Longtime Langley volunteer and active community participant Eric Bysouth died Saturday morning in Cloverdale. He was 88.

Bysouth was a former honouree as Langley’s H.D. Stafford Good Citizen of the Year, a Senior of the Year, a longtime Rotarian, and a participant in a wide variety of causes both political and charitable.

“He was involved in many different things, which I couldn’t name half of,” said his friend and fellow Rotarian Les Clay.

As a Rotarian, Bysouth was frequently seen helping to organize fundraisers for good causes, including events such as the Heli-Golf ball drops held at the Langley Regional Airport.

Over the years, he was a Boy Scout leader, was on the board of the YMCA, and won Rotary’s Paul Haris Fellowship in 1976. He was decorated with the Coronation Medal in 1952 and 2002.

Bysouth also took part in a number of Langley Township committees and commissions, and was involved in everything from working out how the council should be paid to the development of McLeod Athletic Park.

With groups such as the Valley Transportation Advisory Committee (VALTAC) Bysouth lobbied for better transportation infrastructure, and he was part of the Arboretum and Botanical Society of Langley, helping to raise funds for an arboretum.

While he worked with local politicians on many issues, he was never afraid to respectfully disagree with them either. His name was familiar to readers of the Langley Advance’s letter column, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he gave the Township council an annual report card.

He was also involved on the board of the local federal Conservative riding association.

During the Second World War, Bysouth served in the Canadian Forces as a military engineer, recalled David Truman of the Rotary Club of Langley.

A family-only funeral service will be held soon, with a public memorial at a later date.