We regret to advise the death of Colonel Ywe Looper, CD (Ret'd) on 25 September 2006 in Calgary.
Born in Leek, the Netherlands, in 1940, Ywe immigrated to Canada in 1950 and was raised on a farm near Chatham, ON. He enrolled in the Canadian Army in 1959 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1963 with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree. He served his country for 35 years in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, finishing his career as the Base Commander of CFB Chilliwack in British Columbia.
As a young sapper officer in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, Ywe served as Troop Commander, 3 Field Squadron, Vedder Crossing, BC; Detachment Commander, Engineer Detachment, Gaza, Palestine; Training Officer, Trades Training Squadron, The Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering, Vedder Crossing, BC and Project Officer Savannah District, US Army Corps of Engineers. Following a year at the Army Staff College, Kingston, ON, Ywe assumed command of the Airborne Engineer Squadron of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, Edmonton, AB in 1970. This appointment was followed by staff positions in the Headquarters of Maritime and Mobile Commands including Senior Staff Officer Quartering, Works, Field Engineers and Individual Training.
In 1983, LCol Looper was appointed Base Ground Operations and Technical Services Officer, CFB Baden-Solingen, Canada's main air base in West Germany. Three years later he was promoted to Colonel and served for four years in National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, first as Director Construction Engineering Control and then as Director Construction Engineering Requirements. Following these headquarters appointments, Colonel Looper was appointed Base Commander CFB Chilliwack from 1990 to 1994.
Following his career in the military, Ywe continued his profession with BED Engineering and had leadership roles on the Chilliwack School Board, Rotary, and Cancer Campaign. His courage and tenacity throughout his battle with pulmonary fibrosis and subsequent lung transplant will remain an inspiration to all who knew him.
A celebration of life will be held at the Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church, 550 Pym, Parksville, BC, at 2:00pm on 6 October 2006. Ywe's hope for the future was to improve organ donation throughout Canada. To honour his wishes, please consider becoming an organ donor. Charitable donations may be made to the BC Lung Association. {khMay2016}