������Ƶ

Richard (Rick) Wilton Edward Sterne passed away on Dec. 5, 2023 at the age of 79. 

Rick was born on Oct. 9, 1944 in Brantford, Ont. He attended high school at Brantford Collegiate Institute, Chemical Engineering at Queen's, the Ivey School of Business at Western University and, most latterly, the Rotman School of Management at The University of Toronto.

Rick loved his time at Queen’s and attended his 55th homecoming reunion in the fall of 2023 alongside his daughter, Jennifer (Sc’98, Chemical Engineering). Rick upheld a Sterne family lineage of Chemical Engineers graduating from Queen’s. His grandfather, Edward Tyghe Sterne, graduated in 1913; his father, Francis Eddy Sterne, graduated in 1946; and his daughter, Jennifer, went on to become the 4th generation, graduating in 1998. 

Rick possessed a spirit of positivity, passion, and generosity that would define his life. He was a leader and entrepreneur from the time he was a young child, organizing neighbourhood events throughout his youth and his school days. One of his early endeavours was founding the Bitter Grounds Coffee House during his undergrad years at Queen’s, for which he received the Tricolour Award in 1968.

He began his professional career at 3M Canada in London, Ont., then returned to Brantford as the executive vice president at Sternson Limited. He ran for two political campaigns before starting his own business, Datasym Inc., which began as a small team in his basement. Datasym went on to grow and offer employment to many in Brantford and the surrounding area for over two decades. In his later years, he became a director of Brantford Hydro and Brantford Generation, a member at the Social Security Tribunal of Canada and most recently was a CEO chair and executive coach at TEC Canada, where he shared his time and mentorship with other entrepreneurs.

Rick was a proud ambassador for Brantford and many of its organizations. He was most passionate about his work with Brantford Rotary Club (49 years), having served as both president and district governor. He was a past president of the Brantford Chamber of Commerce, chair of the United Way and of the board of governors of Mohawk College. He served on and chaired many foundations, including: the Juravinski Cancer Centre, the Grand River Trillium Foundation, and 29 years for the Samuel W. Stedman Foundation. He was vice-chair and director of the Lansdowne Children’s Centre, and a Jaycee for many years. Most recently, he was serving on the Laurier University board of governors and senate — a champion of the Brantford campus. Rick’s presence at community events and charitable gatherings was a testament to his commitment to making Brantford a better place for all.  

Rick knew how to balance the demands of life with moments of joy and relaxation. He loved spending time with family and friends who often found themselves embraced by his hospitality, fun, and positivity. He made Christmas’ magical for his children and grandchildren. He loved new adventures and travel, taking up scuba diving with his son, Eric; snowmobiling excursions with The Great Northern Ride; and organizing many family trips — especially his trips to Mexico with his wife, Jeanette.

His most favourite place on Earth was at the family cottage in the Bay of Islands, fondly referred to as West Point. There, he sought personal solace and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. We know his spirit will live on through the special memories and retelling of those stories by his children and grandchildren of the summers spent up there with him. 

John Alexander McNeil passed away on May 19, 2023. 

John was born to his proud parents, Evelyn and Alex, in Luanshya, Zambia. He was much loved by his two elder sisters, Jean Hafner and Berna Orton; and admired by his younger brother, William. The siblings grew up on the Copperbelt and remained close. From the age of nine, John was put on a five-day train to boarding school at St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown, South Africa, until the family relocated back to Canada when he was 18.

One of John's proudest achievements was establishing the Queen's rugby program while obtaining his Bachelor of Arts. John served in the UNTD in the summers, mainly at HMCS Cornwallis, and graduated Law School at the University of Toronto in 1966.

John moved to Vancouver and joined CP Air, which provided him many travel opportunities – and began his lifelong love of Hawaii. He obtained his MBA from UBC and joined Wood Gundy as an investment banker in Toronto, and then London, U.K.

While in London, in 1984, John married Susan Anker, and they had two children, Alexander (Verity) and Jennifer (Catherine). Both Susan and John were proud parents and devoted to their children (and generations of chocolate Labradors).

John had a stalwart career with Wood Gundy, Merrill Lynch, Scotiabank and others in Toronto and London. He made the most of living in the U.K.: exploring Europe with his young family, regular nights out at West End musicals, dancing at Annabel's, and of course, lots of tennis.

John had a varied and glittering career, loved his work, and, latterly, would take every opportunity to regale his family with news from the Ontario energy sector, for which he was a consultant. He was very proud to continue the family tradition of never retiring – he said he would “let the market decide” when it was time, but he was still bringing in business when he had a stroke in June 2022. 

He always had a pen in his shirt pocket and his daytimer on hand just in case.

John was a gifted athlete enjoying swimming, rugby, squash, tennis and, latterly, platform tennis. He was famous for holding himself to the highest physical standards, never betraying his true age, and gentle trash talk (mostly directed at himself) on the court. 

Throughout his life, John maintained strong bonds with a wide circle of university friends, teammates, and colleagues – it was no surprise when he won the Social Butterfly award at the B&R last year.

John loved to travel, particularly to the beach over Christmas; Club Med in the Turks and Caicos and Kapalua in Hawaii were favourites. When John took his children on an extended trip to Southern Africa in December 2019, he put his Afrikaans to good use – calling himself Johannes and making everyone giggle at his once-natural accent. Amongst friends and family, John was always laughing, often at himself. He had a unique and borderline confusing sense of humour to the uninitiated – he and his children had their own private language and way of speaking that was as endearing as it was hilarious.

Despite his challenges, John had a perennially positive outlook, and was a gracious gentleman to the very end. John spent his last days at Amica Bayview Gardens, where he surely set records for his number of daily visitors. John's family thank the many people who visited and cared for him, but, in particular, Linda and Jamila, who have shown John incredible warmth and compassion providing PSW services throughout the last year, and the Temmy Latner and Amica staff who provided him with as much comfort as possible during his struggle with aggressive lymphoma.

John's frugality was legendary – his idea of a treat was a long hot bath, a big glass of chardonnay, and a new pair of corduroy pants every 35 years. 

John, Bub, Bwana lived a wonderful life, and will be dearly missed. 

William (Bill) Allison, BSc'53, passed away peacefully on Nov. 30, 2023 at the age of 94. 

Bill graduated from Royal Roads in 1950 and then came to Queen's to study Electrical Engineering. After graduating in 1953, he settled in Peterborough, where he met and married Marian (Jones) and worked at Canadian General Electric for almost 40 years. Bill enjoyed many trips around the world with his work on diesel locomotives and rapid subway systems. 

Bill enjoyed skiing in the B.C. mountains as a child. He was an ardent curler and won a B.C. championship. In Peterborough, he bowled, curled, and golfed for years at the Kawartha Golf and Country Club. He was an active member of the Peterborough Theatre Guild. 

After his retirement, Bill and Marian spent many wonderful winters in Florida and were fortunate to be able to visit many countries with friends. His cottage on Big Cedar Lake was a great source of pride for Bill. The many years he spent there with his family were always special. Bill was a devoted papa who enjoyed teaching his children and grandchildren how to waterski.  

Bill was predeceased by his parents, Andy (BA'18) and Margaret; and his sister, Joan (BA’50). He will be dearly missed by Marian, his wife of 66 years; his children, Louise (Roger), Andy (Com'84, Law'87) (Patti Hall [Artsci/PHE'83, MSc'87]) and Jane (Dave); his grandchildren, (Laura, Jeff, Katie Benoit [MScOT'12], Diane, Lauren Benoit (Artsci'12, Law'17), Josh, Austin, Connor, and Brady (Com'16); and his nine great grandchildren. 

Alexander Michael Cragg Russo passed away on July 7, 2023.

Alexander, known also to his pockets of people as Al, Alex, and simply, Russo, was born in Clinton, Ont. and grew up locally in the Clinton and Goderich areas, attending Clinton Public School, Central Huron Secondary School, Queen’s and McGill Universities. 

He ventured West to his home in the Okanagan, B.C. in 2011 to explore and pursue his passion for wine. Alex was exuberant and passionately authentic, caring, kind and wonderful with eccentric confidence, infectious laughter, and a perfectly crooked smile.

Alex’s humour and expressions of love were complimented by his penchant for needlepoint, bone china, grooner and Belgian-style beer. He loved bright colours and imaginative patterns contributing to an unforgettable dress sense complete with shoes of all types and an international collection of unique hats and gold jewellery. 

Alexander was not shy – not in person or over the phone or in the kitchen – where he demonstrated an obscure way with herbs and spices, creating highly suspicious yet delicious masterpieces of flavour and texture. Wildly humble and unapologetically authentic he embraced and made space for the uniqueness of others, their tastes and their troubles and proudly exclaimed his love with unparalleled frequency and intonation.

On July 3, 2023 Alex asked to be Candace’s husband, unceremoniously and perfectly sweatily snug on their deck overlooking Lake Okanagan. He was complementing her (like he does) as she eye-rolled (as she does), affirming they would and should do everything together, as a team, forever. As a man full of facts about everything, inspired to constantly learn and evolve, it’s important everyone knows that he did not get it wrong, not even close because of their indivisible souls.

Alexander lived a full life of laughs, adventure, hard work, which he made look easy; love, which overflowed from his pores as sweat. He left in a justifiably poetic way, after a long chat with his favourite barber, while he finished a fresh fade and ensured his clean lines. Alexander joins his brother Daniel (2001) and Aunt Caterina (2022), as three permanent and eternal guardians to those who can no longer touch them.

Alex’s kindness and warmth live on in those who remain: partner, Candace, swooning over her bespoke sparkly hardware; parents, Michael and Constance Russo; sister, Billi-Dawn Chittenden (Sam, Mateos, Kayti) and the extended Russo, Wakely and Treliving families. Alexander’s passion and awesomeness will persist with his carefully curated network of friends in Ontario, B.C. and across the globe, who became family not limited to his CHSS, the L4E Queen’s crew, the OSFAM and the people he spent every day with at Le Vieux Pin and LaStella Wineries – his Enotecca family.

Dr. Bill (Jan Willem) Kamphuis passed away on Oct. 30, 2023. He is survived and very much missed by the family that he loved and made laugh: wife, Nelly; daughters, Vicki (Keith) and Melanie (Robin); his own cousins as well as the large extended family on his wife's side.

Bill was a brilliant, generous and loving man, with an exuberant sense of humour. He was a leader and a mentor to his family, church, university students and the international Coastal Engineering community. His other passions were sailing, skiing and music, including playing organ at church. We will all miss Bill terribly and cherish the great times we had with him.

Bill was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in September 2020. Ultimately, he was taken after a thankfully short struggle with cancer.