The "untimely and and sudden passing" of retired Colonel Roger St. John, the last commander of CFB Chilliwack, was announced in the BC Legislature Tuesday by Chilliwack-Hope MLA Barry Penner.

St. John, 65, passed away early Tuesday morning after a sudden illness.

"Roger served our country very well, in a distinguished and dignified way, representing the Canadian Armed Forces overseas, participating in various peacekeeping missions on behalf of our country," Penner said in a statement.

St. John was named CFB Chilliwack commander in 1994 and presided over the difficult years of its closure in 1997 showing "respect for the community and all the forces in Chilliwack held their heads high with him at the lead," Penner said.

Last year, St. John was named the Colonel Commandant of the Canadian Military Engineers.

He was also a past president of the Rotary Club of Chilliwack and involved in several community organizations including Big Brothers and the Chilliwack Hospice Society.

St. John was born in Vancouver in 1944 and joined the Royal Westminster Regiment in 1959.

His military career included a peacekeeping tour in Cyprus in 1974, and an assignment to NATO's Central Army Group Headquarters in Heidelberg, West Germany.

In 1988 he was promoted to Colonel and assigned to Pakistan the next year as head of a mine-clearing and training program for Afghan refugees.

After CFB Chilliwack closed in 1997 he was named deputy engineer of a NATO force in wartorn Sarajevo, Bosna-Herzegovina.

St. John retired from the military in 1998, but his service to country and community continued through a consulting company he formed that specialized in emergency management.

Penner said St. John "cared passionately about his community, but even more so for his family, particularly his daughters Michelle and Danielle, and most importantly, his wife Joy."