Obituaries

Daniel John Sjoberg January 18, 1944 - October 10, 2021

How do you write an obituary for a man that deserves a novel or possibly a saga.

Daniel Sjoberg passed away peacefully during the night of October 10 at the age of 77. His spirit floated away in a dazzling display of Northern Lights following.

‘Dan the man’, ‘Bookem Dano’, ‘Dad’, ‘Grumps’ was born in Nelson BC, where he loved to ski and get up to mischief with his sisters. After school he studied education at UVIC where he met his wife and love of his life Shirley. Dan’s ‘adventurous’ spirit led them to teaching up north in Fort St John and Fort Rae, NWT. Dan loved his sled dogs, cat, fishing, sneaking communal wine, and watching the Northern Lights dance across the Arctic sky. He also enjoyed learning and recording the Dogrib language and embracing First Nations art and culture. There are many stories of near misses with death or scaring the boots off Shirley in late spring skidoo rides across a thawing Great Slave Lake, but we will save these for his celebration.

After the births of their children Ryan and Svea, it was time to move back to the warmth of BC. Dan moved the family to Penticton, changed careers and ran a contract logging company until his retirement. He knew everything about forests.

Dan loved skiing at Apex and taught both his children the love of the slopes. He also loved golfing around the valley, fishing in local lakes, and trips to ocean lodges. There were countless camping trips but never at campsites and always off road in the wilderness. Often these roads weren’t ‘technically’ passable but Dan somehow found the way.

Dan also loved too much whiskey and rye, and in later years, should have retrained as a winemaker because there is no bottle of wine or winery he hasn’t tried! His wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and son-in-law will deeply miss his punctual 3pm texts reminding everyone to bring him home more wine.

He and Shirley were both avid travellers and enjoyed Arizona, Australia, Portugal, UK, Singapore, Jamaica, Japan, and Mexico until Dan was no longer able to travel abroad. He and Shirley then bought a house on wheels and explored the vast wilderness of BC, Alaska and Alberta.

In his last years, Dan couldn’t get out as much as he would like to and he enjoyed the simple pleasures of micromanaging everyone in the house, crosswords outside in the backyard over coffee, afternoon naps, yelling at the 6 pm news, and of course wine with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy blasting in the background. He very much appreciated his close friends who came to visit him at home in the last few months. These were some of his favourite people. Jack & Marion, George & Bev, Bev B, Lyle & Anne, Jerry & Pat, Alvin & Janice, David(s), Adele & Louise.

Dan is survived by his grieving family and we miss him so much already. His wife Shirley who he loved so deeply, his son and forever golf partner Ryan (Tara), his daughter Svea who he passed on all his love of the backcountry to (Jared); Grandchildren Brayden (Hayden), Jordan (Larissa), Amon - his twin, Lucia & Abigail - his sweethearts, Knox - his best caretaker, and his great granddaughter Delilah. He is also survived by his adoring sisters Louise and Adele, Great Aunt Thelma, and many close relatives.

Thank you to Dr. Ingram, Dr. Broder, Marty RT, Carrie & Rhonda (nurses), and the nurses at Moog & friends Hospice House.

Dan would love everyone to raise a glass of Pinot Gris or Riesling to him (or a special brownie) but due to Covid, a celebration will follow in the spring. In the meantime enjoy every ounce of life with the people you love and on cold clear nights check the sky where you might catch a glimpse of Dan amongst the Aurora.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to his children and grandchildren so they can annoy him in the afterlife by getting tattoos in his memory. Kidding :) Please donate to the Ancient Forest Alliance https://ancientforestalliance.org ; Doctors without Borders doctorswithoutborders.ca ; BC SPCA or the Penticton Soupeteria

Condolences may be shared by visiting https://www.everdenrust.com/obituaries/Daniel-John-Sjoberg?obId=22701187#/celebrationWall

• Oct 22, 2021
  Shirley, Ryan (Tara), Svea and family,
  
  Our heartfelt condolences over the loss of Danny. Thinking of you all during this difficult time.
  
  Nicole and Jason Ritchie and
  
  Christine and Peter Adams

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