FIPKE, Wayne Clifford

October 17, 1948 — March 16, 2022

Wayne Clifford Fipke passed away peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer. Wayne was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1948 to Ed and Anne Fipke. He lived with his family in Alberta from 1951 to 1961. Undoubtedly, his stories of mile-long walks to school as a kid through 6 ft of snow in -40-degree winters helped develop his famous outlook on life: Stay positive, and never give up!

Wayne moved with his parents and siblings, Chuck, Neil, and Carol to the Okanagan Valley to thaw out for a bit in 1962.  The Fipkes ended up in Peachland on a little farm that the family endearingly called “the shack”. Times were financially difficult for the Fipkes, but Wayne was dedicated to bettering himself. He was a curious and ambitious student through high school, and there was no doubt he was going to find a way to get to university.

Wayne always loved Bob Dylan and the 60s music scene, so it was no surprise Wayne met his future wife, Ava, at a hippy folk-singing circle. He fell in love with her voice, and they found themselves a couple during the 1969 “summer of love”. Inspired by the times, they promptly got married, bought a Volkswagen bus, and became the parents of twins, Asaph and Leila, the following year.  Through these early years, Wayne worked hard to support his family while he attended UBC pursuing his dream to have a career in the creative arts. He wrote plays, painted LOTR battles, did aerial photography, woodworking, and became an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy novels.   He graduated with Master of Fine Arts in 1973.  He was drawn back to his Alberta prairie roots just a year later, moving his young family back to Edmonton to become the Financial Director of Performing Arts for Alberta Culture. He was tasked with distributing arts grants to budding artists, which set in motion a career that mixed his passion for creativity and business.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Wayne also completed a Certificate in Arts administration at Harvard University in 1977.  This ultimately landed him the coveted job as the General Manager of the Citadel Theatre from 1977 to 1988.  It was one of the most memorable times of his life. During his tenure, he quadrupled the attendance at the theatre, hosted the Queen of England for a special performance, oversaw the creation of the Edmonton International Children’s Festival, wrote and directed several plays, and found endless inspiration among the play-writes, directors, designers, and actors.   At home as a father, he inspired his twin kids to act in plays at the Citadel, coached his son Asaph’s soccer team to win the provincial championships, and welcomed his 3rd child Johanna (his “little Hanny”, as he called her) into his exciting world.

Those who knew him well in the mid 80s, remember he wore his Indiana Jones-style hat during those years, probably as a reminder to himself that the next adventure is what defines you.  After over a decade at the Citadel, Wayne was itching for the next adventure.  Soon he and Ava found themselves back in the Okanagan with a brand-new baby son, Beau. It was here Wayne decided to go full “Indiana Jones” and to team up with his ambitious and adventurous older brother, Chuck, a geologist who had this crazy notion that there were diamonds hidden in the Canadian north.  Well, it turned out Chuck was right, and after some wild adventures prospecting in the Northwest Territories, Wayne helped his brother bring DiaMet public, and the company became one of the biggest success stories in Canadian mining history.

After stepping down as President of DiaMet in 1993, Wayne decided to retire and relax …. Well, not quite.  This was Wayne Fipke after-all!

The next stage of Wayne’s “retirement” years included designing and building a massive, multi-year construction project that expanded his lakeside home into a neo-classical estate. He also designed and built a chalet at Big White.   Even when he decided to take it easy for a few years he filled his life to the brim: He put in over 100 days a year snowboarding at Big White in the winter, wakeboarding on the lake in the summer, learned to fly a fixed-wing plane, wrote screenplays, and more than anything, loved hosting his kids and their growing families at the lake-side estate.  But then in his 60s, when most men are taking up golf, Wayne decided to buy a ranch in Beaverdell, BC, build a massive log mansion on it, stock it with 500 head of cattle, hire ranch hands, and become a real-life cowboy.  Wayne loved those years and the adventures that came with managing a dude ranch. But it was hard work for even a 20-year-old, let alone a man who had just officially become a senior citizen!  It might have been a kick in the knee by a wild stallion, or birthing a calf himself in minus 30 degrees, or maybe the fact he wanted to spend more time with his 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, but he finally decided to hang up his cowboy hat, and slow things down a bit.   But he still managed to clock in 100 days of snowboarding a year through his late 60s, and did a walking safari trip through Africa on his 70th birthday.

In the golden years of his life, Wayne was drawn to Christian teachings. Like many other things in his life, Wayne found deep inspiration in Jesus’s story. He wrote and self-published an epic poem, The Way In, about all the fun, crazy and bizarre adventures of Jesus Christ as a young man, the years the bible omitted from the story of Christ, before he had to become the Messiah.  This is a controversial topic to be sure, and yet a testament to Wayne’s boundless imagination and creativity.

Unfortunately, Wayne was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive terminal blood cancer in 2019 and given months to live.  He treated the diagnosis like he did those famous, cold Alberta winter walks to school as a child: Stay positive and never give up.  Throughout his illness, Wayne took the mission of fighting cancer to the next level; He read and researched incessantly about his disease, becoming a specialist in his own right of this rare form of cancer.  Armed with knowledge, he was able to advocate for himself and become an active participant, creating a treatment plan with his team of doctors. Wayne’s drive to find a cure led him to help fund with his best friend, Dave Mackenzie, a cutting-edge CAR-T cancer trial through BC Cancer.  The treatment miraculously ended up putting Wayne in complete remission.  Incredibly, 33 patients are still alive and cancer-free today because of the ground-breaking trial that he helped fund. Unfortunately, Wayne was one of the few patients that the treatment didn’t completely cure, and the cancer came back. He finally lost his battle after a 2 and half year fight and passed away surrounded by family and love. Wayne is no doubt embarking on a new and inspiring adventure wherever he is now.

Wayne Fipke always lived the inspired life he wanted to live. He never gave up, and always stayed positive.  It was cut too short for him, but his loved ones will remember him for his indomitable spirit, and love of life.

Rest in Peace, Wayne Fipke.  May your spirit live on. We love you.

A private memorial will be held at Springfield Funeral Home and friends and family are invited to attend.  Please contact Wayne’s immediate family for details.

A very special thank-you to the wonderful staff at BC Cancer for their exemplary commitment to Wayne’s treatment. Memorial donations may be made to BC Cancer’s Immunotherapy research, and expressions of sympathy may be made by scrolling down the page to the area called “Condolences”.