Uncle George

Last weekend, my Uncle George passed away after a brief fight against cancer. My parents and Carlynne and I are flying to Toronto tomorrow for his funeral. I know there's an obituary that describes his life and family, but I'd like to write my own little obituary from the perspective of a niece.



Uncle George and his wife, Auntie Bea, have lived in Toronto for many years. Uncle George was a Professor of Theology and retired in 2004. It seemed to me that he was involved in everything and made several contributions to both the Banner and the ICS (Institute for Christian Studies) magazines as well as publishing books of his own. To add to all his publications...he's met he Pope on several occasions. I do believe they even considered each other friends!

In December of 2005, Uncle George's colleagues published a book called That the World May Believe: Essays on Mission And Unity in Honour of George Vandervelde.


On a more personal note, Uncle George was a very sincere and caring man who showed genuine interest in his nieces and nephews. At family gatherings, he would seek us out and ask what was going on in our lives. When my family visited Toronto, he showed us all around and snapped tons of pictures of the whole trip. I always feel like a celebrity around Uncle George because he's constantly putting his photography skills to use. Good thing he passed this trait on to his sons, so family events can still be well documented!

Carlynne and I enjoyed exchanging emails with Uncle George and will definitely miss his emails which were an enjoyable mixture of fun and wisdom. He had a great sense of humour (which he also passed down to his sons).

I know I speak for all my siblings (and cousins) when I say I am proud to be called a niece of Uncle George's, I love him, and I will miss him.