Remembering Craig Davidiuk

Craig Gordon Davidiuk passed away peacefully on March 27, 2021, following a short illness, with his wife Courtney at his side and music in his ears. While Craig’s life was cut short far too early, his time with us was truly a life well lived.

Craig was born in Lacombe, Alberta, to Charlotte and Gordon Davidiuk. As a boy, Craig participated in 4H with his horse Skeezix and was an enthusiastic Boy Scout, an organization to which he would return as a leader later in life, in thanks for its formative influence. In high school, Craig played football as a lineman, a position he noted he was well-suited for, by virtue of being a big, sturdy, and relatively immovable lad. However, it was not something he would have considered his favourite activity.

Other sports would follow later in life, better fitted to his temperament and love of the outdoors. His youth was typical of the era and his surroundings, but his dreams were bigger than could be contained by a small Alberta town. Wider horizons beckoned.

Following high school, Craig made his way to Kananaskis where he learned to work in a kitchen. Work as a radio news announcer in the Comox Valley soon followed, another experience that would serve him well in the years to come, where poise and the ability to speak persuasively would be a big part of his skillset. During this time Craig also had the good fortune to embark on a major overseas journey through the SERVAS Canada program, visiting a variety of locales in Europe and the Middle East, learning about other cultures, coming home with an appreciation for the wide range of human experience, and a heightened understanding of the privileges and advantages he enjoyed.

In total Craig would visit 22 countries during his life, including a 6-month stay in Thailand, and 6 weeks in India. He then moved onto the larger city of Deep Cove/North Vancouver for post-secondary training in media arts at Capilano College (now Capilano University). The creative knowledge and technical skills he gained here would prove to be invaluable for the rest of his days. Life during this time also included the Canadian college student rite-of-passage known as tree-planting, a job for which he held little affection, while acknowledging the insights it gave into his own preferences for employment opportunities more challenging intellectually and less demanding physically. Having said that Craig formed friendships in this time that would be a part of his life forevermore.

The 1990s saw Craig living in East Vancouver, with a wide social circle including childhood chums, new acquaintances, and professional colleagues — all drawn to his sunny nature and enthusiasm for life. During this time he took up mountain biking, a sport he would embrace and enjoy from then on. In the late 90s he became one of many people in Vancouver embracing the newly-fashionable game of Ultimate Frisbee. The sport’s focus on fun, good sportsmanship, and after-game celebrations was a great fit for Craig, who loved to be physically and socially active, but eschewed a win-at-all-costs mentality.

The co-ed nature of the sport was another attractant for this young man blessed with charm and good looks, who might well have earned the title of ‘rake’ in an earlier day. His time spent playing Ultimate in Vancouver would deliver lasting friendships, epic road trips, girlfriends both fleeting and long-term, and some defining experiences in his life. None more so than a 1999 trip to the annual event known as Burning Man. Through Ultimate friendships, Craig found himself the official videographer for a crew of Canadians headed into the Arizona desert equipped with a portable street hockey rink, a powerful sound system, and a penchant for the growing phenomenon of electronic music. It would prove to be life-changing.

It was among the art installations and music of the Playa at Black Rock City that Craig found the people who would become his favourite milieu. As a ‘Burner’ he would return eleven times to the late summer event, meeting people from around the world, making friends as always, and usually coming home with tales of adventures for which Dionysus himself might feel a twinge of envy. Closer to home, local music and arts festivals such as Bass Coast and Shambhala were also annual destinations on Craig’s summer entertainment calendar.

Lest you get the impression that it was all play and no work for Craig, he was also volunteering as a Boy Scout leader, a choice he made so as to give back some of the positive experience he had enjoyed with the organization as a youth. An interest in meditation and yoga found during his travels became an important part of his personality and daily routine, deepening Craig’s relationships with his friends, family, and himself. He was also helping guide the family business into a new era, working with his mother Charlotte to modernize Juniper Emblems’ processes and product line in the face of overseas competition and a changing economic landscape. And if that were not enough, he created and nurtured unique enterprises such as Playulty.com, bringing multimedia expertise together with online commerce, gaining an understanding of online shopping that Craig would put to use in all his subsequent endeavours.

By the mid-2000s Craig was ready for change. With home ownership a key goal, and Vancouver’s housing prices already in the stratosphere and climbing fast, he knew that his future lay outside Terminal City. Fortunately, the answer lay a short drive north in Squamish. He began with the purchase of a small townhome in the Valleycliffe neighbourhood. Equity was accrued and a detached single family home not far from the original place was purchased. Work continued with Juniper Emblems and two promotional marketing companies, Ultimate Promotions and Earth Imprints were created. These enterprises would sustain Craig for a number of years, doing business with clients across North America and the world.

During this time he became a well-loved member of the Squamish community, helping organize now-legendary events such as the annual party known as James Bondage, SEMF, supporting the mountain bike community with medals, logowear, and promotional material, or ‘schwag’ as he liked to call it. He produced a well-received TEDx event, built his skills as a DJ, and continued to serve as a locus and host of social gatherings where the music and dancing would last until sun-up.

It was while he was living in Squamish that another defining moment happened for Craig. He met his future wife Courtney. As fate would have it, she was overseas for an adventure of her own as an English teacher in China, home for a one month holiday she met Craig it was an immediate connection between them forged a bond that could endure a whirlwind romance followed by a long-distance love affair. Absence makes the heart grow fonder is sometimes more than a cliche. This was one of those times. When Courtney returned to Squamish they picked up where they left off. Not many years passed before they were exchanging vows at an outdoor wedding and weekend celebration in the Squamish Valley with hundreds of friends and family on hand to witness their love and share in the fun. Unsurprisingly, the post-nuptial party began shortly after the vows and lasted through the long weekend. Life was good. Time to sit back and relax right? Not Craig’s style.

He had a new idea. An aging campground north of town was begging for someone with vision and elbow grease to transform it into a destination outdoor fun-seekers would find irresistible. Wonderland Valley Resort was born, albeit with teething pains such as aging infrastructure, the occasional clogged toilet, and a definite need for some online marketing. Craig and Courtney worked as a team, addressed all of the above, and turned it into a going concern. The campground grew alongside Squamish’s burgeoning international reputation as the place to be for outdoor adventures of every kind. But it was hard work and long days. With the business on one side of town and home on the other, the young couple was no stranger to the weekend traffic crawl through Squamish — as Whistler’s crowds and Squamish locals headed home from the mountains. It was time to sell. Time for another change in scenery. Besides, a new face had joined the family — a son named Arlo…and a plan was born.

In 2016 they looked further north, to the Cariboo, where Courtney’s parents made their home in 108 Mile Ranch. Here they found a lakefront house ripe for renovation and a new phase in their lives. Sometimes the renovations were a pain and it was a long drive for friends to come and visit. But the house quickly became a home. The friends made the journey and were glad of it. As usual, Craig found a couple of local organizations in need of some volunteer marketing savvy. The local cross-country skiing and mountain biking clubs grew with his help. There were blessings and heartbreaks. Craig’s mom had passed away in 2012 and would not get the chance to see her grandson grow up. Craig’s business acumen kept Ultimate Promotions going, but he was spending more time for less results, as larger companies with deeper pockets played a waiting game and swallowed up those without the benefit of state-sponsored capitalism to bolster their fortunes. Craig kept on, adding web design and marketing services to his oeuvre, learning the arcane rules of search engine optimization to assist his clients and his own business, and staying focused on his two favourite jobs — husband and father.

He had much to live for and every intention of making the most of it. In a perfect world this story would have many paragraphs yet to write. It cannot be so and we are poorer for it. Craig’s story ends here. Too soon and tragically. Those who knew him, know he still had much to give back to the world that gave him a wealth of experiences, countless friends which were like family, a positive disposition, and a thirst to make a difference. A few weeks before his passing he was at the local ski hill with Courtney, fresh powder under his skiis and a wide grin on his face, talking of the potential of the place and what they needed to do to make it even better. That is how he should be remembered. In love with his family, his life, and all its possibilities, outside in the mountains, wandering but not lost.

Craig is survived by his loving wife Courtney Driver, son Arlo Davidiuk, father Gordon Davidiuk, parents-in-laws Arla & Clay Driver, brother-in-law Shaun Driver (Natalie), nephew Spencer, Aunts Birdeen Sivacoe, Doris Magosse, Joan Swain, Uncle Barry Swain, Cousins Lindsay Umrysh (Linsey) Cailey Ann, Jamie Swain, Jocelyn Swain – Nadia Hamdon, Amira Hamdon, Tysir Hamdon, Aliya Hamdon, Aaron Sivacoe (Laurel) Savannah, Brad Sivacoe (Alison) Paige, Jessica Swain – Olive, Kim Taylor (Zach) Aiden, Atwood, Carrie Brule (Adrian) Jodie, Jason, Clayton Magosse (Val) Alia, & Dalton. Numerous friends who were like family.

Craig is predeceased by his mother Charlotte Davidiuk, grandfathers Marwood Swain & Manley Davidiuk, grandmothers Olive Swain & Kathleen Davidiuk, uncles Don Swain, Conrad Magosse & Richard Sivacoe, cousins Leslie Swain, Shelley Magosse & Heather Magosse. In lieu of flowers please donate to Huncity Mountain Biking Club. Due to Covid restrictions, a HUGE Celebration of Craig’s life will be held at a later date.