A memorial will be held later this month for a longtime Coquitlam city councillor who died suddenly on Oct. 4.
Bill LeClair was 64.
LeClair was a municipal council member from 1983 to 2005 as well as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Coquitlam Foundation.
At the time of his death, LeClair was living in Sorrento and was a director of several companies including as an advisory member of the Silver Star Mountain Resort. He worked around the world, residing in England, Africa and the Philippines.
Coun. Mae Reid, who was elected to city council with LeClair in November ’83, said the two “were going to change the world but we soon learned that politics overcomes common sense.”
She added, “Bill worked hard and he was a very accomplished businessman with high integrity. He brought a level of expertise to the city as an accountant. He was also a true gentleman.”
A Centennial secondary and UBC graduate, LeClair was familiar with civic affairs as his father, Ray, was a Coquitlam city manager.
Retired city manager Norm Cook, who knew LeClair from when he was hired in 1990, said the two became friends outside of the council chambers.
"He was great. He was a listener and level-headed," Cook told The Tri-City News on Monday. "He didn't get caught up in the emotion of situations. He could see an approach taken by different people and respected them for that, and made his own decision. He was a very independent thinker."
Retired parks department head Don Cunnings said he recruited LeClair to work as a Coquitlam lifeguard when he was in high school and at university.
As a city councillor, "he was outstanding," Cunnings remembered. "I saw a lot of council members come and go over the years and he stands at the top of the pile. He gave so freely of himself and he equipped himself so well, including academically. To have someone with a bachelor of commerce on council was quite a gift to the community."
Cunnings said LeClair had the right personality to run for mayor and disappointed many people when he didn't.
LeClair leaves behind his high school sweetheart, Sharon; two daughters, Lindsey and Rebecca; and four grandchildren. He is predeceased by his youngest daughter Carleigh, a Type 1 diabetic who died in 2008.
• A celebration of life will be held at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver on Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. Donations to the Bill Clair Community Fund — via the Coquitlam Foundation — are accepted in his memory.
