Tribute

Peter “Nelson” Lindy passed at Mariposa Gardens in Osoyoos on May 7, 2013 at the age of 81 years. Nelson was born August 9, 1931 at Arnprior, Ontario to Michael and Colombe Lindy.

From an early age, Nelson decided he wanted to be an electrician, a trade he relished from the start. When he moved to BC in the early 1960’s, there were many opportunities for electricians in Northern BC as Premier WAC Bennett had the vision and foresight to expand the north to open up the whole province. Nelson was an industrial electrician and built sub-stations for BC Hydro and various contractors. It was an exciting time for him and he rose to the challenges of making do with what was available at the time. On April 9, 1968, Nelson was severely injured in a sub-station accident in Prince George. Both of his arms were badly burned and they had to be amputated above the elbow at VGH. After several months in the hospital and at GF Strong Rehabilitation, he went back to work for BC Hydro in the Safety Department at Vancouver, an amazing accomplishment for a bilateral upper arm amputee in BC to do so then. Nelson was mechanically-minded and had no problem figuring out how to operate his prosthetic arms. He was always thinking and inventing ways of making things easier for himself to do.

Nelson met the love of his life, Lorraine, in 1968 and they were married in Vancouver in 1972. Both of them continued to work in Vancouver until they retired early and moved to Rock Creek in 1989 where they had spent many years planning and building a house. Rock Creek was a special place for them and they loved to live there. The novelty of daily visits from the deer never diminished except Lorraine did get a little tired of them eating all her flowers in the summer. They walked at Kettle River Park every day, no matter what the weather was like. Nelson & Lorraine both loved to camp and camped all around southern BC. In 1996, they bought a trailer and drove to Ontario and Quebec, plus they made several trips to Manitoba with it, too. He also spent many years as a director on the Rock Creek Community Medical Society which he enjoyed.

Nelson was an inspiration to all he met and everyone was always impressed at what he was able to accomplish in spite of his disability. Once he moved to Rock Creek, he bought a small tractor which gave him the independence to maintain the driveway, plough snow in the winter and move wood and assorted materials around. He had no problem cutting the grass in the summer with his Toro mower and he refused to let anyone else do it for him.

Sadly, this all changed when Nelson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and he moved to Mariposa Care Home in Osoyoos, BC in March 2009 when Lorraine became too ill to continue to look after him at home. They did enjoy about 18 happy, healthy retirement years in Rock Creek and the family is thankful for that.

The family would like to extend a special thank-you to the staff at Mariposa for all their loving care and kindness extended to Nelson while he lived there. The staff made it easier to accept that he had to be in a care home.