Thursday, August 22, 2019
Thank you to those who have posted so far about your times with my step-dad, Bill Askin. We really appreciate hearing about Bill's life in Vegreville, as all of his family lived in other places. While we visited him at his home sometimes, we never really got to know any of his Vegreville friends.
Here is a partial obituary that we are planning on running in the Edmonton Journal, for more information about Bill:
ASKIN, William R.
September 5, 1939 - August 19, 2019
Bill passed away on Monday, August 19, 2019 at the age of 79 years. Bill was born in Wainwright, Alberta, son of Thomas and Edith Mary Askin.
He is survived by step daughters Julie Asterisk of Slave lake and Bertie Mandelblatt of Rhode Island, USA, brothers Michael Askin of White Rock, BC and Peter Askin of Mayne Island, BC, niece Janet Askin from Edmonton and nephew Liam Askin in Calgary.
Bill earned his Masters’degrees in History and Education from the University of Alberta. He was very knowledgeable about the early history of the workers and farmers movements in Alberta. He wrote letters to newspapers all around the world in 1960 about "Project Cauldron" - the plan to detonate 100 nuclear warheads in the bitumen mines to get it to 'flow'. Bill was well known for his lifelong defense of Canadian sovereignty: he believed strongly in the emancipation of humankind from want, war & oppression, and made personal sacrifices in working towards a better world for us all. This was Bill's vision right up to the end.
