We are very sad to announce the passing of Daulton (Doc) Paynter @ LMH on May 2, 2025, surrounded by his loving wife and family.
Doc was a kind, gentle man who savoured & appreciated every moment of his full life. He loved his family and the people in this world from every race, country & situation and was passionate about caring for the planet. Born in Powell River, he had one brother & two sisters. He had a life-long love for B.C.’s wilderness, forests and coastline which resulted in his participation in many protests over the years to protect it.
When he was 13, his obsession to fly an airplane spurred him to find a job to pay for lessons. With these hard-earned monies he would bike to the Vancouver airport to take flying lessons and eventually qualified for a solo flight. Later, while building houses, he lost one eye in an accident which ended his dream of flying, so he took up sailing.
After a year at UBC he decided to become a house builder. He spent a year in Africa but didn’t agree with their politics so returned to Vancouver to build houses there. At the time they were so desperate for shop teachers that he was offered one year at BCIT, then a full time job. With this training he became a shop teacher in Merritt. During this time his two children, Chris and Shannon, were born. Eventually they moved to Hope where he met Susan, the love of his life, and they married. They bought a 23 ft. sailboat in which the family spent many summers cruising up and down the gulf islands. Dreams of crossing the ocean & sailing around the world beckoned.
While working in Mission B.C. after the third house they built he went on a yearly bike trip with his friends and had a serious accident in Golden while blazing down the hills. He had brain & bone injuries which forced him to quit teaching. A month before that accident they had purchased a 36’ steel hull to prepare to eventually cruise. It took 4 more years and lots of help to finally get the ship ready to go. The kids had graduated so they sold their house, Susan quit her job, and off they went. After 6 days they decided not to cross the Pacific but to travel down the coast. This adventure ended up being 4 years of exploring Mexico, Central America, Panama, N. South America & finally all up the east coast, in the inter coastal waterway & eventually back to Canada and the Trent Severn canals. He loved getting to know and learn about all the different cultures and his calm, easy going nature made the Paynters welcome in many villages.
On the home front, Chris and Shannon were starting families so it was time to return to Canada and be grandparents. They had bought land on Salt Spring years ago so the boat, “Manotic”, their home, was shipped to the west coast and they built a house near Ruckle park, designed and built by Doc. Grandkids, Tristan & Kaitlin, loved to come and visit. He continued to be part of Salt Spring Sailing club and cruised up the Canada – USA inside passage all the way to Alaska, stopping in numerous places of interest.
The Paynters stayed on King Rd. for 20 years before moving to Ganges. One of Doc’s other interests was gliders. It took 43 years but he quietly and calmly built a Fauvel glider which he & Chris saw fly after getting their glider pilot’s licences. He eventually gave it to the pilot who drags the gliders up.
Doc will be remembered as a kind, humble, witty, loving, caring & extremely capable builder. The last few years have been very difficult health wise, and he & his family were all relieved to be able to bring an end to his pain & suffering. I also want to say I think the whole staff at LMH were absolutely wonderful to us. They really made us feel better and helped us cope with much sadness. I love them.
Doc will be greatly missed. Doc is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, son, Chris (Lori Waters) and daughter, Shannon Minvielle, grandchildren Tristan and Kaitlin.