August 26, 1942 – June 3, 2012
Just twelve weeks shy of his “three score & ten” our dear husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend lost his battle with the cruel thief cancer. This fifth generation Victorian will be missed by many who were privileged to know such a humble, wise, productive, and loving man. As well as a strong quiet model for his family, he was a powerful voice for the scientific and Christian communities, demonstrating clearly that both can be in total harmony.
For over 42 years he worked happily for NRC, and from 1968 at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory on Little Saanich Mountain, studying stars and designing optics for telescopes, including the Far Ultraviolet Spectrographic Explorer launched in 1999 from Cape Canaveral. He retired in 2005, and was able to go on many cruises, including one to Bora Bora, his dream destination.
We know that Christopher is now in a wondrous place with his Saviour – a place he would have glimpsed through his telescope in the incredible beauty of the universe.
Trying to manage around the hole (not a black hole) he left, are his wife Susan (née Irving), four children of whom he was so proud: Jennifer (Bob Wear; Zachary, Melissa, Amanda), Geoffrey (Denise; Sarah, Lauren), Yolanda (Chris Guglielmo; Linus, Nora), and Nathaniel (Andrea; Eli); brothers Andrew, Paul, Graham, Michael, and their families; his aunt Patricia Smith, many cousins and families, as well as Susan’s brothers, and numerous relatives – in Canada, the US and the UK; and friends and colleagues around the world.
Thank you to the many good doctors, nurses, other staff and volunteers, including those at the Cancer Centre and Saanich Peninsula Hospital Palliative Care Ward. If you wish, please donate to a charity of your choice or the BC Cancer Foundation.
A celebration of his life will take place at Friendship Community Church, 7820 Central Saanich Rd, Saanichton, BC at 2:30 on Friday, July 20, 2012. Come with memories and anecdotes to share.
Slàinte celestial, dear Christopher!