Lyle MacMillan has permanently retired and gone to a better place.
John Lyle MacMillan passed away on May 23, 2023 at the Surrey Memorial Hospital, aged 88 years. He was born on a humble, mixed farm in the Ottawa Valley, along with a sister and four brothers. They walked to the local one room school and when he was 12 he got the job as janitor, starting the wood stove to warm the room before the others arrived, getting a pail of water from a neighbour each day, sweeping the floor once a week and washing it three times a year — for 20 cents a school day.
At age 17 he started working in the local bank and by 19 he had joined the RCMP and left home for Regina, Sask. to start training. It was a bold decision to leave home as the MacMillans had only moved four miles since 1803 and his mom's family had been one of the first settlers in Canada (Quebec) in the 1630's. No one ever left the area.
Upon graduation, Lyle was transferred to B.C. where he remained on detachment duties for 11 years. He then resigned in order to work night shift as a guard in the Oakalla Prison so he could attend university during the day. After graduating from the University of B.C. with a Bachelor of Commerce and a law degree, and then articling for the required one year, he immediately set up a law practice in Cloverdale with his classmate Ron McKinnon. That was in 1971 and for the next 45 years he remained an active partner in the firm, having declined an offer to be a Judge at the British Columbia Court of Queen's Bench.
Lyle always gave back to the community, including being President of the Surrey Memorial Hospital Association and involvement with the Cloverdale Business Improvement Association, the Cloverdale and Surrey Chamber of Commerce and the Cloverdale Legion. In 2016 he received the Community Pillar Award and the Bill Reid Memorial Business person of the year award. However, Lyle's true passion was harness racing, as a horse owner, breeder, trainer and his work with the Cloverdale Raceway (Fraser Downs). He also served as the President of the Canadian Trotting Association and the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society, the only person to serve in that capacity from outside of Ontario or Quebec.
Lyle was pre-deceased by his parents, John and Muriel (Rainey) MacMillan, as well as his sister, Alice, and her husband Irwin Bender, by his brothers, Doug (and Nancy), Alfred and Arnold. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, his daughter, Cathy, his son, Kelly (Donna), his children's mother, Joan, his granddaughter's Emma and Bobbie Jo, his sister-in-law, Jeanette, and his brother, Keith.
A memorial service will take place at Brookswood Baptist Church, 20581 - 36 Ave, Langley, on June 23 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be make to Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Lyle MacMillan.