Obituary – Victor Brandl Obituary

Victor Emmanuel Brandl, 91, passed away peacefully on December 14th in Vernon, BC. The son of Ludwig & Nancy Brandl he was born in Jeffrey, Alberta on February 12 of 1933, the 2nd of 8 children.

He attended Redwater School until grade 8 when he had to quit school to go to work due to the depression. He worked for neighbours on their farms until he left home to go to work in Edmonton in 1950. He worked at a car rental company, gas station, on a drilling rig, a Swift Canadian Packers meat cutting plant & on a barge on the Mackenzie River for Northern Transportation moving freight to Yelllowknife & Hay River all by the age of 19. His next endeavour was as a truck driver, a vocation that he enjoyed & stuck with for 9 years, becoming an owner-operator & then starting a company in partnership with his brother Ben. After a year he sold his shares in this company to Ben & started another trucking company on his own, Northwest Oilfield Trucking which he sold after 9 months but which remained in existence for many years under various owners.

In November of 1961 he started V.E. Brandl Ltd. when bought his first D7 cat dozer. This company operated for 62 years & eventually grew to a fleet of 100 pieces of heavy equipment before selling out in 2023. In addition to V.E. Brandl he was also partners in a sand & gravel business & a few other oilfield service companies during this time.

On April 19, 1962 he married Edith Maxine Clarke of North Pine, from this marriage there were 3 sons, Kevin, Barry & Ron.

Going to work at an early age he didn’t have much time to pick up the hobbies & sports most people take for granted but throughout his life Vic enjoyed various pastimes, particularly hunting along with fishing, riverboating, skiing, horses & travel. He was very active in politics, serving as President of the North Peace Social Credit Riding Association from 1973 until 1984. He was also part of the Masonic Lodge & active in the Fort St. John Shriners. He served on several boards including the Rural Roads Task Force, the Northern Society of Oilfield Contractors, (president from 1993 to 2000), & the FSJ Hospital Helipad committee.
He enjoyed watching local sports & maintained sponsorship of local youth teams throughout his life. He was always a bit of an inventor, building various pieces of equipment he used in his business such as brush cutters, plows & swing sets for his kids. After he retired he continued to enjoy fabricating things such as a fence post pounder & tractor powered saw for bucking up brush. He always had a curious mind & liked to learn new things such as taking a small engine repair course in his 80’s. When his grandchildren came along, starting with Noah in 2008 & followed by Eva in 2011, he found a new source of joy & would spend as much time as possible with them.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years Edith, son Barry, (Marnie & Noah), son Ron, (Larisa, Nikita & Eva), along with brothers Roger, Bob & Jim.

A funeral is not being planned. Donations in remembrance of Victor can be made to the Fort St John Hospital Foundation.