KAHBAMIUE/COLVILLE LAKE
Everyone in Colville Lake knew Bern Will Brown, a man created a rallying point for the community and passed away on July 4 at the age of 93.

Bern Will Brown, who built the church that drew people to Colville Lake, died on July 4 at the age of 93. - NNSL photo

More than 50 years ago, Brown, then an Oblate priest, travelled there and constructed its first building, the Our Lady of the Snows church.

From there, he built Colville Lake Lodge and the community’s first store, the Kapami Co-Op.

In an interview with News/North in 2012, Brown said there was only one family permanently living in the area before his arrival. Once the church was built, people who had once lived there began to return.

“It attracted a lot of those that had been out in that area trapping and hunting but who had moved into Fort Good Hope,” he said. “Once they heard we had put up a mission here, they moved back. It’s been growing ever since.”

Brown was a true jack-of-all-trades during the community’s early years. In addition to being a priest, he played the role of doctor, dentist and forestry officer, all while keeping the books and doing banking to keep the co-op store running.

In the 1970s, Brown bought a plane and took on yet another role – mailman. He delivered mail to the community from Fort Good Hope for 10 years.

Father Felix Labat, friend and former colleague, was a priest in Deline and other communities in the North when Brown arrived in Colville Lake. He said Brown would often fly to the community he lived in at the time and would bring him home for a visit.

“He would come to pick me up with his plane and take me over to Colville and I would stay over at his place for a few days, a week sometimes, and he would bring me back again,” Labat said. “He was a good pilot.”

Labat said his visits always included a few games of chess, which Brown taught him to play.

“He was a chess player, he was crazy about playing chess,” he said. “I never won any games. He taught me how to do it. We had good time together.”

Before getting his own plane, Brown travelled by dog team, Labat said.

“He had a dog team, a beautiful dog team,” Labat said. “He used his dog team in the beginning, but then after he got a plane he didn’t use them anymore.”

Brown left the priesthood in the 1970s and was married, but continued delivering church services in both English and Slavey well into his later years.

He also authored five books, including End-Of-Earth People: The Arctic Sahtu Dene, which was published in March.

In a press release, Premier Bob McLeod expressed sympathy for Brown’s family and the community.

“A true loss for the North, I wish to extend my sincerest condolences the people of Colville Lake, particularly to his wife Margaret, during this difficult time,” he stated.

Fraser Downie was a teacher at Colville Lake School before transferring at the end of this year. He said despite Brown’s age, he still took teachers and students fishing on Aubrey Creek until recently.

Downie said on one of his last trips, the propellers of Brown’s boat engine seemed low in the water as the group returned to the community.

When asked if he should pull up his engine to protect the propellers from mud and rocks, he replied in true Brown fashion.

“He said, ‘there is no rock I don’t know around here,’” said Downie.

Downie spent at least a few hours every week helping Brown do odd jobs and said Brown had considered getting a wheelchair during their last visit in June.

“He didn’t think he was going to pass away suddenly,” Downie said.

Downie said Brown often received gifts from people he knew – usually cigars and chocolate – and spent his evenings watching 60 Minutes and football games on television, as well as playing cribbage.

Colville Lake Chief Alvin Orlias said he spent many evenings playing cribbage and watching football with Brown when Orlias first arrived in the community.

He said he will remember Brown’s strong will and dedication.

“If he says he is going to do something, he’s going to do it,” Orlias said.

Brown’s funeral service and a community feast in his honour were held on July 8, Orlias said.

“It was a good celebration of his life,” he said.

Downie said for many, Brown was a staple in the community. Even Colville Lake’s eldest members spent much of their lives intertwined with Brown’s.

“I think the community, especially the older men, are going to miss Bern,” Downie said. “He loved Colville Lake.”

Labat said he would miss him as well.

“He was my friend,” he said.