Captain Brian Mitchell Johnston passed away on June 3, 2023 at the age of 91 after struggling with declining health for several years. He will be sadly missed, but surely remembered with great fondness by his family and many friends.

Brian was well-known and respected throughout the marine industry. He began his career in the UK at age 17. While still completing high school, he apprenticed onboard oil tankers with the Eagle Oil Co. He earned his Masters Ticket at sea visiting ports around the world. In 1959, he came to Canada to find work in Quebec and later in Toronto, Ontario where he met and married Frances.

In 1961, Brian and Frances moved to the B.C. coast for the mild climate. Brian worked for the Canadian Coast Guard as a captain on the weather ship, Alexander Mackenzie, stationed in Prince Rupert, B.C. Then in 1964, he took a job as a steamship inspector and later as a port warden for the Department of Transport in Vancouver where he worked for 25 years until he retired in 1990. Brian was very technically-oriented and was always in the garage or basement workshop inventing and developing new things to enhance marine safety in the shipping business.

Brian will be remembered by his sons Clive (Erlinda), Peter (Jo-Ann) and David; grandchildren Michael, Alex, Thomas, Chanel and Cody Johnston; and sister Patricia (Johnston) Hunter. Brian was predeceased by his first wife Frances (Eaton) Johnston; second wife Denise (Dumas) Johnston; parents Gladys and Peter Johnston; sisters Olive and Gladys; and brothers Peter, Alan and Adrian.

To honour Brian’s life, your gift will support the area of greatest need in the UBC Faculty of Medicine. According to his family, Brian greatly valued higher education, particularly in the medical field, during his declining years. He always had praise for the medical doctors who treated him, and for the health care community in general.