Jim Button, Village Brewery co-founder, dies from cancer at 59

A stalwart and champion of Calgary's beer community has died.

Jim Button, the co-founder of Village Brewery, passed away Thursday from cancer.

He announced his own death on his online blog in his 'I died today' posting, a farewell letter he had prepared in advance, that was shared Thursday night on his social media accounts.

Button said after learning of his terminal cancer diagnosis he lived "a full life, a life with few regrets and a ridiculous amount of adventure" with "love, gratitude and friendships galore."

Village Brewery paid tribute to its late co-founder online, noting his contributions to Calgary's beer community and its plan to carry his legacy forward.

"His tireless efforts to change legislation may have opened doors for the industry, but his boundless generosity to share ideas, encourage talent, and welcome everyone to the club established an open and inclusive brewery community, and we believe it was his spirit that made it successful.

"Jim will be remembered as someone who built community. He set the tone and the standard, and for that we will be forever grateful. He was, and will continue to be, our north star."

Button was 59.

"I'VE GOTTEN SO MUCH LOVE. YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I GAVE IT."

Dave Kelly first met Button during Kelly's time hosting A-Channel's The Big Breakfast when Button, who ran an event company with a few partners at the time, would make promotional appearances. The interviews flourished into a friendship and Button later became the co-host of Kelly's 'Dave Kelly Live' stage show.

"I'd be the guy in front and he'd be the guy beside, just saying dumb things," recounted Kelly. "So we started it. A year in, he gets a terminal diagnosis. So then Jim and I sat down and we're like, 'OK, how are we going to do a show where half of the folks on stage are dying of cancer? How is that not a downer in the show?'

"But Jim said, 'I want this to be out loud. I'm lucky enough to have a supportive family and great friends. So I'm going to go through this out loud because there's people out there who are alone and who are scared because they have cancer and they have no one to talk to.'"

The two recorded video segments for the stage show, with one taking place with them both crammed together in an MRI machine, another with both packed into "a really small tub" and a piece where they were "running around the hospital like a couple of idiots."  Button's only condition for making the videos was that his wife approved and their antics made her laugh.

Kelly says his fondest memories of Button aren't based in anything he did or anything he said, but how Button made him feel.

"What really strikes me is I just felt like a good person around him and he made everyone feel that way," said Kelly. "It's the part that makes me so sad but also so grateful and so lucky, like all of Calgary, that we got to know this amazing man."

News of Button's death felt like "a bit of a joke" for Kelly and many of those close to Button, as it had been roughly six years since the initial terminal diagnosis where he was told he would likely live for only a year or two. There were several times when his prognosis dwindled down to a week or two, but it never stopped him from supporting others.

"Right up to the end, he loved helping," said Kelly. "When he was dying, some people didn't know he was because that was just Jim.

"So I got there once in hospice, and I'm sitting with him. And he goes, 'You know what happened this morning? This person phoned me with a marketing problem. And so we worked through the whole thing. Clearly, this person had no idea that I'm answering the phone in hospice.'

"And then he starts to cry and he says, 'You know what? I'm sad. I won't be able to do that for anyone anymore. He wasn't sad that she didn't know he was dying, he was sad that he won't be able to help people anymore.

"What kind of guy is that?"

Kelly encourages others to adopt Button's approach to life, making mention of a personal conversation they shared.

"At one point, he said 'I don't want to sound selfish,' and he's choking and I'm choking, 'I don't want to sound selfish, but I've gotten so much love. You know why? Because I gave it.' And he goes 'that's it,'" said Kelly.

"And it's true. At the end of his life, he had so many people sending just this pouring of love. And he said it's because 'I gave it.'

"And that's his lesson for all of us. If you want to feel like he did when he was on his way out, just give all the love you can."

Thank you Jim. For everything.

Live. Love. Laugh. Repeat.

"I Died Today" by Jim Button https://t.co/VDDpb4Uknw pic.twitter.com/EYlezxKKtk

— Village Brewery (@villagebrewery) January 20, 2023

The Jim Button Community Builder Fund has been announced in Button's memory, through The Calgary Foundation.

Details can be found online, here.