Glen Atkinson passed away suddenly at home on December 28, 2014, leaving behind his wife of 54 years, Patricia; his sons, Michael (Marlys) and Peter (Lorinda); daughter, Maureen (Mike); granddaughter, Shanae; grandsons, Kieran, Graham, and Finn and his brother, Brian and sister, Susan.
What a full life Glen led! He was a native Victorian, living here nearly his entire life. He earned his BSC at UBC, where he met Patricia, and was soon teaching biology at Oak Bay High School in a career full of high points. He coached Reach for the Top, including the 1968 team that won the Canadian championship, and also coached successful girls’ basketball teams. He became a Mr. Chips of Oak Bay and was greatly loved by the over 7,000 students he taught or had in his home room during his 36 years at the school. He never failed to notice a new haircut and greeted students he encountered in the halls. He excelled in the classroom, inspiring many students to pursue careers related to biology, and was considered by many students to be their favourite teacher.
Glen brought the family of five to Northern Queensland, Australia in 1974, where both he and Pat taught for two years. Aussie friends have visited them in Victoria every year since. A three month backpacking trip home through Southeast Asia (with the kids) kicked off a lifetime of adventure travel for Glen and Pat. Together, the two visited far-flung places such as Zanzibar and Papua New Guinea, spending time in tropical rain forests (where they could add to their bird count) and connecting with fellow travellers and local inhabitants wherever they went.
Glen was blessed with a beautiful tenor voice and was a singer throughout his life. He won trophies at the Victoria Performing Arts Festival as a boy, sang solos at UBC, performed in musicals and sang solos at Oak Bay High School. He was a member of the Arion Male Voice Choir and enjoyed his practices and performances with the Grandview Quartet/Trio over the last 10 years.
Glen retired from teaching in 1996 and spent the next eight years mentoring student teachers through the UVic Education program. On retirement he also began a life full of new activities. He became a master wood turner, a member of a wood turner’s guild, and a wood turning teacher at the Juan de Fuca seniors centre. Interested in photography throughout his life, he became more keen in retirement, learning techniques with the camera and also with Photoshop.
Glen loved to keep up with his many lifelong friends. He and his wife Pat hosted many memorable parties over the years, including their annual musical Christmas Eve party for family and friends. Glen had a great capacity for love and adored his wife, children and grandchildren. Glen lived life truly and deeply and will be greatly missed by his family and the many other people whose lives he enriched.
There will be a celebration of Glen’s life at Centennial United Church, 612 David St, Victoria, BC on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice. Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Bros. Funeral Home
65 Responses
Some of my most fond memories of Oak Bay High School were sitting beside Glen or across from him at the old crokinole table in the staff room. His love of life and love of family were apparent in each and every action. My sincere condolences reach out to his family and dear friends. He was a joyful man. His memory continues to elicit a smile….
Glen was one of the true mentors of not only my academic education but also my emotional being. Its true, he would always say the right thing whether to build confidence or to challenge. Didnt work so well for my ball dribbling ability but certainly did for my biology. If not for him I know I would and could not have pushed myself to achieve in quite the same way. A happy man, a happy life. Wish I could have seen him in the past 40 odd years to tell him more.
Mr. Atkinson was my sons TAG teacher at Oak Bay High. And what a wonderful caring man he was., beginning with the first day the just barely teenagers entered his classroom, measuring them on the wall, and every year thereafter charting their growth until they graduated. When my son arrived in grade 8 his father was dying of ALS and Mr. Atkinson was kind respectful, and caring. I remember him attending my husbands funeral, above and beyind exoectations. A truly inspiring teacher. And a rock at Oak Bay High.
Mr. Atkinson was a tremendous teacher. His sense of humour, love of Neil Diamond, Raquel Welch, and those fetal pigs kept me coming back to class and inspired my love of biology. He brimmed with pride as his son taught us in the mid 90s, another gifted teacher.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful tribute and snapshot of a life full of love and learning – he will clearly be deeply missed.
With much love – Steph
I am sitting here with tears in my eyes, looking at the paper. Glen was a prince of a man — a true gentleman and one of the very finest teachers I ever had the privilege to work with. I know I’m just one of literally thousands of people who were touched and inspired by his example.
My condolences to all of his family. Glen lived life as we all should try to live it. I hope you will be comforted in knowing how much he was loved and respected.
Kathleen Rafferty
former colleague at Oak Bay High
It was an honour and a privilege to have known and worked with Glen. He was a gentleman, a great husband, father and grandfather to his family. He was a wonderful teacher that all his students adored, and was always ready to offer support and advice to younger teachers, such as I was when I arrived at Oak Bay. Some of the practices I have kept all these years came from his advice and example. We loved hearing his stories around the crokinole table at lunch, where he was a master of the game. I enjoyed his company more than once at the staff golf tourney at year-end. He will be sadly missed by everyone whose life he touched…students, colleagues, friends and family.
We met Glen and Pat and their children in North Queensland, when we all teaching there. Glen wasted no time in collecting specimens for his biology lab back home, which sometimes found their way into the deep-freeze, and I can remember going out into the bush with him to record bird-calls using his home-made parabolic reflector. Fond memories include a camping holiday on a deserted beach on Orpheus Island (with Barry and Elaine Willis, above), off the Queensland coast, where it was so idyllic that we lost track of the days – no radio or cell-phones – and couldn’t remember when the boat was due to pick us up again. We subsequently stayed with Glen and Pat a couple of times in Victoria. At breakfast we would sit on the patio, with the humming-birds flitting around our heads to and from the honey-feeders. A measure of the love and respect in which he was held by his students came when Glen and Pat took us to a fireworks display at Butchart Gardens. From all around young – and youngish – people were waving and calling: “Hi, Mr. Atkinson, nice to see you”. He clearly had an effect on so many people’s lives. Glen Atkinson was a prince among men.
Our thoughts are with Pat and the children and grand-children at this sad time.
Clive and Monica Collins
It’s heartbreaking when you think you’ll see someone again who has been so influential in your life and find them suddenly and sadly gone. I haven’t been able to even comment properly on the sudden loss over the holidays of one of the most incredible men and mentors I’ve ever known. Glen Atkinson was my teacher in the 60’s and a reason for my love of science ever since. In the late 80’s I was fortunate to be hired at Oak Bay High and became the department science assistant….a dream job for me that saw me preparing the class labs, assisting in dissecting worms, frogs and fetal pigs, replacing the formaldehyde in the old specimens including human brains and enormous tape worms, preparing for class field trips and pond studies at Kinnickinick…his beautiful property at Prospect Lake. It was a crash refresher course in the sciences that lasted twelve amazing years with Glen and the entire science department, a sweet old boys club at the time. We spent much time in the prep lab listening to tapes of Neil Diamond, Stan and Garnet Rogers, and an African artist he’d discovered in his travels, on an old boom box, and I don’t know how many times I re-taped his sword, a metre stick he was seldom without, waving it at late-comers and gigglers. Glen loved life and people to the max; he felt at one with our natural world…he had such a passion for teaching and teenagers that you couldn’t help but learning in his classroom. I believe he inspired so many future teachers and scientists because of the depth of his knowledge, his dedication and excitement. He came to work happy every day. Former students often returned to his classroom, tens of years later sometimes, just to drop in and tell him how important he’d been in their life. My own son Kjell became enamoured of that prep lab in Grade 8 and I sometimes let him skip a class to come with us out to the pond and return with our bottle of pond water to see what we’d got under the microscope. Always a surprise and something you just never forgot. Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
When Kjell died suddenly in a car accident at the end of that year, 1992, Glen was my support and friend and graciously offered his peaceful property for Kjell’s Celebration of Life, which was so fitting as it was one of our favourite spots. In the following years I often escaped to that little lab prep room full of memories opposite Tag 13 for solace and a comforting hug from one of the kindest, most gentle, informed and interesting humans I’ve ever met. He was everyone’s Dad….the kind you wanted. The sort of person you always thought you’d see again with his pure voice and talent, his smile and sparkle, his travel stories, love for his family, pets, students, all species, the environment and the home he loved so much. The many comments on the Oak Bay Alumni site are a testament to how many ex-students felt the same way about him and never forgot their favourite teacher. Rest in perfect peace Pig Man. You will never be forgotten. You and Kjell probably already have your dip nets out!
Mr. Atkinson was one of the best teachers I ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with as Chair of the PAC. Having him teach my children, Ian Blaney and Megan Blaney was a blessing. I remember his retirement — the retirement party filled the gym and parents, teachers and kids were all teary. No one believed that he was actually going to retire.
I remember him corralling people from the hallway with the meter stick sword, people trying to sneak into his classroom for TAG time and the big pink plastic pig that was kidnapped and went on a European tour with ransom demands being sent from many European cities.
I also remember the two pairs of glasses — one on his face and one on his head and his pithy and valid comments made in staff meetings.
I’m sure there are going to be a lot of people telling Mr. Atkinson stories over the next few days.
Rest in Peace, Sir — you were one who engaged children in their learning and truly made a difference in so many lives.
My condolences to the family and I trust that your many happy memories will sustain you. Glen is now the loving angel on your shoulder.
Mr. Atkinson taught me Biology 11 and instilled in my a lifelong curiousity for th natural world.
A gifted teacher and a great loss.
Eva Sennwald Eaton Oak Bay Class of 1978
Calgary, Alberta