Former mayor Branchflower passes away

The man who led Kamloops as mayor through the 1990s passed away on Saturday, Feb. 11, in his home in Brocklehurst. Cliff Branchflower was 91.

“He passed away peacefully and was eager to be reunited with Ruth,” his family told KTW via email, referencing Branchflower’s wife, who predeceased him. “Family has always been a priority and continued to be even with his passing.”

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m., at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2165 Parkcrest Ave. in Brocklehurst.

Branchflower was mayor of Kamloops from 1991 to 1999, succeeding Kenna Cartwright (after whom the city park, the largest in B.C., is named), who died of leukemia while in office in 1991.

In 2008, Branchflower was honoured with the Freedom of the City, the highest honour bestowed upon a citizen.

In December 2019, KTW sat down with Branchflower in his Tranquille Road home to discuss his political career and his thoughts on the then-current political scene locally.

Branchflower recalled major events coming to Kamloops in the 1990s, including the Canada Summer Games and the World Fly Fishing Championships.

“I think that helped bring the city together,” Branchflower told KTW . “Volunteers came out in the hundreds to work on all of those various events.”

Today, the 1993 Canada Summer Games are often referred to when people talk about the volunteer spirit of Kamloops, with the event bolstering the Tournament Capital of Canada brand.

Until the national and global events arrived, Branchflower noted the city had played host to provincial championships.

Branchflower recalled warmup events leading up to the festivities. At one, he met a young man from Newfoundland, who informed Branchflower he was the mayor of his town. The East Coast mayor was 19 and served a community with a population of 31. Branchflower was 60 years of age at the time.

That was more than a quartercentury ago and Kamloops has since played host to many more national and international sporting events, including the Brier and the IIHF World Women’s Championships.

The former mayor overcame some health issues in the 2000s, surviving a cancer diagnosis and a heart attack, with the help of family, friends and neighbours.

While Branchflower had been out of the political arena for two decades when KTW sat down with in December 2019, he kept following the action from a distance.

“I try to keep my nose out of it,” Branchflower said.

(Though he did put his pen into it at times, penning letters to Kamloops This Week on topics such as water rates and the failed performing-arts centre referendum of 2015.)

“All my life, I tried to stay away from partisan politics,” Branchflower said during the interview with KTW . “I voted across the voting spectrum and tried to concentrate on the individual, rather than the party. Unfortunately, when people get elected, the party whip comes into effect. The local member, the MP, MLA, whatever the case. When the whip says, ‘Jump,’ all you’ve got to ask is, ‘How high?’”

Branchflower died on the same day as longtime Kamloops councillor Pat Wallace, who passed away on Feb. 11 at the age of 90.

Branchflower was predeceased by wife Ruth, who died in 2021 at the age of 89.