Dr. David Wooldridge passed away peacefully on September 28, 2025, at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, surrounded by his loving family.
Born in Hampton Hill, Middlesex, England, on August 1, 1930, David’s journey led him across the globe. After graduating from Manchester University in 1954 and completing his service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, he set sail for Canada. A truly serendipitous meeting aboard the CP Empress of Britain with Christine Moffat led to their marriage fifteen months later. Together, they built a rich and fulfilling life, raising three sons and sharing deep passions for music, gardening, animals and travel.
David’s medical career in Canada was pioneering. In Calgary in 1969, he established one of the country’s first geriatric assessment units and later served as an Associate Professor of Geriatrics at the University of Calgary. Upon relocating to British Columbia, he continued to advance geriatric care, contributing significantly to programs at the Royal Jubilee Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital. His national research earned him well-deserved honors from both the American Geriatrics Society and the Canadian Medical Association.
Beyond medicine, David and Christine were tireless advocates for animal welfare. They both served with the BC SPCA, with David holding the role of provincial president from 1996 to 1999. Their commitment also helped support the development of the Animal Welfare Program at the University of British Columbia. Music was another lifelong love they shared; they sang in multiple choirs, including founding the Victoria Philharmonic Choir, and David organized, Hector’s Friends, a men’s sextet named after his Jack Russell Terrier.
David is predeceased by his beloved wife, Christine and survived by his three sons: John (Kirsten), Andrew (Semareh) and Mark (Kimberli) and many grandchildren (Nicholas, Ethan, Charlotte, Oliver, Ben, Noah, Simon, Atlas and Devon).
He will be remembered with profound love and admiration for his pioneering dedication to geriatric medicine, his deep commitment to community and animal welfare, his lifelong love of poetry, and the music, laughter, and intellectual curiosity he so generously shared with Christine and his family.
A Celebration of David’s Life will be held at 11:00am on November 15, 2025, at Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett Avenue, Victoria, BC. A reception will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the BCSPCA or the Victoria Philharmonic Choir.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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Doug Brimacombe
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David Brook David is known as the “Grandfather of Geriatrics in Victoria”. He pursued excellence, demanding our full attention and our focus in ascertaining and addressing the special needs of frail failing seniors and the loved-ones who cared for them. He created specialized clinical Geriatrics programmes at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, inspiring us to develop teams of physicians, nurses, OTs, PTs, Social Workers and Dietitians dedicated to case-managing complexity in late life, relieving suffering through Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and Management of our patients. We adopted an holistic approach to treating the treatable, restoring the restorable and preventing the preventable conditions assailing them, to relieving distress, in seeing that all that could be done was done, and in lightening the burden of caregiving that families friends and their family physicians bore. My condolences to David’s family on the passing of a gentleman with such vision and purpose, and with such a true regard for Others.
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Patricia MacKenzie I was saddened to learn of the passing of this truly wonderful man. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Wooldridge when he began the Geriatric Assessment Unit at RJH back in 1981. He was a wonderful leader, a dedicated and compassionate physician and a strong advocate for team based heath care. He was generous, curious and great fun. I will be forever in his debt for the kindness he showed to me, his wise counsel and support of my career path. My condolences to the family – we are all richer for knowing him.
Patricia MacKenzie
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Linda G Hickman Sincerest condolences to the Wooldrige family.
I knew David for just over two years and always admired this family for their closeness and support of each other. David shared with me, so much pride for his son’s and grandchildren. I will miss him tremendously.Warmest hugs to his family. Enjoy your memories, much love to all the family. Linda
David was my friend. But he was much more than that. He was a “human becoming”, continually growing, sharing, and caring about others. His life was full, and complete. He and Chris contributed much to my life and to countless others. Thanks David. And a very fond farewell from Edie and me.