Today would have been Allan Waugh’s 70th birthday.

Waugh was a father, a grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a widower and a friend.

He liked hunting, fixing up vehicles in his yard, doing odd jobs for neighbours and gardening.

“Dad was a man who loved the simple things in life,” his family said in a statement Tuesday, addressing the public directly for the first time since Waugh was found dead in his Whitehorse home last May.

RCMP are investigating his death as a homicide. No arrests have been made.

Now, Waugh’s family is reaching out to the public with a plea for help.

“We were devastated by our dad’s death and the tragic way that he was taken from us,” they write.

“We continue to be hurt with each day that goes by and wonder why those that have information do not come forward.”

RCMP have not released many details about Waugh’s death.

Police and ambulance crews were called to his home on McCrimmon Crescent in the McIntyre subdivision at about 7:35 a.m. on May 30, 2014.

“Foul play is believed to be involved, and Yukon RCMP have launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding this death,” police said at the time.

Cpl. Natasha Dunmall said this morning police continue to urge anyone with information to come forward.

“There may be people who, for whatever reason, were not willing to speak to police who may reach out to the family instead,” she said.

“If somebody knows something about the death of Mr. Waugh, we want them to know that we are certainly here to listen. It is never too late to come forward and help provide closure to a grieving family.”

Sgt. Mark London of the Major Crimes Unit told the Star last November that police held a community meeting at the Kwanlin Dun First Nation’s Nàkwät’à Kù potlatch house the previous June, imploring people with information to come forward.

“Through the investigation, from the outset, we’ve received information from the community and we just want to encourage those people or anybody else who has information to come forward and share it with us,” London said.

“I think it’s important to keep the general public aware of the fact that it’s an ongoing investigation ... so people can realize that it’s still important to us, it’s important to the family and it’s important to the community.”

Waugh was born in New Brunswick, but had lived in the Yukon since the late 1960s. He had five children with Lin Waugh.

His life revolved around her, the family says, and when she died in 2012, he was “devastated.”

Waugh was a retired welder who’d worked at various job sites in the territory.

He enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren, and often had the latter involved in planting seeds and harvesting. He tended to a garden in his backyard and another at his camp at Atsua Ku.

“Allan Waugh was a loving, caring person who worked hard his whole life, and he taught his family to stay together,” the statement says.

“(These) past several months have been quite difficult for his children, grandchildren, sister, brothers and friends, knowing that he was taken from us so suddenly, and we are left wondering ‘Why? Why and how could this happen?’”

Anyone with information about Waugh’s death is asked to either contact RCMP at 667-5555 or the family at familyofalwaugh@gmail.com.