Murray Chantler

Murray grew up in Ontario but moved to Vancouver Island at the young age of eighteen.  Together with his first wife, he raised their three children, one daughter, and two sons, on their acreage in the rural community of Errington, not far from Englishman River Falls Park.  Murray’s life has been driven by three main interests: a deep love of and connection with the natural world, a passion to be creative, and a desire to change the world for the better.  These tenets led him to start volunteering as a teenager in support of environmental issues; to paint landscapes in oil as a young man and morph into a finishing carpenter and craftsman working with wood; to grow food organically for fifty years (and counting), and to volunteer continuously in his community throughout his adult life.

Murray was diagnosed with PLS, a rare sub-variant of ALS, in April 2010 at the age of fifty-seven when he was forced to retire for safety reasons; in hindsight, he had been experiencing symptoms for at least two or three years prior to that definitive diagnosis.  Murray feels that he has been very fortunate to have the love and support of his wife, Christina while dealing with the ramifications of this debilitating disease.  

The support programs of the ALS Society of BC have been immensely beneficial to Murray and Christina.  In appreciation of that support, Murray has spearheaded a small team of fundraisers for the last ten years, written articles in an effort to raise public awareness of ALS, and generally offered his assistance in support of ALS patients and the ALS Society of BC in whatever way he can.  Murray is happy to offer to continue in his role as Director-at-Large for the NCIC Executive Committee.