Adam Charneski passed peacefully at home in Vancouver with his family at his side on July 24, 2023. Adam was predeceased by parents Bill Chernetsky and Mary (nee Kowalik), his youngest son Bruce in 2017, and siblings Peter, Ann, and Edward. Adam Charneski was born December 21, 1932, on the family farm in Poplar Park, Manitoba. He was the beloved husband to Sheila, cherished Dad to Carol (Bill), Dawn (Gerry), Gary (Ada), Robert (Janet) and Bruce, adored Grandad to Adam (Debbie), Andrew (Vicky), Derek (Hayley), Claire (Neil), and loved Great-Grandad to Sydney, Olin, and Hannah, extended family and many friends gathered during Adam’s long life. He is survived by his much-loved younger sister, Bernice, and her family in Winnipeg.
Growing up on the family farm, Adam’s Dad told him, “protect our family name, never let anyone down, always give, and work hard,” and he always tried to follow those ideals. Adam had a life of adventures and activities. Farm life was hard work, he had fun with his siblings, and learned life lessons– Adam called them “the apprenticeship years,” where he learned how to perform many farm chores, how to build things without drawings, to build fences and drive teams of horses, to cut and prep ice for storage, and how to hunt and trap in order to earn food and extra money for the family. Some of Adam’s memories from this time are horse-drawn sleigh rides to school, getting to know Tommy Prince, who helped on the farm and was later a decorated WWII soldier, watching Mustang P51 fighters being tested out of the Winnipeg airport, managing a trading store, running from wolves, and in 1950, being hired by Canadian Hoosier to work on a transmission line being built from Pine Falls to Winnipeg, and then following that opportunity to Montreal.
In 1951, Adam started at Canadian Hoosier Engineering as an apprentice lineman, taking electrical engineering courses towards a journeyman certification. When Morrison Knudsen asked Hoosier for help on the Kemano-to-Kitimat transmission line in northern BC in 1953, Adam leapt at the opportunity. Within a month, Adam was in Kemano at 20 years of age, directing stringing operations. He soon fell in love with the mountains and the job. On his first day off, Adam climbed above Kildala Pass and built a rock cairn, which still stands today, with two plaques added over the years. In 1954, at the age of 21, Adam was hired by the Aluminum Company of Canada as the first Transmission and Distribution Foreman for Kemano Power Operations. Adam met his wife-to-be Sheila on a blind date, and their marriage, in 1957, was one of the first performed in Kemano’s little church.
This line, Kildala Pass, traverses some of the toughest mountain terrain in Canada, at 65-miles-long and over a mile high at its highest point. For the next 16 years, Adam safeguarded the transmission lines and towers stretching over the mountains between Kemano and Kitimat from natural disasters, including huge amounts of snow, avalanches, rime ice, high winds, roaring rivers, forest fires, landslides, and floods. Through the years, he conceived, designed, and built almost as many tower protective measures as there are towers.
In 1970, Adam transferred to Kitimat as the dual Transmission Line and Kitimat Works Power Supervisor, and stayed until 1989, when he relocated to Vancouver to join the Alcan KCP management team as a project advisor. Officially retired December 31, 1997, Adam continued to offer advice on transmission line and tower challenges. From 2007 to 2008, he was a key part of the team contracted to build a second catenary on the transmission line, a short distance from the first catenary that was constructed in 1955. Adam was the only person who was there for the installation of both catenaries, a fitting cap to his pride in his career and love for Kemano, Alcan, and that transmission line. The success of the Kemano to Kitimat transmission line will continue to benefit from Adam’s legacy in safety and achievement.
A career of firsts and a life of adventures, all done with commitment, integrity, perseverance, generosity, love, and a positive attitude. As his granddaughter said, “we hit the jackpot with our Grandad, Dad, and Husband.”
A celebration of Adam’s remarkable life will be held on Friday, August 18, 2023, 2:00pm – 4:00pm, in the activity room at Pacific Point (431 Pacific Street, Vancouver, BC). Funeral arrangements by Kearney Funeral Services, Vancouver, BC; www.KearneyFS.com. Memorials may be made to Northern Lights Wildlife Rescue Society (17366 Telkwa High Rd., Smithers, BC), or to the Parkinson’s Society of BC.