Richard and Helmy Louwe Younker
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Richard Younker, a long-time supporter of ceramics and the North-West Ceramics Foundation. Richard was an enthusiastic participant in our various fundraising auctions and at local studio sales, where he would scour the pieces on view and inevitably select a beauty. In December, 2022, he made a major donation of securities to the NWCF in honour of his wife to establish the Helmy Louwe Younker Memorial Endowment, with an additional donation the following year. Funds from this endowment support student scholarships and other important initiatives that allow us to go forward with our work. We are intensely grateful for this donation and for the support he lent to our endeavours over the years. We mourn his passing and extend our greatest condolences to his family and friends.
His daughter, Marika Younker, provided us with the following biography of her father:
Richard Younker was born in Toronto but moved to Vancouver in 1969 to complete an MBA at the University of British Columbia. He worked as a chartered accountant and certified management consultant in the private sector before starting his own independent financial consulting practice in 1985. He met his wife Helmy in 1975, and the couple lived initially in South Granville near Granville Island, where they developed a love of fine art. Over the years, the couple became increasingly passionate about ceramics, and, during their 43 years together, they travelled throughout BC’s interior, the southern Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island, and Hornby and Denman islands, collecting ceramics. Richard particularly enjoyed larger, more sculptural/decorative ceramic works, and, amongst the many works he collected he particularly appreciated those of Tam Irving and Vincent Massey. After the death of his wife, Richard continued to collect ceramics and to support the NWCF and was a constant presence at the foundation’s fund-raising activities. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2024 and passed away in April, 2024.
