I never met Ken Millard. I saw his obituary in my October 9 2015 Vancouver Sun. But I knew who he was and I had listened to a concert at the Orpheum many years ago with my two young daughters in which his violin bows made a prominent aural appearance. I wrote about it here.

The obituary mentions that Millard became allergic to the wood of the violin bows he made. My connection to all this is that I know the man whose violin bow made Millard allergic. It is my friend, the virtuoso violinist Marc Destrubé.

 Ken Millard, the co-founder of the Galiano Conservancy Association and a key figure in the land trust movement in BC and Canada, died suddenly at home on September 27, 2015 on Galiano Island, at the age of 74. Ken leaves behind a legacy of more than 500 acres of Galiano land protected forever, and a strong organization dedicated to conservation and education. Kenneth Young Millard, born on July 10, 1941 in Tacoma Park, Maryland, is survived by his wife Linda Millard, and their two daughters, Beth (Reg) Thiessen and Lisa Millard, and Lisa's five children; as well as Ken's older brother John Millard, of Virgina, and younger sister Doris Spencer, of Colorado. After achieving his PhD in physics from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, Ken taught in Missouri and at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. Then he followed his love of early baroque music to a successful second career as a luthier, studying in Salt Lake City, Utah and apprenticing with luthier Anton Smith. He became one of the world's finest makers of baroque violin bows, selling them to renowned musicians worldwide. Sadly, Ken developed a sensitivity to certain kinds of wood and ceased his work as a luthier. Ken first came to Galiano Island in the late 1970s, to perform in an early music ensemble in which he played the viola da gamba. The Millards loved Galiano and soon bought a 24-acre waterfront property on which the family camped until they built a cottage with co-owner Dan Bloomberg. Ken and Linda became fulltime residents by the late 1980s. Ken co-founded the Galiano Conservancy Association in 1989, with a group of like-minded islanders who were concerned about clearcut logging and sought to preserve Galiano's sensitive forest ecosystems, watersheds and coastline. Ken volunteered the last 26 years of his life at the Conservancy, achieving protection of hundreds of acres, including the 188-acre Learning Centre site. Since 2000, the Conservancy has provided nature education programs to 30,000 people of all ages. Ken fostered partnerships with government, business and land trusts. He mentored hundreds of volunteers and leaves behind a strong community committed to conservation, along with a dedicated staff that has vowed to continue his work while deeply mourning his passing. His grieving community of colleagues, friends and family will gather at a memorial service for Ken on Sunday, October 11 at 1 pm, at the Conservancy's Learning Centre land, at 10825 Porlier Pass Road, on Galiano. In lieu of flowers, Ken's family requests that donations be made in his name to the Galiano Conservancy Association.

Published in Victoria Times Colonist from Oct. 8 to Oct. 9, 2015