The Deeley Research Centre (DRC) is an integral part of BC Cancer – Victoria.
Our history:
Trev & Joyce Deeley
Frederick Trevor (Trev) Deeley was born in Vancouver on March 15, 1920. As Chairman and founding member of Fred Deeley Imports, exclusive Harley Davidson distributors for Canada, Trev is considered an icon of the motorcycle industry in North America. Trev loved motorcycles and he raced, rode, repaired, collected, customized, sold, distributed and talked about motorcycles - all of the time.
Woven throughout his celebrated business career were numerous acts of philanthropy. In 2001 this generosity resulted in a $1 million gift to the BC Cancer Foundation′s Daring to Believe campaign to build a cancer research centre at the BC Cancer – Victoria. This gift was made in honour of his beloved wife Joyce who was then fighting cancer.
Together, Trev and Joyce shared a vision to secure long-term support for cancer research on Vancouver Island and so named the BC Cancer Foundation as a beneficiary in their wills. In March of 2001 Joyce Deeley died of ovarian cancer at the age of 70. Trev passed away a year later in March 2002 at the age of 82.
In October 2002 it was announced that Trev Deeley had left a substantial portion of his estate to the BC Cancer Foundation - a gift in excess of five million dollars - which created a permanent endowment to support cancer research in the Centre.
On May 3, 2003 - in the presence of many of Trev's friends - his daughter, Dawne Elizabeth Deeley, officially named the Trev & Joyce Deeley Research Centre.