Original Central Frontenac staff member dies

Jeff Green | Nov 18, 2010

Ian Trickett, who has been the only Chief Building Officer Central Frontenac Township has known, died in Perth on Sunday night. He was 62.

Trickett was as well known for his mop of hair and his rural English accent as he was for his command of the Ontario Building Code.

Becoming a building inspector was not in Ian's sights when he first moved to Arden from London to live and work with his wife, potter Lisa Moses, in Arden. He built the family home on the Tom Fox Road, near Mountain Grove, and that experience, combined with his work as a water inspector back in London, ended up leading to a part-time job as the building inspector in Olden. He took a number of courses over the years and by the time amalgamation came along in 1998, he had become qualified to be the Chief Building Officer in the new Township of Central Frontenac.

“He really liked living here,” said Lisa Moses of Ian, “from the start. I think it is partly because it was more like the English countryside where he came from than London was. He also loved his job. He loved going to work, driving around and working with people to get their building projects done safely.”

Among other things, it was the driving around that John Duchene remembered this week. “He had a pretty heavy foot,” Duchene recalled, “we always got places pretty quickly, although it often made me nervous. The funny thing is that once we got to a building site, he was never in a huge hurry to leave.”

Duchene also said that Trickett was someone who got along well with the rest of the staff. “He never was one to complain about people, he just got along, and he had a pretty dry sense of humour that came out every now and again. He will be missed.”

Among his hobbies were a love of Formula One racing, and over the past year or so he has been building a square puddleduck sailboat, which he was hoping to get into the water next summer.

Although not many people knew it, Ian had been dealing with Type 1 diabetes since the age of 17, and just about two years ago, he suffered heart failure. He died while curling at the Perth Curling club with a group from Sharbot Lake.

“I suppose I could have pushed him to retire early,” said Lisa Moses, “but he really enjoyed working and being active. He would have hated being in a wheelchair. In the end I have to give him full marks for how he did his death.”

One of the things that Lisa Moses said she will miss most was Ian's intellectual curiosity. “He had this wonderful, wide-ranging curiosity; he wanted to know about everything,” she said.

In addition to his wife Lisa, Ian leaves behind his daughter Megan and son Michael.

An informal memorial service will be held for Ian Trickett at the Oso Hall on Saturday, November 20, from 11:00 am. People are invited to come and share stories and reminiscences about Ian. Refreshments will be served by township staff. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Central Frontenac Recreation Committee in Ian's name are encouraged.