Roy Nagel

A man of few enemies who made the people around him feel important and loved, Roy Nagel died suddenly of a medical condition on Aug. 23. He was 81. In his job as managing editor of the Prince George Citizen, Roy Nagel had his finger on the pulse of the city and found a way to wade through the politics of running a newspaper to present facts and opinions to the community without treading on too many toes. He later transitioned to a leadership role with the Central Interior Logging Association (CILA), fighting for worker safety and the rights of independent contractors who previously felt powerless taking on governments, regulatory agencies and the lumber giants.

In 1997 he moved from the Prince George Citizen to the CILA as general manager. “They needed a communicator and a negotiator and he was a great spear chucker for them,” said his wife Donna. ”He knew nothing about forestry, but he got in there and knew how to negotiate and found it really interesting how many really smart and successful contractors were out there that weren’t being treated fairly and he drew them all together to think as a group, not individually, so that they had a bigger voice.

After he retired from the loggers’ association in 2009 he took up golf and was part of regular foursome at Aspen Grove. He was fond of sipping good scotch or rum, and took an interest in classic cars, woodworking, gardening and antique clocks.