Biography
Ivan James Royan, BCLS #581, CLS #1569
Robert Allen, BCLS (Life Member), CLS (Retired)
I
van was born on October 14, 1949 in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia to parents Donald and Isabella Royan and he passed away on June 2, 2017 with his family at his side after a 4-½ year battle with cancer. Ivan’s parents owned a sugar cane farm that had been in the family for one hundred years and Ivan grew up on that farm and learned a strong work ethic from his parents and older siblings. That work ethic carried over into his chosen profession of land surveying. He was the youngest of five children, having three brothers Ken, Rob and Bruce, and a sister Adonna. While in school, one teacher suggested that Ivan might only succeed at a ditch-digging job. Fortunately, his counsellor recognized his mathematics skills and suggested he go into land surveying and, after Ivan graduated from Bundaberg State High School in 1968, he did! After graduating from the University of Queensland in Brisbane in 1972 with a Bachelor of Surveying, Ivan was hired as a project surveyor with the Australian Survey Office where he obtained his commission as a Professional Land Surveyor in the State of Queensland in 1974. He performed boundary surveys for the federal government, geodetic control surveys for aerial mapping, and hydrographic surveys in the shipping channels along the Great Barrier Reef. Ivan met Val Tetzlaff in Inglis, Manitoba when he had come over to
48
December 2017 | the LINK
it became the first GPS survey to be delivered to the province. This in turn would lead to more GPS photo control surveys for the TRIM Digital Mapping Program in 1987 and 1991.
attend a wedding for his university friend, Richard Shoesmith (now BCLS #584) and his wife, Carol. Val was a bridesmaid for Carol and she and Ivan met at the wedding. A short time later, on October 1, 1977, Ivan immigrated to Canada and married Val in Inglis, Manitoba on October 22, 1977. On November 1, 1977 they moved to Vancouver where Ivan started working for Underhill & Underhill on November 17, 1977. In 1979, Ivan became British Columbia Land Surveyor #581 and on June 29, 1979 Ivan and Val made their home in Tsawwassen where they raised their two sons, Stephen and Anthony. On April 23, 1996, Ivan became Canada Lands Surveyor #1569 and he served on the Council of the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors from 2009 through 2014 and served as its President in 2012/2013. Ivan pioneered the use of GPS satellite positioning for photo control on a provincial flood plain mapping project in the Kootenays in 1986 and
First Nations Land Claims surveys in the Arctic started in 1986 and Ivan worked throughout the Arctic for nearly two decades, from the Yukon, to NWT, and through to Nunavut; producing hundreds of plans for the Inuvialuit, NWT Gwichen, Nunavut, Sahtu, and Council for Yukon First Nations Agreements. In 2002, Ivan negotiated the purchase of the Bartell and Fiedrich Land Surveying business in Kamloops and Ivan and Val moved to Kamloops as Ivan was to run their new office. The company was renamed Bartell, Fiedrich, and Underhill and shortly after it changed to Underhill & Underhill. In all his work Ivan was fair, honest, loyal, hardworking, determined, and a “bull” – an unstoppable force. He never cut corners. There was only one way with Ivan – the right way – and failure was never an option. It was hard for him to let go of things he was passionate about, and sometimes his pride could get the better of him, but what’s life without a little emotion? Like many other land surveyors, Ivan loved his work and where it took him. He worked over much of British Columbia as well as in Flin