Everett McGowin is being remembered as a kind person always willing to help others.
"If you ever wanted help with anything, he'd turn his hand to it. If it was something that needed fixing, he'd know how to fix it or he'd invent something to get the job done," said Chris Scurr, McGowin's neighbour. "Just the nicest guy you could ever meet. Genuinely nice."
McGowin, 74, died earlier this month after jumping in the river while attempting to save his wife Linda, who had fallen from the couple's boat, moored to their float home in the 4300-block of River Road West.
Neighbours rescued her but her husband was swept down the river. His body was recovered the next morning.
McGowin will be sorely missed, said Scurr, who had known him for about a decade.
He served on a local float home board and was a good contributor to the team, said Scurr, adding he held a barbecue each year for anybody in the float home community to enjoy.
Scurr added one of McGowin's favourite passions was fishing off his house.
Another of his neighbours, George Rust, said he remembers McGowin having "Huckleberry Finn" afternoons where he'd get his fishing rod out and stick it in the water, sitting there quietly.
"I think he really loved that
... quiet time," said Rust.
Between working on projects together and going off salmon fishing, Rust said he spent a fair bit of time with McGowin.
"He was remarkably resourceful," said Rust, adding he had a natural ability
with his hands while working through projects.
Scurr's wife Tonia recalled McGowin as a happy, easygoing guy and "just a lovely person.
"He was just a real handyman around the place, always willing
to give advice and help people," she said.
He and Linda, along with a few other neighbours, were over on Good Friday and had a wonderful evening, she added.
While over visiting for dinner, or entertaining at their own home, the couple would sit and hold hands, she said.
McGowin owned and operated the O.K. Boot Corral, a western wear store in Vancouver's Gastown. He had been in the footwear and boot business since 1959, the O.K. Boot Corral's website noted.
Don Bruchet, who knew McGowin through a local float home association, described him as a very hard worker and a kind person.
"He was a thinker before he spoke. Just a very, all around, good man."
A funeral will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Harris Barn in Ladner.
