allowing us to swap certain customer deliveries for convenience.
In later years, we all utilized a cabin on Hollyburn where we took many climbs to the peak on weekend ski jaunts, or over to the Hollyburn Lodge , for weekend parties took place, or on occasions to Westlake.
Then came the period when we gained access to cars and driving, and one of us had a car, and we all had it’s benefit for outings to car races and derby’s, and always to White Spot drive-in.
Of course, girl friends, group parties and then serious relationships, and our marriages then took precedence in our lives and our careers and families ensued, separating us only by distance, but we maintained our contact. In later years, Mike joined with Dorothy and I, and some family members, on a tour to China, and then a few other voyages with Kath. Mike also joined us for a weekly golf game, until one day, he just said I quit.
It’s been a bit of a difficult time for the last few years as Mike’s condition changed, but he always recognized me, but failed to recall many of our other friends or activities we had shared.
Don Frost

To witness Mike in the midst of a passionate conversation about the salmon ladders on Bowen island was truly a priviledge. His enthusiasm and excitement lit up the misty, rainy day. What an amazing, story spinning man who will be missed greatly. All my love to Emily, Lea, David and Ellis <3