Obituary for William Brian Girdwood
Brian Girdwood, 85, succumbed to Alzheimer’s Disease at Bethany Lodge on October 3, 2021.
Brian is survived by his devoted wife Hazel of 33 years and her children. He will be sadly missed by the mother of his children, Gizella Domokos, his sons Craig and his wife Karen and Don and his partner Stephanie, his grandchildren William , Benjamin and Katelin, his sisters Margaret and Pam and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
Brian was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 1, 1936 to William and Gwenneth Girdwood. He went to high school at Bishops and graduated from Cape Town University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Chartered Accountancy with a distinction in Latin.He went on to become a CA by profession and an enthusiastic lay etymologist. Any request from his children or grandchildren on the meaning of a word would invariably begin with a discussion of the word's roots in either Latin or Greek.
He emigrated to Canada in 1960.
Brian was famous in his early adult life for racing around the country in his latest Porsche 811 speedster. He spent most weekends out of town, usually driving his car to far flung places like Boston, MA or Charleston, SC. He also went on several weeks-long driving tours of the US and Canada, including one with his sister Pam who sailed in from South Africa to join him.
Over the years, Brian became a devout man of God, hosting and attending prayer groups and church events many days of the week. His clear voice in prayer is dearly missed by his church, his friends and his family.
Brian’s defining pastime was, beyond a doubt, his passion for photography, especially videos. He started at a very early age. At 10 he was already developing his own film and photos in a makeshift room he had cobbled together in the attic of The Mumbles, his childhood home. Once he had the means, he always purchased the best and newest of cameras and video systems, from Hasselblad to Roleflex, from Nikon to Sony.
He loved the technology but what he loved most of all was making videos and pictures for family and friends. Nothing would make him happier than seeing someone's eyes light up, after having a large format picture presented to them.
It was a labor of love. He would spend hours and hours editing and re-editing video for the enjoyment of family and friends. Before he retired, he would even include video and images he had personally taken to his presentations. He once made a docudrama chronicling his conflict with a local bird-seed-eating-squirrel.
As the disease started to take his mind, one of his final sentient pleasures was assembling and disassembling his video camera.
A special thank you to the people of Bethany Lodge for their loving care and support during the last three years of his life.
On November 19th at 1:30 at Chapel Ridge Funeral Home, Pastor Ramesh Naraine will lead a Service in Brian’s memory. This will be followed by a Celebration of Life.
Brian is survived by his devoted wife Hazel of 33 years and her children. He will be sadly missed by the mother of his children, Gizella Domokos, his sons Craig and his wife Karen and Don and his partner Stephanie, his grandchildren William , Benjamin and Katelin, his sisters Margaret and Pam and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
Brian was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 1, 1936 to William and Gwenneth Girdwood. He went to high school at Bishops and graduated from Cape Town University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Chartered Accountancy with a distinction in Latin.He went on to become a CA by profession and an enthusiastic lay etymologist. Any request from his children or grandchildren on the meaning of a word would invariably begin with a discussion of the word's roots in either Latin or Greek.
He emigrated to Canada in 1960.
Brian was famous in his early adult life for racing around the country in his latest Porsche 811 speedster. He spent most weekends out of town, usually driving his car to far flung places like Boston, MA or Charleston, SC. He also went on several weeks-long driving tours of the US and Canada, including one with his sister Pam who sailed in from South Africa to join him.
Over the years, Brian became a devout man of God, hosting and attending prayer groups and church events many days of the week. His clear voice in prayer is dearly missed by his church, his friends and his family.
Brian’s defining pastime was, beyond a doubt, his passion for photography, especially videos. He started at a very early age. At 10 he was already developing his own film and photos in a makeshift room he had cobbled together in the attic of The Mumbles, his childhood home. Once he had the means, he always purchased the best and newest of cameras and video systems, from Hasselblad to Roleflex, from Nikon to Sony.
He loved the technology but what he loved most of all was making videos and pictures for family and friends. Nothing would make him happier than seeing someone's eyes light up, after having a large format picture presented to them.
It was a labor of love. He would spend hours and hours editing and re-editing video for the enjoyment of family and friends. Before he retired, he would even include video and images he had personally taken to his presentations. He once made a docudrama chronicling his conflict with a local bird-seed-eating-squirrel.
As the disease started to take his mind, one of his final sentient pleasures was assembling and disassembling his video camera.
A special thank you to the people of Bethany Lodge for their loving care and support during the last three years of his life.
On November 19th at 1:30 at Chapel Ridge Funeral Home, Pastor Ramesh Naraine will lead a Service in Brian’s memory. This will be followed by a Celebration of Life.