Gary Brunelle spent most of his adult life close to the ocean, occasionally even in it. Now, after 21 years working at the Port Edward Harbour Authority (PEHA), retirement means a new adventure, one that he thinks will be a little bit drier.
While he was born in Prince George, Gary moved west to Prince Rupert at five years old and has lived on the North Coast ever since.
Fishing runs in the Brunelle family. Gary’s dad was a fisherman and owned a boat, which is where Gary got his start.
He did a little bit of everything. He went seine fishing for salmon and herring, dragging and shrimping, he even did some charter fishing.
It was while fishing that he got in an accident which resulted in losing three fingers on his left hand.
At the time, he was working on a fishing boat and his hand got stuck in a piece of equipment that Gary described as something similar to a chain and sprocket on a bicycle. No one on the boat had first aid training but a crew member had heard that ice would help, so they put his fingers on ice right away.
It took the boat about an hour to get back to dry land, where Gary was then rushed to a hospital in Port Hardy before being airlifted to Vancouver. When he woke up from an eight-hour surgery, all five fingers were still intact, but two were badly frostbitten from being on ice for so long. A week after the first surgery those two fingers had to be amputated and another week after that his third finger had to go as well.
If it was not for his nickname “two-fingers”, you probably would not notice that Gary is missing a few digits. He has adapted to still be able to play sports like hockey and golf and was back on a fishing boat just one year after the accident.
“I still have a nice good pinch on it,” he said, referring to the grip his pinky finger and thumb can make.
Gary sometimes unintentionally ended up in the water during his time as a fisherman and while he was working for the port authority, but he also chose to jump in once a year.
It started back in 1978 when Gary and three friends made a splash in the frigid ocean waters on New Year’s Day. This was the first of what would become Prince Rupert’s annual polar bear swim.
“Vancouver had a polar bear swim then, but we never did it [in Prince Rupert]. There were four of us that, after a New Year’s party, decided to go down and do it. I pretty well did it every year since and there’s a couple of us that go every year now.”
Gary said if you are new to the polar bear swim, the best way to get in is to jump off the dock because then there is no turning back. However, his technique is to walk in slowly, swim around a bit and get out fast.
“I’m not sure what the temperature is but it shocks your body,” he said. This year in 2023 water temps were reported to be less than six degrees.
After many years working as a fisherman, Gary decided to look for a job on shore.
He started with Port Edward Harbour Authority (PEHA) and his official position was maintenance technician, but by the end of his time working there Gary liked to add “senior” in front of his title.
A more apt description of his job was “jack-of-all-trades.” He said he did everything from plumbing, electrical, carpentry and cleaning.
When he first started, the docks were a flurry of commotion. He estimated there were 20 seiner boats and 100 gillnetter boats. The gillnetters stored their nets with the PEHA and so part of Gary’s job was to bring them back and forth from the boats.
Now, many gillnetter fishermen store their nets in lockers.
The best part of the job for Gary was being on the water.
“I really enjoyed my job. I loved doing all the aspects of it but I think just running around in the skiff was my favourite thing,” he said.
“I was a fisherman most of my life, so I like being on the water.”
He said the people he worked with also made the job enjoyable, including the general manager Keri Dybhayn and Operations Manager Dwayne Nielsen.
Gary retired on Jan. 26, one day before his 65th birthday. He said he chose the date so he would not have to work on his birthday.
On his last day, he had not heard any word of a retirement party and his bosses, Dybhayn and Nielsen had been away at a conference the week prior. He said he walked by the lunchroom and the office peeking in but nothing was set up, so he figured nothing was planned.
Later though, they took him down to one of the big boats where there were 50 people inside waiting to surprise him.
It brought him to tears.
Once Gary’s wife retires at the end of March they are going to move into their motorhome splitting their time between a condo in Vegas and touring B.C.
“We both like gambling and we both like the sunshine,” Gary said.
He has certainly left his mark on this region of the province. He was a regular on the squash courts, briefly played for the Prince Rupert Halibut Kings and once even came first in Prince Rupert’s 5 km Glory Days run. He boasts that he held the course record because the year he won was the first year they were using a new route.
Of all the things he is going to miss about the North Coast, he said he will miss the people most.
“… everyone’s friendly here compared to other places.”
He is also going to miss the ocean but will not miss the rain.
“I might even have to give up some of my raingear,” he said, tongue in cheek.
