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Alex Van Bibber is seen enjoying a cup of tea on his trapline in 1981.Vince Fedoroff

One of the Yukon's last surviving aboriginal veterans from the Second World War has died after a lifetime of achievements, but it was his warm sense of humour and storytelling skills that have etched his memory into the hearts of all who knew him.

Alex Van Bibber, who was a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and hailed as a legendary outfitter, trapper and educator, died in a Calgary hospital on Nov. 26. He was 98.

"The Yukon without Alex is like a day without sunshine," Kelly Hougen, his long-time trapping partner and best friend, said from Calgary, where he spoke with Mr. Van Bibber at his bedside before he died.

Mr. Van Bibber was weakened by pneumonia and influenza in his final days.

Fourteen years ago, Mr. Hougen said Mr. Van Bibber sat alone on a gravel bar in the northern Mackenzie Mountains, enduring a snowstorm.

At age 84, he wasn't letting age or the elements deter him from meeting up with a fellow hunter in the remote reaches of the Northwest Territories.

"I had dropped him off from an airplane," Mr. Hougen said.

"He didn't have all his gear yet, and a front came through that was just nasty, snowing and blowing."

Worried, Mr. Hougen flew back through the storm to check on him.

"He had a fire going, and basically scolded me for coming to get him. That was the kind of guy he was."

Mr. Van Bibber would continue to hunt and teach for the next decade and a half.

Mr. Hougen was a teenager when they met 42 years ago. He was hired on as a horse wrangler at the Ruby Range ranch, where Mr. Van Bibber was chief guide.

"We worked together that summer, and we've been the best of friends ever since," Mr. Hougen said.

He would go on to marry Mr. Van Bibber's granddaughter, Heather, in a wedding where the backwoods master would serve as best man.

"He was guiding hunters well into his 70s. And most of the younger fellows had a heck of a time keeping up with him," Mr. Hougen said.

"He just never stopped, didn't need much sleep, tough as nails. Strong."

Mr. Van Bibber began to pass on his traditional knowledge more formally as chief trapping instructor with the Yukon government in 1976.

He'd been skilled in the bush for 60 years – even guiding then-U.S. senator Robert Kennedy up the Yukon's Mount Kennedy in 1965 and presenting him with a gold sheep-head necktie.

"He basically has been the face and the name behind trapper training for at least the past 30, 35 years," said Harvey Jessup, a close friend and member of the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board.

Mr. Van Bibber would go on to co-ordinate curriculum development for the board.

He also founded a summer kids camp with Mr. Hougen at the Fish and Game Association and became active with schools in Whitehorse.

Mr. Jessup recalled going with Mr. Van Bibber to a community hall in a village on the Black River in Alaska, south of Old Crow near the border, for a trapping workshop in the mid-1990s.

"Alex brought out his great 330 Conibear trap, and they all took a step back. And he set the trap and they take a further step back. His arms are waving and it caught him," Mr. Jessup said.

"And when that trap hit, it got Alex's watch, and it just exploded, and the whole place lets out a gasp and jumps up and chairs are falling over.

"He says, 'Now what are you gonna do – you're caught in your own trap.' He just took it in stride. It was intentional, and he wanted you to know there's no need to be afraid of the trap," Mr. Jessup said.

"I've been all over northwestern Canada, and I've never ever seen anybody do that."

Mr. Van Bibber was 77 at the time.

Born on the banks of the Pelly River on April 4, 1916, Mr. Van Bibber was one of 14 siblings. The family would travel by homemade raft along the Pelly River to Dawson City for seasonal schooling, Mr. Van Bibber ending his formal education in Grade 5.

For 20 years, he operated his own guiding territory with his wife, Sue, who was also born and raised in the bush.

Mr. Van Bibber was formally recognized with several awards including the Order of Canada in 1992, the Yukon Fish and Game Association Sportsman of the Year Award in 1995 and the Canadian Wildlife Federation Roland Michener Award in 1996.

He leaves four of his 13 siblings, as well as a daughter and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mr. Van Bibber was predeceased by his wife, who passed away four years ago at age 99, as well as two children.

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