Family members hope to carry on a legacy left by the recent passing of Bud Sage.
Born in the Kootenays, Bud Sage moved to New Westminster with his family in 1955 when he was five. It was here that he attended John Robson Elementary and New Westminster Secondary, met the love of his life, Sue, and raised a family.
“Bud was a man who had unconditional love for his family, friends, and people in general. Almost everything Bud did had some social aspect to it,” said an email from the family. “Whether it was volunteering in Minor Hockey in various forms for over 20 years, dancing as a Royal Lancer, chatting with strangers while walking his dogs or through the running of his small business that was just as much about seeing his work friends as it was about making a living, Bud was all about building community and making meaningful connections with people.”
A devoted husband and father, family members say Sage was known for looking for moments or situations where he could impart something he learned or used a mistake he made to try and teach.
“When Bud coached hockey, almost every game he would make sure he was there before anyone else so that he could write an inspirational or knowledge imparting message for the team in chalk on the dressing room floor. Some of these messages were the standard cliché sports messages but others tried to focus on important things related to life. All of these messages written in chalk served as a starting point for the pre-game talk that included life and game lessons related to the messages,” said the email to the Record. “He was a thoughtful teacher and coach.
Sage passed away Nov. 15 after a battle with cancer. A celebration of Sage’s life is taking place on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Diamond Alumni Centre (Simon Fraser University), University Drive East in Burnaby. In lieu of flower, the family has requested that donations be made in Sage’s name to Ronald McDonald House B.C.
