It was that quality, which, combined with his dedication as president of the NWT Federation of Labor, that made Evoy a Northerner who will not soon be forgotten.

Evoy, 54, passed away early Sunday morning in his Yellowknife home, the victim of a massive heart attack.

"I was just overwhelmed yesterday when I heard of it," said long-time friend and associate Dick Martin, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labor Congress.

"My God, he was a leader up there. How are we going to replace him?"

Born in England during the Second World War, Evoy moved to Canada at the age of two. The son of a military instructor, he spent his early years living in a series of towns across Manitoba and Ontario.

After years of work in mines, sawmills and construction behind him, Evoy moved to Yellowknife in 1983.

Evoy quickly established and staffed a Northern office for the Construction and General Workers Union and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 1325.

Evoy has represented Northern workers in a variety of capacities, working with parliamentary committees, contributing to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report and National Energy Board hearings and acting as an intervenor on many GNWT initiatives.

Before his six-year stint as president of the Northwest Territories Federation of Labor, Evoy spent five years on the NWT Workers' Compensation Board, three of them as chairman of the WCB appeals tribunal, and wrote columns for the Native Press and later Yellowknifer.

His was also one of the strongest supporters of human rights and access-to-information legislation in the North.

Perhaps Evoy's greatest professional accomplishment, unionists say, was the tireless support and advice he gave to workers, families and even to politicians during the bitter and deadly labor dispute at Giant Mine five years ago.

While not affiliated with the union on strike, Evoy took the time to join its president, Dale Johnston, in a meeting with territorial Justice Minister Dennis Patterson when the mine decided to hire replacement workers.

In Dying for Gold, a recently published account of the strike, Evoy's blunt advice to Patterson, along with pages of his involvement during the dispute, was been captured forever. "I'm here because I'm worried," Evoy told Patterson. "If this thing goes ahead, I just got this feeling there's going to be people killed. I'm afraid of this thing."

Even Evoy's last initiative characterized his original and often humorous approach to public policy.

Hearing a pair of MLAs were seeking a $3,000 clothing allowance, he wasted little time organizing a "Convoy of Hope."

He spent last Friday afternoon at the Great Hall of the legislature, offering MLAs donated hand-me-downs he hoped could "get them through."

"Jim was a legend up here. He had a way about him, there's no question of that," said Anne Juneau, Evoy's successor at the Federation of Labor.

"His wit was sharp. But even if a person was stung by his sarcasm, they couldn't help but turn around later on and have a chuckle over it. You could never predict what he'd do."

A memorial service has been planned for Evoy tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. at Northern United Place.