Henry (Hank) Lyle Bannister died peacefully after an unfortunate fall, on June 30, 2023 in Victoria, B.C. He was born November 27, 1934 in Ripley, Ontario.
He is predeceased by his son Paul and parents Grant and Winnifred (Wilson), his brother Roy and sisters: Shirley, Ruby and Ann, and nephews Tommy and Kris. Hank is survived by his wife Darleen (née Robinson) and his children Wayne (‘Jet’), Wendy, and Lee (Adele); grandchildren Kris, Angela, Jessica, Rachel, Alex, Paula and 12 great grandchildren, as well as nephews (Gus, Mark, and Patrick) and nieces (Kelly, Petrina and Karri) in Ontario. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by many other relatives/in-laws, friends and co-workers here on the coast.
Hank enrolled in Junior Air Officer’s basic training on June 29th, 1953. Two years later he married Darleen on June 3rd, 1955. Hank had a long career in Naval Air serving on board ships HMCS Cornwallis, Ontario, Stettler, Niagara, USS Saipan, Magnificent, Bonaventure, Athabaskan and Huron. He and Darleen were constantly moving from base to base including CFB Esquimalt, with a quick stop at USNAS Pensacola, Fla. and USNAS Kingsville, Texas, as well as two bouts at C.F.B. Shearwater and ending at C.F.B. Winnipeg as Base Flight Safety Officer. While in the service Hank flew numerous aircraft including fixed wing aircraft like the T-28 Trojan, Harvard, TBM Avenger, T-33 T-Bird, C-45, Dakota and the Tracker (CS2F). He also flew rotary winged aircraft such as HTL-6 (Bell 47), Sea Horse (HO5S-3), Sea King (CH 124) the Huey 204 and the Twin Huey 212 for a total of approx. 14,000 hours flight time.
While in service Hank and Darleen raised their 4 children. Hank enjoyed running and ran several marathons in Winnipeg, Portland Ore., Victoria and Vancouver. In his middle years he also enjoyed banging a squash ball around the courts.
Hank retired on 2nd Nov, 1979 as Lieutenant Commander with the CD with bar medal. While Hank and Darleen moved from coast to coast, they finally set down in Darleen’s home region of Victoria, B.C. They settled in North Saanich where Hank built the home he had designed a few years earlier.
In civilian life Hank did some contract flying for Kenting Aviation starting in May 1981. He flew the A-Star 350 and the Hughes 500, then settled into flying the Jet Ranger with Alberta Government Services. He finally retired from flying in December 1993 and started enjoying his family and garden full-time. There were many Easter Egg hunts, BBQ’s, Christmas dinners and even a mortgage burning celebration with family and friends. Hank loved to spend time cooking for family and was an avid cook, leaving behind many food-stained cook books and newspaper recipes.
Many thanks to the 5th floor South staff at Victoria General who provided care and compassion.
A Celebration of Hank’s life will take place at The Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive on Sunday August 27, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Knowledge Network, www.knowledge.ca and/or The ALS Society of Canada, at donate.als.ca .
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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Scot Coey
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Darlene & Philip I had the pleasure of knowing Lyle for over 25 years. I was fortunate to have spent some milestone birthdays and anniversary celebrations with Lyle and Darleen. I always appreciated Lyle’s interest in my life asking after our son. I spent time at Lyle and Darleen’s home where we had bbqs or drinks on the deck. Darleen was especially proud of the fireplace that Lyle completed in their home. As an onlooker I admired the love and grace their marriage had. I will miss Lyle’s comment of calling his wife eeny (Darleen) and me ene ( Darlene) We of course share the same name but different spelling.
Philip always enjoyed talking with Lyle, especially about the soccer.
Thank you for spending time with both of us, Lyle you will be missed
Darlene & Philip
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Ken Eliason RIP Hank I had the pleasure of serving with Hank at Shearwater, Bonaventure and VU -33. A good friend and shipmate.
Darleen Linda and I send our sincere condolences to you and your family
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Dave Williams I recall Hank with great affection and respect. He was one of the greats who made it such a treat to be a member of Naval Aviation.
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Col Stan Brygadyr(ret’d) Much thanks to “Hank” and a team of 3 others who were the first instructors on the “Tracker” conversion course in VU-32 at Naval Air Station “Shearwater” in 1960 to train the first “Venture” course who had just completed Pilot training with the RCAF. Hank was extremely proficient with the Tracker and I had several flights with him during the course. His service in Naval Aviation will long be remembered by his colleagues and by those of us who benefited from his ability to pass on his skill and aviation wisdom.
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Bud Jardine Hank was one of the true stalwarts when I joined VS880 Sqdn.in1958.Not much older, but certainly more experienced,he took we plebes under his wing..in the air and at the bar…as we learned the ropes and picked up the tab.
We join in your sorrow Darleen and we shall reminisce about our great times together in Naval Air – Shearwater and the Bonnie.
Sincere condolences to you and extended family.Bud & Phyllis Jardine Wolfville NS
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Marshall Dempster Bless you Hank! It has been a long time since those years in Shearwater!
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Kelly Sherwin Lyle had three sisters. His middle sister, Ruby married Lt. Cmdr. Robert Keith ( my father). Robert and Lyle became good pals as they shared their love of Ruby, the Royal Canadian Navy and good dark rum.
The Keith Family have many memories of our Uncle Lyle.
As children we looked forward to his visits when we lived in Niagara, where he would occasionally fly his helicopter from Halifax, Nova Scotia and brought with him fresh lobster to share. He also visited us in Nashville, Tennessee with the family, as well as London,Pelham and Windsor, Ontario and Englewood, Florida. As an adult, I was fortunate that he attended my wedding and later my husband and I visited Lyle in Sydney for a brief , but happy , reunion. We loved him dearly for his laugh, his stories and his love of family. Uncle Lyle will be truly missed by all of the Keith family.
It is with great sadness to learn of the passing of Uncle Lyle, whom I will always remember with fondness. He was always kind to me, as he was with everyone it seemed, and I will miss visiting him on the odd occasions I manage to get back to The Island.
I often wondered if Lyle’s affable, calm nature had to do with the duality of life; at home with his family and friends for awhile and then out in the air, walking the razor’s edge. He clearly loved to fly for he continued to do so for such a long time.
As mentioned in the obituary above, he did have a love of cooking and it makes me smile to remember him making elaborate creations which he would proudly bring out to the dining table, leaving a sink full of every pot, pan, spare dish and cooking utensil in the kitchen behind him, much to the consternation of my Aunt Darleen.
Lyle was a rare man and will be missed. My best to Darleen, Jet, Lee, Wendy and their respective families at this trying time, my thoughts are with you from across the seas.