Condolences
Dear Govier family,
I so enjoyed the service for your father and grandfather today and regretted I couldn’t express that to you in person at the reception afterwards. You all spoke exceedingly well and served as worthy successors to both your parents’ spirit of excellence. I didn’t know your father, but growing up in Windsor Park, I was very drawn to the interesting fence around your yard, behind which was a swimming pool! Was it the first (and only) swimming pool in the neighbourhood? How we longed to scale it, or see between its woven slats to the glittering water in the pool! What a joy to see a picture of the fence in the slides and better yet, hear of the toil to snip the long grasses beneath it! Thank you for the wonderful history of Alberta that you all personally escorted us through in a memorable service for a great man.
George Govier was a tremendously positive influence and he made great contributions to Alberta and Canada as a result. He was an outstanding regulator with long distance vision and the will to act in the best interests of the province. During my more recent years as a regulator, I presided in Govier Hall many times and I was conscious of the example that he established for those who came behind him. In his later years, he was still impressively sharp and made ongoing contributions as an advisor and mediator in difficult issues. A relative, L. Romankiw, was a student of Dr. Govier at the U of A. He has singled out Dr. Govier as his guiding light. When he approached Dean Govier about taking his Masters at the U of A, however, he got a surprising response. “He said, ‘We can’t take you. You’ve already learned everything you can from us.’ ” Dr. Govier personally sent letters of recommendation to the leading schools in the U.S., and Romankiw ended up doing his master’s degree and doctorate at MIT. Dr. Romankiw went on to work for IBM and is credited with the invention of the modern hard drive now used in all computers. This is another example of how Dr. Govier was always thinking of the best interests of others in the long term and was so effective in setting high standards and helping those standards to be achieved.
It is with great sadness that I offer my condolences to the Govier family. George Govier made an enormous contribution this country of ours and he will be very much missed. I appeared before him on several occasions, attended dozens of his public hearings, and had the extremely good fortune to work with him briefly in our consulting years. I have been around a very long time, but in all of those years, I have yet to meet another individual that I have admired more, or respected more, than your Dr. George Govier. Seeing he and Doris “tripping the light fantastic on the ballroom floor simply added another dimension to my admiration for both of them.
With deepest regrets.
Dear Sue, Katherine and Trudy,
Our family would like to offer our sincere condolences to your entire family. The passing of George and earlier Doris has been the end of an era for us. Our love and admiration for George cannot be expressed in just few words. He was my teacher, mentor, colleague and friend. Our association started almost 60 years when I enrolled in the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Alberta as an undergraduate student in 1957. Since then he was a very significant force in shaping my life. George also had a special place in the life of our children. We will all miss him. For us Calgary will not be the same without George and Doris. I am sad that we will not be able to attend his memorial service.
With love to you all from the Aziz family,
Khalid and Muschi
To Katherine and family,
What a long, rich and contributing life your father had in his profession. How rare also to have fine health into the twilight years coupled with the enduring marriage he shared with your mother. How grateful you must feel.
You, your sisters and the extended family have truly been blessed. Our thoughts are with you.
May we express our most heartfelt condolences to George’s family. One need not review the extensive excellence, known to many, of such an outstanding person.
Our initial contact with George was through Royal Bank in Calgary and later Bill’s participation on Canadian Classic Skiers . . . a fabulous group urged by George to make a worthwhile contribution to our learning following cocktail hour! His kindness to my brother Tom especially during Tom’s declining years will never be forgotten.
Bill will make every effort to be present at the Memorial Service but pending medical matters may stand in the way.
BILL and DONNA DOBSON
Ancaster, Ont.
Long and ardently admired, long will George Govier be remembered. My condolences to you, Katherine (& family). My own grandfather was a chemical engineer & my dad an avid bridge player & follower of the markets, while I, myself had ties to the Nanton landscape. I understand the pride your dad had in you.
Patrick Crean and Susan Swan want to express our condolences for the loss of George Govier, husband of Doris and father to Katherine and her sisters. In his prime, Mr. Govier cut an impressive figure in Western Canada and the Oil Patch, and in his later years, he deftly demonstrated to all who knew him that old age didn’t need to stop you from being your vital indomitable self.
I was very sorry to learn today of the passing of George Govier. My sincere condolences to the Govier family but especially to my friends Trudy and her husband Anton Colijn. Our thoughts are with you at this time.
Every time I met your mum and dad, they shone with warmth and love for their daughters and each other. It was a pleasure to see. Condolences to all of you and to the many relatives and friends who will miss them greatly.
To Sue, Trudy and Katherine,
I am so sorry to hear that your Dad passed away. He was a wonderful man and a great neighbour. We had the pleasure of having his support in the form of help with designing a gate and fence, as well as his generosity in being a sounding board for us in his areas of expertise. He was an inspiration and a role model. Both your Mom and Dad were gracious hosts. They are remembered.
To the Govier daughters,
It is with regret that I learned of your father’passing today and I offer you my sincere sympathies!
I was privileged to have worked with your father on a research project related to the early days of the Alberta oilsands industry back in the early 80’s.
Since then, and after many years, our relationship became purely social following meeting both your parents at a Theater Calgary performance some years ago.
I last spoke with your Dad at your mother’s funeral. What a wonderful relationship they had enjoyed.
It was a pleasure to have known them both!
Dear Trudy,Katherine and Sue:
George assisted greatly in “pulling” be through to a B,Sc Chem Eng degree . He was as you said a Wonderful Teacher and friend and had the respect of every one he taught. I worked through his thoughtful administration of the Conservation Board, and his ProvIncial Ministery knowing full well that his decisions were in our best interest.
He used to store his Canoe in our keeping when we lived in Radium Hot Springs. Rest in Peace dear friend; you will not be forgotten for your great contribution.
Lots of love to you all
Gordon A. McGuffin
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