DUNN, Terence Desmond “Terry”

August 10, 1952 — July 24, 2025

Terry had just finished mowing the lawn and was tending to his veggies when he passed away on July 24, 2025. The garden had become his favourite place to be, and his aptitude as a gardener was evident to anyone lucky enough to receive buckets of his tomatoes or bulbs of eye-watering Russian garlic. The deer couldn’t help themselves when it came to his towering blooms of sweet peas. There was no better afternoon for him than sitting out back playing hand after hand of card games with his favourite opponent, Trish, or entertaining family and friends.

He is survived by wife Trish; daughters Mandy (Karl), Liz (Aaron), and Vicky; stepchildren Madeleine, Suzanne, and Frankie; grandchildren Desirée (Ritchie), Colin (Ashton), Anika (Matthew), and Owen (Flynn); step grandchildren Zachary and Isabelle; great-grandchildren Levi, Asher, Ryder, Brynley, and Makinley; sister Audrey; and brother Mike (Susanna). He was predeceased by parents Sally and Joe.

Terry was born in Manchester, UK on August 10, 1952, with two years between both older brother Mike and younger sister Audrey. The family moved around the midlands before immigrating to Montreal in 1957. After a three-year stint, they returned to the UK by ocean liner, staying put until 1968 when they returned to Canada permanently, settling in Winnipeg.

After goofing off and daydreaming for much of secondary school, he went to work at Boeing in 1971. The same year, at the age of nineteen, he was overjoyed to welcome his first daughter, Mandy. With her arrival came the realization that being a dad was precisely what he was meant to do, and he fell into this new role with ease. He continued working at Boeing through the 70s before switching to sales in the 1980s, also making the move from Winnipeg to Kelowna with the advent of the new decade. After a few years of renovating a home, raising a litter of puppies, and enjoying the milder winters, he became a father again to angelic baby Liz in 1987. The little family traded orchards for oceans and headed to White Rock to continue his work for Mead Johnson and Gillette. After such good luck with his first two daughters, his third daughter Vicky arrived in 1990, more squawky than the other two combined.

Missing the dry heat of the Okanagan, they moved back to Lake Country in 1992. Sensing his boredom with sales, he began working at Investors Group in 1995, quickly starting his own business and remaining a financial planner until his long awaited retirement in May 2023. He found his other half in beloved wife Trish in 2005, finally tying the knot on August 18, 2018. Trish was the one to take care of Terry while he took care of everyone else.

Twenty-five winters were spent snowboarding at Big White, only stopping when his body couldn’t keep up. Countless early mornings were spent shouting at the TV watching Manchester United games with brother Mike and best friend Pete, especially during the golden era of Sir Alex Ferguson’s management. In his retirement he found a new treasured pastime in biking, covering tons of ground on the rail trail and downtown boardwalk, always finishing a ride with a nice lunch, cold drink, and the company of his fellow riders. Rediscovering his love of gardening, he got very serious about landscaping the flowerbeds around his home, growing an abundance of herbs and vegetables in his small but mighty plot, and boring everyone with demonstrations of his composter.

Nothing brought him more joy than being a family man, watching his brood expand with children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, stepchildren, and all the various four-legged friends over the years. The limits of his physical body were an evergrowing source of frustration, as he was so eager to live, love, and get on with it. If you were to ask him, he would tell you that he made every mistake in the book, which granted him incredible empathy and patience for those he loved as we stumbled through our poor decisions and life lessons. He was more than aware of his incredible luck, but was no stranger to hardship, such as continuing to support Manchester United in current times.

Losing dad feels like the guest of honour left the party early, especially as he was not ready to go. We are losing our greatest champion, the person who cheered loudest for us.

In lieu of flowers, please plan a wine tour with your loved ones, make a very large gin martini (Tanqueray only), and go on a bike ride – but not in that order!

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