Barbara Alexandra Coatsworth McElya, BA'08, passed away on Nov. 19, 2019, after a courageous battle with cancer. She leaves behind her husband David and their seven-year-old daughter, Blythe.
Carl Ohlson, MBA'61, passed away of complications from Parkinson's disease on July 21, 2020.
Carol (Cossar) Murray, BA'78, BEd'81, passed away on June 9, 2020, in Calgary, Alta. after a short but courageous battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband Gary W. Murray, BA'78, MA'80.
Charles Edmund Thomas, MA'82, LLB'85, passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 10, 2020, in Stratford, Ont. He was a retired military major and had been studying towards his doctorate in law.
Clifford G. Arnott, MBA�62, passed away on July 16, 2020 in Amherstburg, Ont.
Conrad Kristian Odegaard, BSc'69, MEng'74, passed away on June 30, 2019. He was an elementary school teacher, meteorologist, and later co-founded Grains, Beans and Things, and Street Farm Products.
David Frederick Morrison, BA�65, passed away on Sept. 4, 2020, in Baysville, Ont. He is survived by his partner Margaret Carson Morrison, BScN�66, and children Michael, Janet, David and John, as well as seven beloved grandchildren.
Donald Henderson, BA'60, passed away on Aug. 7, 2020. He practised law in St. Catharines and Thorold for over 55 years.
Dr. Edward Roemmele, MD'50, passed away on Aug. 7, 2020, peacefully at his home. He was part of a special class of veterans known as 'Meds '50' and went on to practise medicine in Windsor, Ont. for over 50 years.
Eileen Hartigan, BA'50, passed away peacefully on Dec. 27, 2020. She loved spending time with family and friends, a good cup of tea, a clever joke, Jane Austen novels, traveling by ship, classic movies and music, and had a great sense of humor.
Genevieve Westcott, MA'78, passed away on July 10, 2020, in New Zealand with family by her side.
George Arnold Pearce, MD'55, passed away on Oct. 14, 2020. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force before starting a career in family medicine.
Greg Greenham, HBA'76, passed away on Oct. 19, 2020, in Toronto, after a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease. He owned and operated Greg Greenham Annuity and Insurance Agency for many years and was an accomplished athlete.
Harold Heft, PhD'94, passed away from an inoperable brain tumour in 2015. Before this, he co-edited a book of non-fiction stories titled A Perfect Offering: Personal Stories of Trauma and Transformation, which was published by Mosaic Press in Jan. 2021.
Harvey MacLeod Lewis, Dip'46, passed away on Oct. 13, 2020, in Louisbourg, N.S.
Helen Dewar McLean, Dip'55, passed away on March 21, 2019. She battled Type 1 diabetes for over 60 years and was a recipient of the Diabetes Half Century Award.
James (Jim) Mucklow, MESc�90, passed away on Oct. 28, 2020, in Thunder Bay, Ont. after a four-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. Jim was a professional engineer whose work took him across Canada, which he loved because it meant discovering new places and people.
Jim Hayhurst Sr., BA'85, passed away on Feb. 29, 2020, at his farm near Collingwood, Ont.
Joe Arvay, LLB'74, passed away on Dec. 7, 2020, in Vancouver, BC. After graduating Western, he went on to earn a LLM from Harvard and taught law for several years at the University of Windsor before becoming a constitutional lawyer with the British Columbia Attorney General. Arvay later left the government for private practice. He was appointed Queen's Counsel at the age of 38 and was later awarded the Order of Canada.
John Carrothers, BA'86, passed away on May 22, 2019, in his 88th year. Throughout his life, John was an industrious fellow who loved to tinker with machines and renovate houses. At the ripe age of 85, he could be found at his grandparents' 122-year-old home rewiring the old place to 'bring it up to code.' John worked for Western for 34 years as a works project supervisor and was involved in the construction of almost every building at the university until his retirement in 1994. John believed in the power of higher education and spent much of this time in his life taking night courses before graduating from Western in 1986. He is remembered as a kind, generous and loving husband and father who always put others before himself, as well as for his priceless sense of humour.
Katie Warfield, BA'01, passed away May 8, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was a distinguished scholar and beloved faculty member in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's department of journalism and communication studies.
Laurie Brown, BA'00, passed away on March 18, 2021, after 30 years battling brain tumours that began at age 15. He was a man of deep faith and loved nothing more than spending quality time with family.
Lois Farley, BA'51, passed away on Nov. 12, 2020. She spent more than 20 years teaching at various schools in the London and Middlesex area and volunteering in the community, including as the first female director of the Progressive Conservatives of Elgin.
Mary Elizabeth Matthews, BScN'11, passed away in a tragic hiking accident on Sept. 6, 2020, at the age of 31. She was an ambitious, well-respected nurse who pursued a master's in health leadership and policy after her time at Western.
May Parkinson, BA'49, passed away on Aug. 17, 2020. Her passion for education led to a long career as a school board trustee, where she received many awards from the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, Ontario School Trustee Council, and Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.
Nellie Jamsa McLaughlin, BA'53, passed away on Feb. 8, 2020.
Noel Andrew Gallagher, Dip'74, passed away on Oct. 27, 2020, in London, Ont.
Paul Soles, BA'53, passed away on May 6, 2021. Perhaps best known for portraying Hermey the Elf in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and Peter Parker in Spiderman (1967), he enjoyed a career that took him all over the world, including to Broadway. He will be remembered as a creative, charming and principled man.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, LLD'83, passed away peacefully on April 9, 2021. This photo from 1959 shows Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on campus as part of their Canadian Royal Tour. After entering J.W. Little Memorial Stadium, Prince Philip asked, 'If this is the little stadium, where is the big one?' His Royal Highness returned to Western in 1983 for a special Canada Day convocation ceremony, where he received an honorary Doctor of Laws.
(London Free Press Collection of Negatives/ Western Archives)
Ryan Nickerson, HBA'80, and his son Hugh passed away after a tragic accident on the Capilano River in North Vancouver on Oct. 1, 2020. He is survived by his wife, Barb, and daughter, Emily.
Walter Bruce Hill, BA'61, passed away on Dec. 11, 2020, in Perth, Australia.
Zelma Irene Williams Hardy, BA�80, passed away on Jan. 26, 2021, in London, Ont. She was a beloved teacher who spent several years tutoring after retirement.