Умер Оуэн Байерс, экс-мэр Ойл-Спрингс и ключевой защитник сельского здравоохранения

Owen Byers, former Oil Springs mayor, remembered for his dedication to rural health care Owen Byers, a former Lambton County warden and mayor of Oil Springs, has died. Article content Owen Byers, a former Lambton County warden and mayor of Oil Springs, has died. Byers died Monday at the age of 86, said an obituary by Needham Jay Funeral Home in Petrolia. Recommended Videos Along with the many years he spent on village council in Oil Springs, Byers was a long-serving chairperson of the foundation for the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital of Bluewater Health in Petrolia. “He was incredibly kind and lovely” and showed “strong pride in the work that he did in respect to rural health care,” said Kathy Alexander, executive director of the Bluewater Health Foundation. “His role in the CEEH foundation is one that really led to so much investment happening for CEEH of Bluewater Health for many, many years,” she said. “He was a great advocate,” Alexander said. “He believed in what was happening in Petrolia and he was just so proud to be part of that.” As well as being instrumental in work the hospital’s formerly separate foundations did together, Byers was always fun to speak with and he “had so much pride” in his children and grandchildren, Alexander said. “He had a remarkable life and I got to hear a lot of great stories,” she said. “He’s certainly going to be very missed.” Byers retired after working as a driver for Suncor. He began serving on Oil Springs council in the mid-1970s and was the village’s reeve and then mayor, after the title for the head of council changed, from 1981 to 1997. In 1993, he was elected warden of Lambton County council. Byers was chairperson of the foundation at the Petrolia hospital site when Alexander began her role with Bluewater Health Foundation 15 years ago and he continued as chairperson for several more years after that. He was also “an incredible supporter” of the Bluewater Health Foundation, attending and supporting its fundraisers and events, Alexander said. That included volunteering at an annual fundraising golf tournament held this week in honour of his memory, she said. Byers transitioned from the chairperson’s role several years ago but continued serving as a member of the foundation’s board, Alexander said. “He was actually still involved in the decision-making that led us to the amalgamation of both the foundations, recently,” she said. When Bluewater Health was created years ago with the merger of local hospitals, foundations at Sarnia General and St. Joseph’s hospitals in Sarnia also merged, but the foundation in Petrolia continued to operate independently and relying entirely on volunteers, Alexander has said. The two foundations formally joined together on April 1. “He was an active participant in the process,” Alexander said. “He made sure we remembered the history of the CEEH Foundation in every single decision that we made and that will definitely be something that will be part of his legacy.”