A builder and former councillor in Kamloops who passed away this week is being remembered in the community.

Gordon Bregoliss passed away at the Ponderosa Lodge on Monday, less than a month before his 97th birthday. Born in Revelstoke and raised in Kamloops, he spent time overseas in the Canadian Army and later spent 12 years as a councillor, and helped make decisions when Kamloops and North Kamloops amalgamated in 1967.

Current city councillor Bill Sarai says he met Gordon about 13 years ago when he was building his home in Brock, saying they chatted regularly.

“We started talking about his history in the army, his aldermanship when north Kamloops amalgamated with the city of Kamloops and all the changes he had seen. And over the next couple of years, every time I would see him I made sure I went out of my way to say hi to him,” Sarai says.

“I think Gordon is a true person of Kamloops. He’s what everybody strives to be. Community minded, getting along with everybody, sharing your experiences good and bad, making everybody around you a better person. I personally am a better person by meeting Gordon.”

Bregoliss was given the Freedom of the City honour in 1977, and was inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.