Alec Pryndik has been in the drill bit business for 48 years, but with the downturn in the economy, and having recently lost his wife, he’s closed the doors on Pryndik Bit and Supply Limited.

On Jan. 11, Pryndik sold his entire inventory of drilling rig supplies in a lump sale, and he and his son John, as well as a few family friends, were loading up the shop’s contents to be shipped to Kanadian Bit Supplies in Victoria.

“I feel, well, kind of sad, but you know, my wife passed away a couple of months ago... it’s time,” Pryndik said.

His wife Jeanne served on city council for 12 years, and was a prominent member of the community. She was 86 when she passed away in September. Her death was one of the reasons Pryndik felt it was time to throw in the towel.

But there were other reasons, too, like the changes in the oilfield industry, and how the economy has slowed. “It’s totally a different world than what it used to be,” Pryndik said.

At his 100th Street shop Monday, he gestured to the heaps of oilfield drill bits that sat on his shop floor, and explained that they were no longer needed to the extent they once were.

“They used to use maybe 30 or 40 to drill a hole, now they use maybe two or three, so, it’s slowed the industry down. And it’s altogether different,” he said.

Pryndik Bit and Supply Limited, located at 8808 100th Street, was founded in 1967, and since that time has served the industry well, renting equipment, selling it, “whatever the client requires,” Pryndik said.

“It’s been a good life and I’ve enjoyed the business over the years. Fort St. John was a good place to bring up the kids when they were little,” he said.

Pryndik has a son in Fort St. John, and a daughter who lives in Fort Nelson.

As for what’s next for the family is anyone’s guess.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, we’ll probably start up something different, I don’t know. Something to keep myself occupied,” Pryndik said.

It was an emotional day for all involved.

“This is all I’ve ever really known,” said John Pryndik.

He attributed the decision to close shop to “a little bit of everything. Business has dropped so bad, and technology, the evolution of oil bits in the oil and gas industry, as well as, my father’s 87 years old and still works every day.”

He can remember riding his tricycle around in the shop as a small boy.

“It is kind of sad to me. But then, the way the oil patch has gone, it’ll never be the same again. So maybe now is the time to get out of it,” he said.