A Farewell to Our Founder Vincent F. Helton

Our founder Vincent F. Helton passed away peacefully with family by his side on February 20, 2024, at in Victoria, BC.

Vince grew up on a farm in Three Hills, Alberta. He enjoyed farm life; riding horses, targeting gophers, managing farm chores, and playing hockey with his brother Keith, with whom he was close.

After high school, Vince joined the armed forces, trained as a radio operator, and spent World War II at a Bella Bella, BC listening station. After the war, he took advantage of a returning veterans' education program to attend the University of Alberta, graduating in 1950 with an agriculture degree.

Vince started his career with International Harvester in Edmonton in the credit department. He transitioned to sales and a succession of moves ended in a district sales management role, based in Vernon, BC. Although Vince and the family enjoyed Vernon, he decided to change careers.

The family moved to Vancouver in 1967 where Vince found work with companies providing irrigation equipment and solutions for agriculture, commercial, municipal government, and residential applications.

The experience and relationships he gained through these engagements prepared him for his crowning professional achievement: the water feature infrastructure of the Canadian Pavilion at the 1992 Seville World Expo. Vince spent 3 months in Seville building and later returned to Seville to visit the Canadian Pavilion during the event. After the project, Vince started to reposition his work to focus on water feature design exclusively.

Vince was also a mentor to others and taught a course at BCIT for many years. A highlight of Vince's volunteer activity was support of the UBC Farm School, a not-for-profit that offered Vancouver elementary school students community garden experience and shared knowledge of vegetable gardening. In June 2018, Joyce Murray, Vancouver-Quadra MP, recognized his involvement with a Hidden Heroes award.

Vince’s vision and legacy continue to live in our projects and work.

Vincent F. Helton