October 23, 1933 ~ December 11, 2015
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Raymond Boothroyd at Sechelt Hospital on December 11, 2015.
He is survived by his wife Pamela, son Mark (Lois), daughter Karen (Doug), grandchildren Jacob and Grace, brother Douglas, and sister Lilly.
Raymond was born in Southampton, UK on October 23, 1933. He entered the entertainment world while still a teenager, working as a line boy (spotlight operator) at the old Hippodrome in Lewisham, UK, and following his service in the army, returned to London to become the sound engineer in charge of the sound panel in the Houses of Parliament. He continued on in the same capacity at Lambeth Palace and would later work at the Farnborough Aerobatic Show and Henley Royal Regatta. In 1963, he enrolled in a course in Milan, Italy, where he studied Advanced Movie Projection. In his spare time, Ray was a partner and teacher in a ballroom dance studio in South London where he met his future wife Pamela, and they taught and danced together.
They married in 1962 and immigrated with their son Mark to Canada in July 1964. They lived in North Vancouver and Ray worked with his brother to restore the Lyric Theatre on Granville Street. Ray and Pam came to Gibsons in 1965 to update the 16mm projectors to 35mm at the Twilight Theatre. Their daughter Karen was born in 1967 and Ray and Pam stayed on to run the theatre until 1971, when they were thrilled to have the opportunity to purchase the business.
Ray was a huge supporter of the arts in Gibsons. Within a few years of owning the business, he invited a local dance teacher to use the theatre for lessons, adapting the front of the stage by adding ballet barres and creating mirrors on rollers. In 1976, he started to expand the use of the building to accommodate the community’s needs, such as dance recitals, dance festivals, musical concerts, coffee concerts, Sea Cavalcade pageants and performances, and live theatre. To achieve this, he built around and up the front of the theatre to include a larger foyer, a bigger candy bar and larger washrooms. On the second floor, he added a dance studio, which would later be used by his daughter, who ran a dance school of her own, and built a darkroom for his son, to support his interest in photography. He also added an office, a store, and a three bedroom apartment for his family. Ray continued to run the projectors and manage the theatre until they sold in 1995 and the Twilight Theatre became Gibsons Cinema.
Ray and Pam continued to live in Gibsons, where he now had the opportunity to enjoy some travel and spending time with his grandchildren. To his family, he was someone who could always be relied on, could fix anything and had a great sense of humour. We will miss him so much.
A celebration of life will take place in March. Details to be announced.