William Pereversoff passed away peacefully on April 3, 2011, with his loving family by his side. William was born on September 17, 1930, to Polly Pereversoff at Shoreacres, B.C. He lived in Shoreacres until the age of 26. During that time he worked at Trail, B.C., delivering building supplies. He also spent many years working in construction and various sawmills in the Castlegar area. He also worked in the packinghouses at Penticton, B.C., where he met Mary Zibin. Two years later they married at Grand Forks and settled at Thrums, B.C., where they had three children: Valerie, Jim and Lori. After 13 years at Thrums, in 1970 they moved to Grand Forks where he landed a job at the Pope & Talbot sawmill. He worked at Pope & Talbot until retirement in 1990.
William was a proud member of the USCC for most of his life. He thoroughly enjoyed singing and listening to all Doukhobor hymns and songs, which led him to become an active member of the Men’s Russian Tri-Choir and the Grand Forks Men’s Russian Choir. William loved singing and playing his guitar so much that he released two of his own cassette tapes of Russian folk songs called ‘Bills Golden Memories 1 & 2’.
William was a very kind, soft spoken man with a great sense of humour, famous for his ‘one liners”. There was nothing more important to him than the happiness and good health of his family. He was the best husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend in the world.
William was predeceased by his mother, Polly Pereversoff in 1968. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Mary Pereversoff; their three children: Valerie Matthews of Kelowna, B.C., Jim (Kathy) Pereversoff of South Slocan, B.C. and Lori (Mike) Northcott of Grand Forks, B.C.; five grandchildren: Scott and Stephanie Matthews, Nicole and Melanie Pereversoff and Joe Northcott; two sisters, Georgina (Tom) Kootnikoff of Blueberry Creek, B.C. and Polly (Edgar) Popoff of Cranbrook, B.C; and two grandpuppies, Riley and Dave.
William will be deeply missed by his loving family and friends. Hummingbird … keep humming.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at 10 a.m., at the USCC Centre. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Baker family of Grand Forks Funeral Home.