Walter "Hugh" Alfred Tattersall

Tattersall, Hugh born Jan. 28, 1937, died May 3, 2024.

Walter “Hugh” Alfred Tattersall died May 3 in Port Moody, BC surrounded by his loving children. Hugh was Born at the RAF officer’s barracks Wallingford, Berks. to Mary Tattersall (Bissett) and Walter Tattersall. He is predeceased by his wife, Vitty, his sister Diana and remembered lovingly by his children, Nick, Sarah (Martin), Natasha (Simon), Karen, Pamela and Philip and the grandchildren he adored, Kate, Georgia, Lexie, Sofia, Luke and Ava. He is also survived by siblings Elizabeth, Alinka and Danny.

He left home at an early age and got his life’s direction after a severe eye infection that required an extended hospital stay, there he met the first of many mentors who guided and advised him. This enabled him to get his cabinetry and joinery certification and apprentice as a cabinet maker in Exeter where his workmanship can still be seen in the pews of the Cathedral. Then he was encouraged to attend the Civil Engineering program at Manchester University where he excelled.

Hugh met his first wife, Eileen Sweet, at that time in Cheltenham, where he was known to spread the word of God on the High Street and motor from Devon to Manchester in his WW2 Panther Royal Enfield motorcycle and sidecar.

His diverse career included building a nuclear power station for the National Grid before moving to Canada in 1966 to work on the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In 1971 Hugh moved to Bolivia where he met his second wife Victoria (Vitty) Zilveti. They shared a joyful and loving marriage of 35 years raising children, working and traveling globally. Hugh’s work took him around the world, and he travelled to and lived in Latin America, Panama, Cuba, Europe, Armenia and more. Upon retirement Hugh and Vitty spent a memorable three years in Lima, Peru where he developed business for Canadian mining interests throughout the Andes before returning to Canada. They shared a happy and long-awaited honeymoon in the Cotswolds before retiring to Avondale, NS in 2002, to the farmhouse with the red barn.

Hugh was an avid reader and liked keeping well informed, he was very proud to have one of his letters published in the Globe and Mail: “So what if Brian Mulroney spent a fortune renovating Stornoway; perhaps he intends to stay there for a long time.”

In 2006, while working rebuilding schools for UNICEF in Indonesia after the Tsunami of 2004, his beloved Vitty was tragically killed in a MVA in 2006. Despite his crushing loss, Dad continued to be a vibrant member of the community and a present and loving father and grandfather to us all.

In 2022 Hugh moved to BC due to failing health and to be closer to his children and grandchildren.

Dad was known by all his family and friends for his love of life, love of good food, his generosity, his love for a glass of good whiskey or a pint, and his acerbic and lusty humour which his family will miss and remember fondly.

Hugh had a knack for always treating people who he dealt with in a respectful and accepting manner which made him well liked and appreciated wherever he went.

“Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” Dylan Thomas