Letters: Former MLA well regarded
Dear Editor,
Re: “MLA Warnke part of class of ’91,” News, Aug. 12,
Today I was thinking about Allan and Geraldine Warnke. It was a shock to see that he had passed away in June.
I met Allan after the 1991 election. I was hired days following as a Legislative Assistant in the Liberal Caucus.
I admired Allan in so many ways but perhaps the greatest of his qualities were honesty, integrity and his love for Geraldine.
He was not always treated well by his colleagues but then politics is a “blood sport” and good people can soon become tainted by the position they have been elected to hold.
For the Liberals, it had been a wasteland for years, and Allan was one of the “surprises,” never expecting to win and busy as were others making homemade signage even as election day drew near.
He and David Mitchell were close. They formed a strong bond that went far beyond the Legislature.
Allan left Caucus of his own accord, as the records will show, but it was with the same spirit that brought him there — a desire to serve, to set an example and to always tell the truth.
He was funny and kind. I sit here saddened to my core and only wish I could have spoken to him one more time.
I often visited him at VIU as we lived in the Comox Valley. He always greeted me as he first did in November 1991 — respectful and generous of nature, full of stories and wisdom.
I have not met many people in my life that have impressed me more, and as for Geraldine?
She was a true lady, a compassionate volunteer and a devoted wife.
He was a man of faith and a devotee of Oreo cookies, just like me.
Thank you for your article.
It was a history of a man whom many will perhaps not remember but those of us who knew him, always will.
Alice Hughes
COMOX VALLEY
