He is absent from the body, present with the Lord.
It is with profound sadness that the family of George Armstrong Stephenson announces his passing on January 16, 2023, in his 83rd year. George passed away peacefully at the Gorge Road Hospital, Victoria, BC. The family is thankful for the loving care provided by the nurses and care aides at the Gorge Road Hospital.
George will be deeply missed by the love of his life, Effie Jean (Fishback) of 58 years.
Loving and cherished father of Bob (Amy), Bill (Charlene) and Lisa (Andrew Peebles). He was a much loved “Grandpa” and will be deeply missed by his five granddaughters Maiya, Nicole, and Kaitlyn Stephenson of Langley, BC and Amelia and Elyse Stephenson of St. Catharines, Ontario.
He will be missed by his sister Barbara Farrar and family of Welland, Ontario, sisters-in-law Dorothy Fishback, Ruby Keller (Ron), Margaret Powers (Paul) and brother-in-laws Jim Fishback (Carolyn), Harvey Fishback (Cindy), and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.
George was born in Toronto, Ontario to the late George and Rubina Stephenson. He is pre-deceased by his sister Carol Stecher of Windsor, Ontario, brother-in-law William Fishback and in-laws Clarence and Edith Fishback of Tillsonburg, Ontario.
George began his banking career in Windsor, Ontario and later transferred to Toronto and then St. Catharines as a Bank Manager.
In 1986 George and Effie and three children left for Belem, Brazil with UFM/Crossworld to serve at the Amazon Valley Academy. In Brazil George took on a role as financial administrator for eight years.
In 1994 George and Effie returned to Langley, BC where George served UFM/Crossworld for the remainder of his working years. During this part of George’s career, he took on a role of recruiting others to become missionaries with UFM/Crossworld.
George and Effie moved to Victoria in 2009 where George was active as a member in The Gideons International as well as a faithful member of Central Baptist Church.
George will be greatly missed as a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend to many.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday January 28th, at 2:00pm at Central Baptist Church – 833 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC.
As expressions of sympathy, donations may be made to Crossworld Canada via their website: https://crossworld.ca/give
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
17 Responses
Dear Effie:
Thank you for letting us know that George is with his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and at peace now. God will be with you as you mourn this great loss in your life.
It would be great to be present at the celebration of his life so we are hoping the service will be streamed from the church.
Blessings & love to all,
Eric & Gloria
We are deeply moved by the loss of our dearest gentleman and friend,
Mr.George. We have sweet memories of both of you catering for us around Christmas time and other times when we got together. We love you dearly George Stephenson.
May The Lord bless your family and in particularly we pray for Effie to find peace in these difficult times.
Our sincere sympathy to all of the Stephenson family. George was the father-in-law to our son, Andrew, who was warmly welcomed into the Stephenson family 23 years ago. We’ll always remember George’s kindness, desire to get to know people and make a point of drawing out the quieter ones. He was a great story teller and loved to hear your story and thoughts. Best of all, we’ll see George again, because we know who he’s with. We know Effie and Lisa will especially miss their husband and dad.
Our deepest sympathies on the passing of George. The Lawson family send their love and many fond memories from our life long friendship with Effie and George, family.
Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Our deepest sympathy. Praying the family finds peace during this shadowed time of grief. John O’Donohue writes “May you know that absence is alive with hidden presence, that nothing is ever lost or forgotten.” George may now be absent on this earth but his legacy of love lives on in his children and family and their memories and stories.
My husband and I met George and Effie when they arrived in Brazil in 1986. It was quite incredible to see a family with teenagers arriving to our community for the first time! That is no easy feat to make such a transition at that stage of raising a family – and to try to learn a new language at the same time! We were very impressed that the family was so positive and so eager to join us in the ministries. They became good friends and we’ve kept in touch over the years though our paths haven’t crossed as often as we would have liked! It was and has always been a complete delight to be with George and Effie. Their hospitality, smiles, jokes, and love are infectious! We will pray for Effie and the families in their sad loss yet rejoicing that we’ll meet again!
Dear Bob and family
By all accounts, your father was a wonderful man. I enjoyed hearing stories about him. Thinking of you, your mother and siblings at this difficult time.