Gilliland, John Michael died at home in Victoria on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010. Born on April 13th, 1939 in Victoria he is predeceased by his first wife Margaret and survived by his second wife Corinna. He leaves behind sons Peter and Mark, stepchildren Michael and Kika, his sister Jane Patterson and her family, as well as a huge group of relatives and friends who will miss him a great deal.
Archivist, scholar, lecturer, actor, magician and clown -all were facets of John. His schooling started at Norfolk House Kindergarten through Margaret Jenkins Elementary then on to Vic High where he made his mark as an actor and long-distance runner. He distinguished himself academically by graduating with the highest Grade Point average in the province’s history to that time. He went on to study at Vic College, UBC, Cambridge University (where he spent most of his time with the student Magic Circle), and Memorial University in Newfoundland where he received his PhD. He returned to the west coast and eventually to Victoria in the mid 1970’s where he became deeply involved with the Victoria Magic Circle and Langham Court Theatre. Later on he became an invaluable member of the Friends of the Library (where his ability to shift boxes of books almost as big as himself was greatly appreciated). Everyone benefited from John’s amazing memory, his attention to detail, his incorrigible sense of humour and his insatiable curiosity about anything and everything.
A celebration of John’s life will be held at Langham Court Theatre (his “home” away from home) on Saturday, May 15th starting at 2:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers donations to either the Canadian Diabetes Association or to the Victoria Theatre Guild would be appreciated.
13 Responses
Dear Corinna, I had not realized John had died until reading the much-delayed announcement in the 7 June 2011 issue of Eos (the American Geophysical Union periodical) which just arrived in the mail. I was the external examiner for his 1973 Ph.D. thesis (from the U of Alberta), which was a wonderful piece of work and, at two volumes, the longest thesis I’ve ever seen. After that he came to work with me at Memorial University of Newfoundland as a research associate for 2 years. He was greatly gifted as a mathematical physicist and was a meticulous researcher, an excellent teacher and an enjoyable colleague. Our children still remember him as a worker of magic. We saw one another from time to time at scientific conferences in the 80s and early 90s, and I remember meeting you with him at the 1987 IUGG meeting at UBC. My sincere condolences to you and the rest of his family.
My condolences on John’s passing. I remember as a young cadet at Royal Roads, that his voice was sometimes the only interesting thing about going to Modern Physics. I also remember treks up to the physics lab were made much more enjoyable because of his personality and humour.
RIP sir.
It was a shock to hear today of John’s death. I last saw him almost 50 years ago, about the time he graduated from UBC and not long before I went to Toronto, but I occasionally heard about him from mutual friends. I was sorry not to see him at the Vic High class of ’56 reunion four years ago, and promised myself I’d look him up the next time I visited Victoria. Alas, I haven’t been there since, and now it is too late.
I remember a brilliant and very funny young man, a fine actor, fair-minded and kind. My heartfelt condolences to his widow, sister, children, and extended family. He was quite a guy!