Dear St Lac members, sadly my dear friend and long time St Lac member Hector Pickering passed away March 23.
I first met Hector in the spring of 2014 when I purchased my first Formula Ford from him and from that time forward Hector and I became close friends. Many members will have known him for a much longer time but for some reason I was privileged to become an honorary lunch attendee with the quartet of his closest friends who all attended QEVCI during the late 60s.
Never one to hold back his opinion about politics, mechanics, racers, religion, death and most importantly independence and freedom of thought he was as opinionated as they come and one of a kind. Even when I disagreed with him on small matters, like lock-wiring an oil drain plug , his “just get it done” attitude would usually prevail. He led life his way. As a transmission mechanic, and successful business owner, he also held an allure that all of my class A friends looked up to; as very few of them were/are competent and skilled enough to diagnose let alone fix an automatic transmission.
After several years of bugging him he finally took me under his wing and together we rebuilt the 4 speed automatic in my old mid 80s Iroc. I count myself lucky for this unique experience. I wasn’t around for his days behind the wheel of his top fuel car(s) but it’s safe to say he is likely the fastest St Lac member in the Club’s history. His passion for drag racing was equaled by his preparation skills when his son Steve began karting and later transitioned to the formula ford ranks with Steve becoming one of the top drivers of his era. He also mentored Gavin Ward as a race engineer who is now heavily involved in Indy car racing after a short career at McClaren in F1.
His influences ran deep in the world of speed. Sitting back and listening to his stories was always a treat as they were usually somewhat wild and unpredictable.
I have attached a link to his obituary below. Please raise a glass of your favorite beverage in his honour as he will be greatly missed by all those that knew him. DC
