This page is dedicated In Memory Of those retired Kwantlen colleagues who have passed.
2024
Lindagene Coyle
September 3, 2024 – KPURA Board member and Vice-President Emeritus Lindagene Coyle passed away on Monday September 3, 2024.
Lindagene’s storied career at KPU spanned 33 years, beginning at Douglas College in 1973. She joined DC/KPU in 1973 as an educational planner, a critical position for UT students who were trying to sort out a path through university before many courses were even articulated (approved) by the universities, as well as helping students choose and plan for careers in a cornucopia of an ever-growing list of other programs. Lindagene would go on to do a variety of things at KPU. She was president of the BCGEU local, then of the KFA, and ultimately part of the senior management team. She made so many contributions to Kwantlen that she was unique in its history.
Lindagene also became a KPU student—something she reflected on in a 2017 interview with Roger Elmes and Alice Macpherson for the KPU Oral History Project
at https://archives.kpu.ca/uploads/r/kwantlen-polytechnic-unversity-archiv…;
“It was fascinating because I was able to take courses at no cost. As a staff member I could take courses and that was fantastic for me.”
As she noted in her interview "I tell people, because I was in my early ‘20’s when I started working here, I grew up at Kwantlen, my children grew up with Kwantlen, all of my children went to Kwantlen. [Laughs]
When Lindagene retired from KPU, she was honoured with Vice-President Emerita status. But retirement couldn’t keep her away from KPU for long. Lindagene became heavily involved in KPU alumni activities, as well as served on the board of Third Age Learning at Kwantlen (TALK) and most recently, the KPU Retirees Association.
Wayne Jeffries
November 13, 2024 – Wayne was found, deceased, at home by a close friend. He had been managing well after his strokes but was not in the best of health a few weeks ago, still this was unexpected.
Roger Elmes notes: Wayne Jefferies was one of the most energetic academics I knew. He ran summer music camps, organized trips to Italy, eastern Canada, the USA, and elsewhere for Kwantlen music students to play in orchestral festivals, liaised with the local music community organizations https://fvwe.ca/ about often involving Kwantlen music alumni, played in several ensembles, taught French horn, conducting and other subjects and conducted the Kwantlen orchestra, You can imagine the organizational skills and energies needed to organize and implement these activities. He was not afraid to corner the various presidents on behalf of financial and administrative support for these student events. In addition, he served on many of the committees in his department. Boundless energy and enthusiasm are apt descriptors. Such a high level of activity can sometimes ruffle feathers. But while artists are known to occasionally do battle over music domains and academic territory it was always amazing to me to see them come together and seamlessly perform.
Wayne was also a tower of support to his departmental colleague Elizabeth Lamberton during her long bout with cancer right up to her premature death in 2016. https://music.ubc.ca/news/in-memoriam-dr-elizabeth-lamberton-ma-78-phd-88/ I saw him several times accompanying her on walks to the White Rock Farmers' Market and later pushing her in a wheelchair through the market which was near her condo.
Richard Crothers
August 7, 2024 - Richard began his journey with KPU on September 1, 1998, initially serving as a Non-Regular contractor in the Public Relations, MCJR, and Computer Business Systems (CBSY) departments. He became a regular faculty member in the CBSY department on September 1, 2000, and continued to inspire students and colleagues until his retirement on August 21, 2009. Richard’s legacy at KPU is deeply intertwined with his family. His wife, Julie Crothers, who has been at his side for 48 years, continues to teach with us in the CBSY department, while their son, Simon Crothers, is a full-time faculty member in our Business Quantitative Studies department.
Bill Day
August 4, 2024 - Bill always cherished education—he worked a fulfilling career as an adult educator within educational institutions including the University of Rajasthan, Douglas College, and UBC. He was a driving force in Canadian adult education; his contributions included establishing night school adult high school equivalency classes during his early years teaching high school in Maple Ridge, developing extension programs to improve basic literacy in rural Rajasthani villages, and working from Douglas College's foundation as Dean of Continuing
Education and President. He was a unique and very successful player in the college scene from the initial organizing efforts around the creation of Douglas/Kwantlen and ultimately one of the longest serving presidents in BC college history. He had a tremendous impact on both Douglas and by extension Kwantlen. Always forthright and honest as well as a gentleman in all his interactions.
Jack Finnbogason
April 30, 2024 - Jack passed away in his sleep. He was a one of a kind guy - always well informed, erudite, committed to life, friends and family and to his work. He made such incredible contributions to Kwantlen as a faculty member, an administrator, and a friend and mentor to so many. He was highly respected for so many qualities and for his leadership. He was always looking for new ways he could be of service; if there was an educational committee somewhere, he was probably on it or leading it. Jack will be remembered for his dry wit, his insatiable curiosity, and his incredibly kind and generous spirit. An outgoing soul, he touched the lives of thousands of students and innumerable colleagues, neighbours, friends, and family.
Don Currie
April 4, 2024 - Right from the beginning of Kwantlen. Don's role as the Chief Carpentry instructor when our trades program began carried right through many campus changes and up to the KPU Tech campus in Cloverdale. In teaching, he always had his students' learning experiences front and centre as he prepared them for their careers in construction. A strong union rep, he supported the union and rank and file. He was always up for a good conversation and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
2023
Sukey Samra
Sukey Samra, former KPU IT director passed away in early October. Sukey was a graduate of KPU’s (Kwantlen College at the time) Computer Information Systems diploma program in 1986. For a few years after graduating, he worked for a private company as a system administrator. In 1989 he joined KPU as a system administrator and became Manager of Technology Services in 1995. He became Associate Director and later Director of IT. He served as interim Chief Information Officer twice.
Elaine Benton
KPURA founding member and retired faculty from the Kwantlen Office Admin program. Elaine managed to continue to work through her arthritis right up to retirement. She always took time to be friendly and happy to chat with colleagues. Elaine was a lovely person.
Lorna Boseley
June 7, 2023 - passed away. Lorna had a very long and vibrant career with KPU, going back to 1981, when we were Kwantlen College, just becoming independent from Douglas College that year. She began her career with KPU in the Library. She moved into payroll in the late 1980’s, where she progressed from Clerk, to Supervisor, to Operations Manager. Her last role was as a Payroll Systems Business Analyst.
Bob Lowe
April 8, 2023 - Bob taught in the Faculty of Education at SFU, became Chair of the English Department at Douglas College and finished his career as Vice President Academic at Kwantlen College. He continued to stay busy and involved in community throughout his life. Bob Lowe was physically strong, quietly emotional, fiercely stubborn and amazingly kind. He was the person that his wife, kids, grandkids and friends could count on. He touched many people in many ways. He tried to make the world right for us. A celebration of life will be held at a later date to be determined.
Jeff Brown
March 13, 2023 - Our KPU colleague and friend passed away unexpectedly of an aortic rupture in Williams Lake, BC. Jeff will certainly be missed. His willingness to help others enhanced the lives of many people, including staff and students throughout his many years with KPU and tireless BCGEU work. He started in Facilities where he was fun to work alongside, thoughtful and honest, kind and caring, and genuinely interested in how everyone was keeping. Jeff loved the comradery, fast pace, and diversity of challenges Facilities and Trades provided, and he never displayed anger or reacted in frustration, choosing instead to celebrate the friendship and laughs we have together working through challenges.
2022
Michele Guest
September 21, 2022 - As an educator in the late 1970s and early 1980s Michele was instrumental in re-shaping the then two-year diploma course at Kwantlen College into a program that could grow into a Bachelor of Interior Design. Under Kwantlen Polytechnic University, this program offered the first CIDA accredited Bachelor Degree in Interior Design in British Columbia. She continued to guest lecture as Barbara Duggan and Sooz Klinkhamer took over as full time faculty.
Antonis Parras
September 2, 2022 - Former Kwantlen Business Instructor who was always quite formal and polite/pleasant. He was always happy to participate in mail and copy room ‘chats’.\
Steve Hansen
July 24, 2022 - Retired Chemistry Instructor, Steve had moved to Bend, Oregon in 2021 to be closer to his brother and family. He was able to spend his last months with family, hanging out with his brother in his workshop, listening to oldies, drinking beer and talking about the good old days.
Brian Woodcock
May 24, 2022 - Brian was a dynamic member of the Marketing faculty. His energy and zest for life was evident to all. He was an avid hiker, skier, road cyclist, world traveller and grandfather.
Phil Warren
February 1, 2022 - Phil spent the majority of his professional life teaching Psychology at Kwantlen College and University College where he retired in 1998 and then received Professor Emeritus status in 2000. He touched countless lives in his 25 years of at Kwantlen.
Anthony (Tony) Wilkinson
January 9, 2022 - In 1981, he was appointed the first president of Kwantlen College.
2021
Tom McMath
February 5, 2021 - Tom was one of our KPURA Founding Full members and was retired from the KPU Physics Department. He remained active in community events and project over time.
Reg Pridham
Early 2021 - He passed away at his home in Nova Scotia. He was 89 and was the first acting principal and then vice-president of Kwantlen College when it became independent.
Halina Gail Struser
January 9th, 2021 - She was a former Nursing faculty member and lived in Crescent Beach.
2020
Beverley O'Malley
October 18, 2020 - Beverly died at a time of her own choosing while surrounded by her family. She was one of our KPURA Founding members and a current full member at the time of her passing.
2019
Richard Heath Floyd
August 25, 2019 - Richard retired from the KPU in August 2008. He received his BA and MA in Sociology from UBC and in April 1997 began his most meaningful and lasting career as a Sociology instructor at what is now Kwantlen Polytechnic University. On three occasions Richard was Chair of his department and he served on many committees including Chair, Provincial Sociology/Anthropology Articulation Committee; KPU's first Education Council; and, the Contract Negotiation Committee. As an author, his publications included two editions of Success in the Social Sciences: A Canadian Perspective. Richard continued to work as a sessional instructor on and off over the past few years and was a Founding Member of KPURA. For all his contributions to KPU, in 2011 the university bestowed Richard with the honour of Professor Emeritus.
Dorothy Maureen Hargreaves
August 21, 2019 - Maureen was a long time staff member of KPU, where she spent nearly 25 years, mainly working within the facilities department. She was thought of as "mom" to many at Kwantlen and made many strong, lifelong friendships before she retired in 2014. Her Facilities team thought of her as the soul and foundation of their department and her wisdom is missed. .
David Taylor
July 6, 2019 - Retired colleague David Taylor past away Saturday, July 6th.
Ronald Andrew Johnson
May 20, 2019 - Ron was a founding member of the Douglas College mathematics Faculty in 1970. He later joined the department of mathematics at Kwantlen University College when it was formed in 1981. In his final years he did contend with cancer and despite various treatments none were successful and after a two year battle he went to his final sleep peacefully at home.
Udo Ruediger Keding
May 18, 2019 - Passed away peacefully at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on May 18, 2019 after a short battle with cancer.
2018
Beth Heldman
December, 2018 - Beth joined Kwantlen in 1987 with the implementation of the Diploma Nursing Program, the first nursing program offered at Kwantlen. Beth loved teaching and the profession of nursing and will be fondly remembered by students, faculty and staff.
Elizabeth Bordeaux
November 18 2018 - Elizabeth died at four o'clock this afternoon in the hospice at Peace Arch Hospital, peacefully with family there. Elizabeth started teaching in the Academic and Career Preparation (ACP) department at Kwantlen College in the late 70s and retired around 2000. She was the first Full Member of KPURA. During her time at Kwantlen, she was chair of ACP from 1990 to 1999, the first chair Academic and Career Preparation had; she was a key figure in the ACP department , a diligent, hardworking colleague, an excellent and patient teacher, and an excellent chair who worked hard to successfully raise the ACP profile in Kwantlen and to create and maintain connections with other departments. She either chaired or was a member of numerous committees, both ACP and Kwantlen-wide, such as Educational Leave, Search, Professional Development and College Council which she was on for a number of years.
Ching Po Shih
August 2018 - A gentle soul has passed. Ching-Po Shih, a founding faculty member of Douglas and Kwantlen Colleges taught Political Science and History for 30 years. His calm but insightful and challenging classes introduced generations of students to these two disciplines, especially POLI.
To deal with the many campuses, particularly in the Douglas days, Ching Po learned to drive and never looked back. His strong commitment to students’ learning made him a favourite of many students.
Dave Sale
September 25th, 2018 - Dave Sale was a parent, soccer coach, teacher and mentor, advocate for the accounting profession and friend.
Dave joined Kwantlen College January 1, 1989. Dave, a BCIT graduate, went on to earn his Certified General Accountant designation and a Master's degree in International Business. Dave was elected Secretary –Treasurer of the Kwantlen Faculty Association serving in 1993-94. As a coordinator, then subsequently the Chair, of Accounting from 1997 until 2005 Dave was a driving force behind the creation of KPU's Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting.
Dave was instrumental in KPU's decision to establish a varsity women's soccer team which provided female athletes with a competitive sport option and the opportunity to represent the university nationally. Through Dave's hard work and drive KPU was granted full membership into the BCAAA soccer league in 2004. As the first head coach form 2003-2006 he laid the foundation for the program that went on to win two provincial championships and a National Bronze Medal in 2009. Dave was a "go to" person amongst Accounting faculty when students or colleagues needed support. He was incredibly generous with his time and attention. Many wondered where he found time for his hobby, collecting sports memorabilia.
2017
Dr. Sue Ann Cairns
February 22nd, 2017 - Dr. Sue Ann Cairns, recently retired English instructor, passed away after a brief illness bravely fought.
Sue Ann influenced her students, colleagues and the wider KPU community with her curiosity-driven pedagogy and deeply personal connection with literature. She believed in the healing power of story, and how personal narratives help us make sense of our sometimes overwhelming experiences.
She especially loved teaching the third year course on Children's Literature, as well as topics courses 'Women/Writing, Writing/Women,' 'The Bible as Literature,' 'Journeys by Land, Sea, Myth & Imagination,' and 'Stories of Mental Illness and Healing.' Her students found her receptive to their problems, caring of their progress, and willing to go that extra mile. As she began her retirement in April 2016, Sue Ann eagerly looked forward to traveling more and exploring new directions. It seems almost prescient that she kept hearing a line in T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland": "HURRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME."
Barbara Wall
January 12, 2017 - It is with sincere regret that we advise of the passing of Barbara Wall, longtime Biology lab instructor after a brief illness. After being conferred a B.Sc. in Zoology, Barbara worked as a Fishery Biologist and a Forest Nursery Technician for the then Ministry of Forests. In August 2000, Barbara joined KPU as an auxiliary Biology lab instructor, and she served our students diligently as a regular lab instructor all the way up to her retirement at the end of December, 2016.
2016
Glen Williams
June 4, 2016 - It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Glen Williams. Glen was a long time instructor in auto parts and light warehousing at KPU and was instrumental in the design of the parts program. Glen retired from KPU in August 1999.
Bob Benwick
May 18th, 2016 - Bob Benwick, who joined the Melville School of Business faculty in September 1996, passed away in the Langley Memorial Hospital. During his almost 20 years of teaching at KPU, Bob earned the respect and admiration of students and colleagues alike for his innovative, highly engaging approach to teaching.
Terri Smolar
April 2016 - Terri Smolar was a faculty member and coordinator of the Public Relations program at KPU. She taught at KPU for almost ten years and was a mentor to many students and alumni.
Dr. Elizabeth Lamberton
March 1, 2016 - Dr. Elizabeth Lamberton passed away peacefully at Peace Arch Hospital on Tuesday March 1, after a long bout with cancer which she endured with admirable composure. Elizabeth taught musicology as a faculty member at KPU from 1993 to 2012. Dr. Lamberton's life was shaped by her profound commitment to teaching. She joined the music department at KPU in 1993, where she taught music history until illness forced her withdrawal from teaching in 2012. Elizabeth was very involved in the life of the department, and served a term as Chair of the B.C. Post-Secondary Music Forum. Although Elizabeth was a historical musicologist, writer, and editor, her zeal was for the front of the classroom. She was passionate about teaching and her heart and face lit up when she spoke about her students. Her students were her family. And her kindness towards them was demonstrated in very practical ways. For example, every Friday she brought treats for those in her music history class. She cared deeply about her students and was always open to those needing assistance in their studies or guidance in their careers. She was an inspiring teacher and mentor to her many students over the years. Dr. Lamberton was a valued colleague who was dedicated to the development of young musicians and music scholars. Elizabeth was also a very warm and caring soul who will be deeply missed.
2015
Barb Maxwell
April 14th 2015 - Barb began her career at KPU in 2001, working as a Student Services Specialist within the Enrolment Services area. She was known by all as a wonderful and caring person. Barb had been battling cancer for the past six years and sadly reached the end of her courageous struggle and passed away on April 14th 2015.
Hank McEwan
March 22, 2015 - In the Farrier business for more than 50 years, Hank McEwan began his career on the Prairies as a cowboy shoer. He first taught in California at Poly Tech, then opened his own school, the Porterville Horseshoeing School in California – one of only four North American schools in the 1960’s teaching the trade. Hank began with Kwantlen College in 1980. Hank helped set up the Kwantlen Farrier program and taught at the Langley Campus for 15 years, with more than 700 Farrier graduates to his credit. He continued his association with the Farrier program after his retirement in 1995, as an NR1 instructor and a volunteer. Hank passed away at his home in Merritt on March 22, 2015. Kwantlen was privileged to have a faculty member of this caliber, and he will be missed.
Note:
We know there are other retirees to remember. We will add them by request of family / survivors. Please let us know of any others so we can remember them. Thank you to anyone who can add to this page.
Send information to kpura@kpu.ca