Sending love to all Gordon’s beloved friends and family.
We remember Gordon as in the photo above: in a canoe (his favourite place), with a twinkle in his eye (as always), leaning toward another person (his habitual attitude). He shared his love for creation and the Creator, his impish sense of humour (and the deep joy from which that humour sprang) and his unending concern for and interest in other people with us in his family. But he also shared those same gifts with thousands of others at Manitoba Pioneer Camp, in student ministries on the prairies, and in Christian communities in Manitoba and BC. He didn't just tell people that God believed in them; he believed in them, too. What a blessing he has been to all of us his whole life.
Memorial Service: Gordon's Memorial Service will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, January 26th at Killarney Park Mennonite Brethren Church at 48th Ave & Kerr in Vancouver.
Donations: In lieu of flowers, we invite you to contribute to Manitoba Pioneer Camp in Gordon's memory.
Contributing Photos: We invite you to contribute photos of Gordon via this Dropbox link and/or through the 'Stories' page on this site.
Tributes
Leave a tributeSending love to all Gordon’s beloved friends and family.
forty two and he is very nice. I like him because he has a sense of humor.
He is so nice that my mommy says we are very lucky to have such a nice
daddy."
You’re commitment to truth and courageous leadership has provided me with a framework to connect and empower others!
The memories of deep discussions around Apologetics, Spiritual Direction, Philosophy, and Little Rabbit FU FU have provided me with a delightful balance to embrace life confidently and yet with delicate wisdom.
Our deepest condolences to you Donna and the family... with sincere love and heartfelt prayers... Dietrich and Edith
Thinking of you as you experience this most significant of life's losses.
My hope is that the amazing legacy of memories of a life well lived in the hearts of the many people who had the blessing of knowing him will be of comfort in the days and months ahead. warmest regards Elecia Hart
Valiant Stewart--
friend and mentor,
thoughtful, kind,
great wise heart--
has now departed.
Listen—
for the last dip of the paddle
the pull through the foam
for his laughter--
in the wind moan,
in the rustle of leaves
the rush of water on stone
Ever with us,
though he’s gone home.
I always think of you and Gordon as team, always trying to make the world better, The world is a better place because of Gordon and yourself. My thoughts are with you and your family.
My memory of Gordon is always Gordon and Donna. Not they were always together in the same place but I knew somehow they were together with each other in each of their spaces. There was room for each other in each others space and it was welcomed. This allowed them, in turn to welcome others. And, I was welcomed. For this I am eternally grateful.
Gordon was many things to many people. He had a way that included, welcomed and challenged people. In my eyes and heart, I knew and saw he could be trusted. This was both freeing and terrifying. For all his gentleness of spirit and openness of heart, I also knew he was serious about what was important.
I saw for Gordon that people were important and God was important, and faith was important. From Gordon I learned about faith and being deliberate and thoughtful about it and to take it seriously for it was indeed a serious thing because it informed how one was to think, act and be.
We all know that this seriousness did not preclude humor, fun and enjoyment. I have many memories of Gordon enjoying himself with others and taking pleasure in good natured laughter. The camp songs, the stories and the experiences of life he shared were welcomed and anticipated each summer at camp.
I consider myself fortunate to have worked under Gordon at Manitoba Pioneer Camp and InterVarsity and to know him as a friend and to have shared time with his family. Gordon, and his family, are an integral part of the story of my life. For this I will be grateful throughout eternity.
Through a heart that loved God, Gordon loved and reached out to people throughout his life. It was a heart touched and redeemed by God. Heaven rejoices to have him home. Calvin Desmarais
Scotty was one of the most influencial people in my life and I dare say, thousands of other lives. I met him as a camper, watching him lead campfires, greeting us each breakfast with "Good Morning Campers," admiring and then later on in my life, working at camp, trying to emulate his character.
Scotty was the first person I told when I recieved news that I had been accepted into my future career. And what did he say to me? Rick, you'll do a fine job! I am certain that those who knew him as they grew up will have a similar story. He was truly a mentor!
Scotty was a "Holy" man. Yes, he must have had doubts when he said that he would be glad to have me work at MPC as a teen but he welcomed me, with faith that everything would work out fine and it did. His belief in God and in people was contagious. My life has been blessed by his influence and confidence in me. Of this, I'm certain!
Rick "Andy" Andruchuk
Thank you Gordon, and all your family who shared you with the rest of us. Yes, you will be forever missed, but always present. You will always send the boat to pick us up.
I have so many memories of MPC (where Gordon was the general director throughout my time there as a youth). My favourite one is his telling of the tale of that most precocious and courageous bunny, “Little Rabbit Foo Foo” who dared to live his life to the fullest despite threats from one Powerful Fairy... No need to reiterate the gory details.
No question Gordon’s spirit will always be with us - truly a spiritual father for so many people. Holding all of you in my heart.
I knew Gordon best during our time in Winnipeg, '65 to '74. His leadership was not always accepted by more rigid evangelicals, and I remember stupidly urging him to quit.
But Gordon corrected me; he knew his calling, kept his balance and prevailed. His intellectual influence on young people like David and Peter Widdicombe was inestimable. A devoted Christian man in every respect, and a real mensch.
I see from Facebook that your father Gordon died this week.
Sad, as well as the crown on a life well-lived. so far as I can tell.
I remember the best of Gordon from years ago ,,, a storyteller par excellence and a delightful person to meet and be with around camp (OPC) as I met him in the 70s. He seemed to me to be one of Wilber Sutherland's right hand persons.
I have met many people who recall him fondly. Blessings and love, Rae
Jan and I remember your Dad from Regent College. We were classmates in the term of 1974. We had a history of involvement with IVCF/ISCF and Pioneer Camps.
I remember with gratitude to God as an encourager, someone who was willing to engage in good theological conversation.
I will be remembering you in prayer. I'm reminded of the song by CityAlight - All my ways are known to you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mVzqGeS-Q.
It fits as I remember your father and as I pray for you.
I remember the joy of camping and love for nature in his eyes. And truly appreciate as a now older the times we spent together.
I also appreciate Donna and the wonderful person that she is, and the family that I grew up with in many ways.
May The Lord’s work continue to Bless all who knew you and continue to be testimonies in the future.
"Hi Gord,
A little bird by the name of Joy reminded me that tomorrow is your birthday - 90th!! Congratulations.
God has blessed you in so many ways. And I speak as one who has known the blessings you have provided others.
Your leadership, guidance, friendship, and teaching have been a blessing to me in my life.
Perhaps most of all is your example of living faithfully for God that has continued to impact my living (hopefully) faithfully for God.
You have not just lived 90 years - you have journeyed with God and been a blessing to many.
Thank you that for a few years I had the privilege of knowing you and journeying with you.
With deep appreciation, love and celebration.
Bryan
P.S. Donna, I know your relationship/partnership with Gord has been equally faithful. Thank you.
My mom died soon after Elizabeth Elliot in 2015 and I enjoyed imagining them in the Newcomers Orientation Group in heaven. I'm enjoying thinking about Gordon and Mary Oliver in their Newcomers Orientation Group. I'm also enjoying thinking of Gordon paddling on the River of Life. I'm sure that Bill Mason has organized a fleet of canoes by now! :)
Thank you for always sharing your laughter, love and deep wisdom.
Gordon and Donna individually and together were the finest, real team, I have ever known.
Words cannot begin to express what he means to me, but I will try. Gord enabled me to grow. He made me feel valued. He allowed me to fail. He taught me forgiveness. He led me to explore new avenues for pursuing dreams. He refused to let me be a loner. He enriched the lives of all whom he touched. He cared.
He exemplified God's love.
Thank you, Gord.
From my first recollections of you as a little boy, through to my last time with you a few months ago, you were in the best sense, always the same. You always engaged, took seriously, told the truth winsomely, left room for uncertainty, maintained a great sense of humour, and loved. Thank you. I will miss you very much. I enjoy thinking of you together now with my Dad and other loved ones, in that great light.
Leave a Tribute
Sending love to all Gordon’s beloved friends and family.
Joy and peace
Meditation Given at Gordon's Memorial by Vern Ratzlaff
Psalm 121 is a poem about a journey. And as the poet thinks about starting, he makes his confession of faith: help for the long days’ journey will come from G-d, the G-who makes mountains –and lakes and fishing. Especially fishing. A G-d who also gifted Gordon with your love, Donna. A g-d who not only made mountains and lakes but gifted Gordon with the delight of the challenges of work and of the delight of congregational fellowship and of the delight of friends that spanned vocations and a host of addresses. Who made a man who trusted his G-d even in times made difficult by illness and interminable hospital stays. Because G-d is a god who keeps watch over people, the Hebrew poet understands that it is G-d who will keep watch. That’s in vv 2,3. At the beginning of the journey, the poet makes this confession. My help comes from the G-d who made the heavens and the earth (and fish)
But then we have the words of the priest, who pronounces the blessing on the traveller. In the first two verses we have the conversation in the first person. ‘I’ ‘My’ . Then in vv. 3-8 it’s ‘You” ‘you” as the benediction for the journey is given by the priest. It’s a reminder that the journey is not taken alone. G-d is the watchman, the keeper, the one who preserves. But the whole community of faith is also there, as the priest gives the benediction and as you start out with the others, you are not alone. The community of faith – past, present and future-is part of the journey. And so the Hebrew poet reminds us about G-d on our journey. And G-d is called Guardian, Keeper of Israel, the one who preserves and protects. He keeps track of us by day, he is our keeper by night. If we travel in the cool to escape the day’s blistering heat, he is our guide, the guardian, the keeper; if we travel in the light through difficult and treacherous terrain, he keeps us when we sleep; he keeps us even when we arrive. Oh, on the journeys we take, God is watchman, keeper.
It was a difficult journey, a long journey to Jerusalem for the religious holidays. A steep climb for the last two or twenty kilometers, whether you came from the Jordan Valley or from the western plains but as you trudged in the heat you raised your eyes to the highest peak where Jerusalem straddled the ridges: Jerusalem, City of God. “I raise my eyes to the mountain”, and then you struck camp for the night. To protect against raids by the unfriendly, your group placed sentries to guard, to watch, to the keepers for the night. And then, just before entering your tent, you looked through the failing light and you saw a sentry, a guard, a keeper. All was well. But then you remembered God. Not only the human guard with stave just outside the camp’s perimeter, but God who watched over you. But God as keeper is more than a lookout on a pilgrimage. That word is used for watching intently, to keep boundaries, to care about, to commit to.
So this is what the poet tells us about the God who was Gordon’s keeper, for he put his trust in the watchfulness, the regard , of God. It didn’t mean that he didn’t have the sunstroke or slipping feet, or pain and nightmares,. God as keeper on the pilgrimage didn’t mean that the journey wouldn’t see sprained ankles, or emotional discouragement or incisions that didn’t want to heal. Everything hunky dory? No, but there was the4 conviction that nothing could separate the traveller from God, that God stayed with him. That is why the poem is part of the liturgy for many churches, part of the baptismal and of the funeral liturgies, from birth to death. God is our keeper, our guardian. Perfect is not what the Hebrew talks about. God as our keeper (mentioned six times in the poem), does not always keep us in happy fortunes, but he guards, he keeps the essence of our being with fierce loyalty.
And so the Hebrew poet thinks of God, the God of power, who made heaven and earth, but also the God of love, of personal care. Who made mountains, but also made people who kept ehir covenants, whose generosity to friends and church and community ran deep and wide. Made people whose vision was wide and who kept people close. The god of all these, the God of all this is whom Gordon loved, and loved reading about in the book that God gave him.
Oh, there were disappointments. Loss of mobility, loss of strength. But his love for family and friends (and for you, Donna) did not falter, even in these last difficult months. Gordon’s keeping God was with Gordon, in his going out and in his coming in.
We leave our homes so casually, stride through the door, make sure it’s closed behind us and into the car with never a backward glance. And come back equally casually. Gordon left your house so many times, for going to work, for visiting, for errands. One day he left your house and the door closed behind him. God was his keeper, each of those times, was the one who cared for him, who watched over him, who welcomes him when he went through the last door, bringing him face to face with his keeper. For God is our keeper. When we go on journeys, when we make our final journey. For we are kept by God.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.
God, Guide and Guardian, Keeper of us all, thank you for what you meant to Gordon on his journey, for keeping him in his going out and his coming in. Be our guide too; keep us in your care.
This day is called the feast of Gordon!
I remember the year Gordon was scheduled to turn 70: Sometime in May I got a call from my brother Duncan. “We have to take Gord Canoeing” he said. “We’re all of us starting to get a little old.”
And for the next dozen years or so, various combinations of us hangers-on went out on canoe trips with him—every June, mostly. This meant that for quite a while, Gord celebrated his birthday on the road with us, rather than in the bosom of his family—which proved remarkably tolerant of our incursions. We generally marked the day by sticking a few candles into a bannock and singing “happy birthday”; but one year—was it Gord’s 80th?—I thought something more grandiose might be in order. Something to let him know what this annual trip really meant to us, but without being so blubbering as to embarrass him.
"This day is called the feast of Gordon! He that canoes this day and comes safe home, will stand a’tiptoe when this day is named; and rouse him at the name of Stewart!
(And thank you Alicia for giving this a rousing reading!)