The ACC mourns the passing of Jay (James) MacArthur
Remembering Jay MacArthur 1957 - 2022
It is with great sadness we share the news that Jay MacArthur has passed.
The timing of Jay's death was a surprise to those who knew him despite the fact he had survived more than a year with a terminal cancer diagnosis. In spite of all of us knowing that it was coming, he made such an impression at the ACC Vancouver executive meeting on September 21, 2022 by appearing as active and vigorous as ever. He was gone only three weeks later.
Right up to the end, he was very active on the Vancouver Section executive, the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC and the Friends of Garibaldi Park Society.
Please join us in extending our condolences to his wife Lucy, his daughters Janine and Deanna, and his three grandchildren. He will be missed in many ways by many people.
A message From Jay’s family via the ACC Vancouver Section
Jay discovered he had an aggressive metastatic prostate cancer, resistant to treatment, in November 2021. After 6 weeks in the hospital in the cardiac unit and ICU, he was diagnosed with Pulmonary tumour thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) which are microscopic pulmonary tumours that lead to severe pulmonary hypertension, breathlessness, and death. There is no cure. He was given a few short weeks to live and was told his treatment wouldn’t work and transferred to palliative on oxygen support.
However, instead of getting worse, he began to improve, and he was given the miracle of living 10 more months. In this time, he was able to enjoy time with family, friends, and on a few good days, was able to hike, ski, climb, attend music concerts, and enjoy his new ebike. He was able to meet his first grandson, Luke James Koldyk.
Jay entered Lions Gate hospital on October 6 and unexpectedly died peacefully due to rapidly increasing oxygen needs. We know he is now in heaven with Jesus. He will be deeply missed by many.
Details of a Celebration of Life will be shared at a later date.
Recipient of the ACC Distinguished Service Award and the Silver Rope for Leadership Award.
From the ACC Gazette, Spring 2022 edition, excerpt written by Paul Geddes
Jay MacArthur joined The Alpine Club of Canada in 1973 while he was still in high school. A few years later he joined the UBC Varsity Outdoor Club while studying electrical engineering. He soon found the opportunity to share his mountaineering skills with other members.
In 1979 he started his decades-long service as a member of the executives of the ACC Vancouver Section as well as the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia. In 1980 he served his first term as FMCBC president and took on the position of ACC Vancouver Assistant Chair.
In the early 1980s Jay became a founding member and served as president of the Southern Chilcotin Wilderness Society. The society’s work eventually led to the establishment of South Chilcotin and Big Creek Provincial Parks. In 2001, Jay was awarded the ACC’s Distinguished Service Award for his environmental work after being nominated by the Vancouver Section.
During his decades in the mountains, Jay has practised safe climbing and backcountry skiing while participating in the leadership of ACC section camps to many Coast Mountain locations. In 2021 the Vancouver Section nominated Jay for the ACC’s coveted Silver Rope for Leadership Award. In support of his nomination Bruce Fairley wrote, “Personally, I feel very fortunate to have encountered such a steady and capable climber early in my climbing career. Jay was a great inspiration to me and a stellar role model in terms of his enthusiasm, knowledge and high level of competence.”
Due to his serious cancer diagnosis his Silver Rope for Leadership Award pin was presented to him in the lobby of the Lions Gate Hospital on December 17, 2021 in front of a gathering of family and friends.
Words from Jay's Tim Jones Community Service Award
“Jay MacArthur was born on the North Shore. At that time his family lived in a house that his Grandfather had built on the Mount Seymour Parkway. After obtaining a degree in electrical engineering at UBC and getting married. Jay and Lucy raised their two daughters in North Vancouver. Their family home is still there today.
In 1973 while still in high school Jay joined the Alpine Club of Canada and the British Columbia Mountaineering Club. He soon after found himself an enthusiastic participant in his first mountaineering course. While studying at UBC, he joined the Varsity Outdoor Club where he found the opportunity to teach other members basic mountaineering skills. His first trip leading other VOC members was to Mount Seymour. In 1977 he was elected president of the VOC.
When he graduated Jay started his working career with Telus, designing phone networks and fibre optic cable installations. Jay remained with Telus until 2020 when he retired at age 63. Jay was also a dedicated church member who worked with youth groups on the North Shore focusing their attention to the outdoors.
In 1979 he joined the executive of the Vancouver Section where he held several positions over several decades. As well, he joined the executive of the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia and in 1980 he served his first term as president and also took on the position of ACC Vancouver assistant chair. At the same time he served seven years with the Whistler Mountain Volunteer ski patrol.
In the early 1980s Jay became a founding member, serving as president and vice-president, of the Southern Chilcotin Mountains Wilderness Society. Also representing the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. and working closely with Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government this work eventually led to the establishment of two B.C. Provincial Parks: South Chilcotin Mountains and Big Creek. Continuing environmental studies lead to further successes in the early 1990s with protection for the Chilko Lake and Ts’ilos area.
For several decades Jay had sat on the Rec & Con Committee of the FMCBC and through the work of this committee was involved in most of the hiking trail projects that took place on the North Shore. As early as 1980, Jay was instrumental in obtaining federal government grant money for work on the Howe Sound Crest Trail. More recently Jay had worked on establishing the Grouse Mountain Regional Park and improvements to the trail system at Cypress Provincial Park.
In the past year Jay had met with key stake holders including provincial government ministers on a number of occasions to discuss various projects. A bridge installation over the Fitzsimmons Creek to provide access to the Singing Pass Trail leading into Garibaldi Provincial Park is very important to the outdoor community. Another access bridge project that Jay had prepared reports on is the Roe Creek Bridge. Jay was the ACC representative on the Smoke Bluffs Committee in discussions with the District of Squamish. An ongoing project of Jay’s was establishing a hiking trail maintenance Wordpress data base for not only the North Shore but the entire province. Jay was the go to person for parking access issues in the Sea-to-Sky corridor as well as Cypress and Mount Seymour Provincial Parks. When comments were needed from the outdoor community Jay was often interviewed by the media.
In 2001 the ACC Vancouver Section recognized Jay’s environmental work with the ACC Distinguished Service Award.
Over the decades Jay has practised safe climbing and backcountry skiing with the best climbers and skiers of his generation in the Vancouver area. In addition to exploring the Coast Mountains Jay’s other favourite destinations were the Bugaboos and Yosemite. In the 1980s Jay found himself participating in the leadership of Alpine Club section camps to many Coast Mountain locations: Tantalus Range, Pantheon Range, Nirvana Pass, Mount Waddington area, Tchaikazan Valley, and Mount Rainer.
Jay had always made it his mission to train first time enthusiasts in safe backcountry skills including winter avalanche safety. He had inspired others to follow in his path of being a custodian of our mountains through land preservation, trail development to lessen impact on the land and then the ongoing maintenance of the trails.
The ACC Vancouver Section honoured Jay in 2021 with a nomination for the ACC’s coveted Silver Rope for Leadership Award. Jay’s peers who supported his Silver Rope for Leadership award nomination express high regard for him.”
Jay’s impact ON our community
Over the course of his lifetime Jay has been a steward of the land, an educator and a community leader who was still volunteering in this way right up until his passing. Through his passion and enthusiasm he brought many people into the outdoors by providing mentorship of youth and adults. He worked with Indigenous groups, past and present, on access to and preservation of our mountainous regions and was the Access and Environment Director for the ACC Vancouver Section. Despite his cancer diagnosis in 2021 Jay continued volunteering his time to the management of the ACC and working on environmental projects for the FMCBC. Jay was a community leader that we can all be proud of.
Read Jay’s obituary in the North Shore News.