Father Ian Charles Stuart passed away on April 9, 2026, in Victoria BC. He was born on May 27, 1952, in St. Boniface, Manitoba.
Father Ian was predeceased by his parents Dr. Frank G. Stuart and Beatrice E. Stuart and by his eldest brother Richard G. Stuart. Father Ian is survived by his brother Gordon F. Stuart (Nancy), by nieces Rebecca Stuart and Kathryn Macara (Paul); nephews Andrew (Tara), David (Catherine), Christopher (Rosellen), Alec (Ajaleigh) and numerous cousins.
Father Ian attended high school at Vancouver College, and he attended the University of Victoria where he earned a BA in German and a teaching diploma. He served as principal at St Thomas Aquinas high school in North Vancouver and later worked in the Vancouver Catholic School Board where he discerned his calling to the priesthood. In 1982 he began his Seminary studies at The Pontifical Beda College in Rome. He had the privilege to be the deacon to Pope John Paul II on one occasion. Father Ian was ordained to the priesthood in 1987 for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.
He was the Pastor at St Francis of Assisi parish in east Vancouver and St Anthony parish in West Vancouver. He served as Assistant Pastor at Holy Rosary Cathedral and at St. Mary’s Church in Chilliwack.
Father Ian moved to Victoria in 2009 to care for his aging mother in her own home for 4 years until she passed away. During his time in Victoria, he worked as the hospital chaplain in the Victoria diocese. Father Ian is known for his kindness and pastoral approach to his ministry.
A Funeral mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Church, 2060 Haultain Street, Victoria, BC on Friday, May 8th at 1:00 pm.
To live stream the funeral, click https://www.youtube.com/live/fRgrfkgkF5E.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace at https://devp.org/en/
A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 2025 Napier Street, Vancouver, BC on Tuesday April 28 at 7:00 pm.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
This obituary is the property of the “Stuart” family and may not be reproduced, distributed, or altered in any way without prior written consent.
15 Responses
Father Ian was a wonderful human being. We knew him from Saint Francis of Assisi Parish and then afterwards at St Anthonys he was a great person and priest.. He will be dearly missed by us all our condolences Wayne, Kumi, Morika DeAngelis.
I only knew Father Ian for a short whilst he was pastor at St. Anthony’s parish. He was very kind to me when my mother died. She felt blessed to have him as her pastor, and he concelebrated her funeral mass along with her brother who was visiting from Ireland. I know she would have been delighted with this pairing. I was sad when he left but it must have been such a consolation to his mother to have him close during the end stages of her life.
Rest in peace Father Ian, and thank you.
We want to express our deepest sympathy for the passing of Father Ian Stuart. He was a very special person. We will miss him very much and we will keep him in our heart and mind. We pray that one day we will all be reunited with him. May he rest in peace. God bless all of you at this difficult time.
I enjoyed being friends with Ian in elementary school. Later we were in the same classes at UVIC in first year and the ppd program. I was honoured that he asked me to play my flute at his ordination and one of his first masses. I enjoyed seeing him in Vancouver and later on my visits back to Victoria over the years. He was a great guy and I’m confident he’s resting in eternal peace.
Ross Curran
I was blessed to have Mr. Stuart as my Principal at STA in 1977 and 1978. There are many fond memories of those times but the trip to Prince Rupert aboard the “Sea Wave” with Mr.Stuart and Sr. Denece was epic. While Mr. Stuart was in Rome studying at the Beda for his future as Fr. Ian, my wife Karen and I had a memorable visit to Rome where we were treated like royalty by Ian 🙂 upon returning to Vancouver and welcomeing our first daughter, Meghan, the now Deacon Ian, returned to Vancouver for the Summer and Baptized Meghan. Over the years we had many good visits with Fr. Ian and especially when he was close to us while serving at St. Anthony’s Parish. While we didn’t see Fr. Ian after he returned to Victoria to care for his mother we did keep tabs on him, I wish we had gone to visit in his last years. I know he is now Resting in Peace with our Lord.