Yvonne Klan

Yvonne Klan passed away in the early evening of October 4, 2004. Yvonne was Peter’s partner of many years both personally and professionally. She was a dear friend of the Trower family for more than sixty years.

Yvonne was an inspiration to Peter Trower and a number of books are dedicated to her. In particular, the book A Ship Called Destiny is subtitled “Yvonne’s Book”. As Greg Potter so eloquently put it:

“[the book] celebrates the lease on life provided him by the sharp mind and gentle soul that is Yvonne Klan. Quite fittingly, it is written in glorious verse.”

An author in her own right, Yvonne published numerous articles on the history of British Columbia such as “The Lone Man: Founding of Fort St. John” and “The Apprenticeship of James Murray Yale” for The British Columbia Historical News. She was also a contributor to The Encyclopedia of British Columbia. In 2004, Yvonne published her book The Old Red Shirt: Pioneer Poets of British Columbia.

Yvonne also contributed a number of the photos of Peter that are out in the world, including the original work for artwork used on our site.

A memorial service in Yvonne’s honour will be held at the West Van Senior Center on Saturday November 13. More details will be supplied when they are available.