In Memory

Laurie Morgan Dec 2019 -  Laurie was a master’s level social worker who retired quite high up in the Ministry of Social Services.  And he was a good person.  He has a wife, son, daughter, grandchildren.  I worked with his daughter Kyla and received a phone call from her one day – all she cared about was that her father had someone to talk to in hospital.  Re-do Valve surgery.  I found Laurie a little stunned and tired, he’d been through his once before.  The room was filled with pictures drawn by grandchildren telling him how much he was loved.  More complications after surgery.  I put a scripture on his wall Romans 5:3-5.   He was teary but determined.  When he got home he was very excited to attend an MHSA  meeting – a likeable fellow committed to building community.  I picked him up for the next meeting and he had a walker but still enthusiastic but frail.  When I went to pick him up for the third meeting, the wife met me at the door with a fearful look in her eyes, Laurie was on oxygen and she didn’t think he should go but he was determined.  He went to Denman Island with family in the weeks following and returned to hospital straight from the Island and died a few weeks later.  Laurie was a very honorable and well loved fellow. 

Homer Cameron  - August 2020  -  

I met Homer in weird circumstances.  His Aunt was a friend of mine, Pastor Barbara, who asked me to speak at her church.  So I did that and met Homer who was visiting from Jamaica, a very gracious fellow with a big grin.  Barbara told me in a thick Jamaican accent:  This is Homer, you have a men’s heart support group, you come to my house and take him to the group.  So, I did that.  Homer almost died in Jamaica – major cardiomyopathy - he somehow survived.  He had a wife and three daughters.  He started life as a mechanic and became the “Dean of discipline” at a private school.  This was a prestigious position and he was the one who came and found you when you were smoking pot at the back of the rugby field.  I picked up and brought Home and James to the meetings.  James anxiously talked and Homer just sat in the front seat and smiled the whole time. I dropped him off last and he would teach me Jamaican slang which I dutifully mispronounced and we both laughed a lot.  'Small Up Yuhself'…..” ‘Weh Yuh Ah Seh’  and ‘Mi Deh Yah, Yuh Know’.   The week Homer died he was working with a lawyer to emigrate to Canada so that his daughters would have the opportunity for a better education.  He went to his sister’s house, sat on the couch and died.  It was only after his death that I found out how many lives he touched.

Bill Borges  - Summer 2020  Bill was a brother from another mother, a quirky fellow with vast life experience.  He was keen to start MHSA and was one of our founding directors.  And, he drove me crazy.  I’m a big picture guy, I build things and make them work.  In the midst of writing all of our foundational documents I would receive multiple calls from Bill to change a word or two:  “your intent is this but you need to say it this way”.  Bill was a bus driver in Vancouver who was shot as part of a gang initiation ritual.  He had major PTSD but recovered and ran a paint company for many years.  His wife suffered a head injury and they moved to Mayne Island and raised two boys.  He grew roses, drove a BMW 7 series and had experience building community.  The story beneath the story  is somewhat different, he wanted to change the day of the meeting but I couldn’t do this fast enough (lease, negotiating with Saannich, notifying members).  I told Bill to back off and let me sort it out and he was offended and refused to speak to me.  We carried on but I was ripped apart.  I called and emailed to no response.  Then he said he understood but wasn’t ready to reconcile. Eventually he said he would return. Then one beautiful sunny day I got a call at the hospital and Bill said he had pancreatic cancer misdiagnosed as PMR, that it was end stage, there wasn’t going to be any time and that he was okay with everything.  I told him I loved him and he said: I know, we’ll talk”  That talk never happened until he was in hospice a short time later.  He asked to speak to me, everyone left and Bill just simply said that nothing else was important other than love and not to worry about him.  I was a pallbearer at his funeral and he had a green burial on a plot of land that was going to be turned into a rose garden.

Bruce O’Neil  March 2021  Bruce had Lymphoma in his thirties, went England for an experimental treatment and returned to work all over the world as an engineer and a missionary.  Married to Sue with a dtr and son he settled in Victoria and worked for the province as an engineer.  Bruce was a founding director of MHSA and his experience was a tremendous asset. Bruce described himself as a contrarian but I ignored that and we moved forward.  In the summer of 2020 he became sicker and we argued.  The saving grace here was a guy named Rick who stayed in touch with Bruce.  In the end, we reformed the Board, got caught up on AGM’s and we are healthy today.  Bruce eventually came back and attended a couple of meetings before he died of lung and lymphatic issues.  It wasn’t until after the funeral that I realized two things about Bruce:  He stuck by the underdog – When we were starting, he came alongside me, knew his skills and did what he said he would do which was to register us.  At this time I was forbidden from starting MHSA off the side of my desk.  Bruce met with me and asked me point blank:  What do you want to do?  I simply said, Take my name off the director’s list.  Were going to do this anyways.  And we did.  I did not find out that Bruce was a missionary until the funeral where I found out about his influence on many people and organizations.