Gordon Bruce Thompson

Gordon Bruce Thompson, MD, FRCSC

On September 24, 2022, the boy from Humboldt, Saskatchewan passed on in the same way he lived his 97 years of life; peacefully and quietly.

We will forever hold a place at the table for Gordon, Dad, Papa, Uncle Gord, GB. Please join us for a celebration of his life on January 7th, 2:00 PM, at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC. Link to full details

Gordon Bruce Thompson – Always Prairie Proud

Prepared by Meg Thompson (daughter) and Tracey Thompson-Franson (daughter)

For those of you who knew Dad, he was sometimes a “man of mystery” and “man of few words”. He was a thinker that demonstrated his values and beliefs through doing. We believe that in his quiet way of being in this world, he was in fact, always pondering, thinking and contemplating on how to take action. Ultimately, the meaning of his actions came through in his storytelling. When you live for 97 years, there are many stories to tell. And yes, stories were often told and retold many times over!!!

We have curated a few stories to allow reflection on the gifts that Dad left us. He wrote about his outlook on life in an autobiography he published in 2010; Some Memories. We think he should have named this book, “Prairie Proud”. Whether he realized it or not, growing up in a tight-knit family in a small prairie town during the Great Depression shaped how he lived his life both personally and professionally. Service to others less fortunate than himself always came first. He did this with generosity, kindness and an invitation to join his team. Above all, he was a practical, “get it done” kind of guy. He was very proud of his prairie roots.

Many family members survive Dad. His loving wife of 62 years, Sally (nee MacDonald), and two of his three daughters, Tracey (Russ), Meg (Mike) and sons Oliver and Ethan. Sadly, he lived through the greatest loss that any parent can experience; the premature death of his youngest daughter Wendy (2014) who is survived by husband Rick, son Calvin and Calvin’s father Gary. It is no surprise that Mom and Dad made many memories with the MacDonald, George Thompson and Bill Thompson families. They were happiest when surrounded by family. Unfortunately, many of their friends and colleagues predeceased them. True to Mom and Dad’s commitment to these people, their friends’ children and younger colleagues remained in touch with Dad until his final days.

We hope you can join us in celebrating his life either in person or virtually. If not, we hope that the following stories will bring you some comfort, good laughs and great memories of your times with Dad. We will never know if he had a master plan for his life, or if he left this to a higher power. Either way, the events he lived through, the experiences he had and the life he lived was truly remarkable. In the words of his oldest surviving friend, Dr. Ralph Christensen/Uncle Chris,

“Gord was a dear and treasured friend to me for over 60 years. He lived a long, productive exemplary life and the world would be a better place if there were more like him!” “.

With appreciation for your life long friendship with the Gordon Thompson family,

Tracey and Meg

Details for Gordon’s Service of Remembrance and Celebration of Life

Date: January 7, 2022

Time: 2:00 pm

In-Person Location: St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC; 2490 West 37th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Virtual Live Stream Location: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86109300718?pwd=d2YrZnd3VmFxdEswMENVOHdXWStNdz09

Meeting ID: 861 0930 0718

Passcode: 1911

Reception: St. Mary’s Church Hall, immediately following the service

Prairie Proud – Some Memories of Gordon B. Thompson

Curated by Meg and Tracey as told by Gordon, family, friends and colleagues

Prairie Roots

Dad’s parents, Hazel and Percy Thompson, raised their young family in the small towns of Landis and Humboldt, Saskatchewan. They did this with calm energy, endless patience and deep loyalty to family and community. On reflection, the “Thompson Boys”, Bill (oldest), George (middle) and Gordon (youngest) lived their lives in ways that are a reflection of how they were raised.

Dad was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan on February 6, 1925, just four years before the start of the Great Depression. Then came the devastating droughts of the 1930s. These times had a devastating affect on Saskatchewan families, including those living in and around Humboldt. Large swaths of Saskatchewan becoming part of “The Dust Bowl”. Many farmers lost their source of income and ability to feed their families. The Thompsons were not a farming family and as a result, were better off than most. Dad told us many stories of how his family shared what they could do without to ensure that others in their community could survive these trying times. Throughout his life, Dad carried forward this practice of sharing. It was very important to him to find ways to share his good fortune with others be it the gift of time, knowledge, service, money or a great party!

Sports, Teamwork and Famous Friends

A love of sports and belief in the value of teamwork was another by-product of growing up in a tight-knit family with three active boys in a town where finding your own fun was a necessity. Baseball, football, curling, hockey. He loved it all, but he especially loved hockey. He spent his days playing road hockey on the frozen streets of Humboldt with a frozen horse turd for a puck and Eatons catalogues as goalie pads. For real!!! Dad’s passion for hockey grew into considerable skill that produced an invitation to the 1943 Detroit Red Wings prospects camp.

For Grandpa Thompson, professional hockey was not in the game plan for The Thompson Boys! Accordingly, when he heard about Dad’s antics, he went down to the players’ box, tapped Dad on the shoulder, and said, “Son, it’s time to go. You are going to university like your older brothers”. In Dad’s words, “this was the best advice I ever received”! While Dad took great pride in telling stories of how he played alongside hockey greats such as Max McNab, Johnny Bower and Gordie Howe he also believed that there is no “I” in the word team. He often said things like, “we will get through this if we all stick together”.

Following his father’s wishes, Gordon switched gears and completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Manitoba (1943-1947) and his medical degree at McGill (1948-1953). Dad’s path in life really took shape when he started his specialist training as a neurosurgeon at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI, 1955-1960) under the skillful influence of Dr. Wilder Penfield and Dr. William Vernon Cone. To this day, the MNI is a world leader in using an interprofessional teamwork approach to training neuroscience specialists, including neurosurgeons. As a result, MNI graduates train to be team players. We think that Dad’s experience with teamwork in sports made it easy for him to embrace this idea of teamwork in medicine. For those who knew Dad well, he did love to tell stories about his experiences, but he was usually quite humble when it came to his part in the story, and especially about his medical career (as outline in Dr. Felix Durity’s tribute to Dad).

An important part of Dad’s life story is the Royal Victoria Hospital (The Vic). As it happens, The Vic is located right across the street from the MNI. Sunday afternoons were a big deal for the MNI medical residents. This is when “the monks from the monastery (MNI)” caught their weekly dose of Vitamin D on the deck of The Vic’s swimming pool, or so they said. Really, it was a rouse for finding a Sunday night date! As it happens, one of The Vic beauties caught Dad’s attention; Sally Cameron MacDonald from the big city of Ottawa. From, there, the rest is history. Sally and Gordon married in April 1959 and stayed on in Montreal to allow Dad to complete his neurosurgical training in early 1960.

Vancouver, Adventures and Travels

Dad had many family connections in Vancouver, so with family being so important to him, it made sense that the next chapter of Dad’s life, the “Sally and Gordon story”, took the newlyweds to Vancouver. Here they started a family, and created many life long friendships. While Mom took on loving care of the home front, Dad took on roles as surgeon, educator and Head, Division of Neurosurgery. (Please see the story of The Quiet Pioneer by Dr. Felix Durity for details on this part of Dad’s life). Mom and Dad shared the value of service to others before all else. This shaped how they raised their family, how Mom ran our loving household and how Dad showed up at work. He led with integrity, respect and appreciation for others and set the stage for training neurosurgeons who could practice with intelligence, compassion, grace and humour. What a wonderful gift to leave the next generation of neurosurgeons!

Family life was busy for Dad, and sometimes quite perplexing! Growing up in a family with three boys didn’t prepare him for what was to come - three girls!!! Fortunately, he and his girls all loved sports and shopping. Yup, Dad’s favourite thing to do on the rare afternoon he had off was to take his three girls shopping to the local Woodward’s Food Floor. Oh, the excitement of a shopping trip with Dad! And then came the dismay when we realized that we were shopping for groceries and not toys!!! As always, the reward for outstanding patience with the whole affair was a Chocolate Malt.

Thompson Family trips were important to Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. It allowed them to spend time with their boys and extended families. This traditional of family trips carried on into the Gordon Thompson household. As a busy surgeon, trips allowed Dad to spend time with his wife and children while staying connected to extended family, friends and colleagues. He wanted his family to grow to love the Bill and George Thompson family, the extended MacDonald families (McKercher and MacDonald) and long-time friends and colleagues as much as he did. And we do! There are too many stories to tell, so suffice it to say, as news of Dad’s death circulated, we heard stories that make it obvious that Dad’s life touched the lives of many through these trips.

As Dad became more confident in travelling, the adventures got bigger and more focused on service to others! Fortunately, Dad married a very outgoing and social woman who was always up for adventures and exploration of the unknown! Dad, not so much! With Mum’s encouragement, and likely a fair amount of insistence, they attached many of their travels to Dad’s medical career. For example, Dad rose to the challenge of a colleague who asked him to take on a 6-week stint as a General Practitioner (GP) on Haida Gwaii (The Queen Charlotte Islands).

After several months of brushing up on his GP skills, Dad, with his family in-tow travelled by container ship to Haida Gwaii where Dad practiced as a GP in the Village of Daajing Giids (Queen Charlotte) at the Haida Gwaii Hospital & Health Centre (Xaayda Gwaay Ngaaysdll Naay). His days were busy delivering babies, managing fractured bones and all points in between. Dad quickly made new friends that allowed us to create life long memories of exploring the beaches and spectacular forests in our Volkswagen Westfalia camper van.

In 1982 and 1985, Mum and Dad took their medical travel and adventures to Taipei, Taiwan to work alongside one of his neurosurgical resident graduates Dr. David Fairholm who was in the process of developing a Department of Neurosurgery in Taipei. Dad did two, three-month visits to Taiwan where he shared his knowledge and skills with medical students, interns, residents and young neurosurgeons. Mum and Dad brought home many great memories and expansion of their growing network of friends and colleagues. Above all, Dad was thrilled to see that the success of the UBC/Vancouver General Hospital neurosurgical training program were being spread to people in need of this s

Retirement Years

Dad’s upbringing and career honed his curiosity on how to use his mind, heart and hands in new and different ways. This allowed him to build a rich and meaningful life filled with many interests and hobbies. Some activities spanned from childhood into his early nineties. For example, “the yearly prairie duck hunt” with his brothers and their friends, fishing the west coast waters with his boyhood friends, twins Bob and Don Saunders, golfing, knitting clothes and hooking rugs for his grandchildren, gardening and tending his beloved apple tree. Dad was always growing his list of interests.

The greatest of these interests was his passion for hockey. Having hung up his hockey skates and baseball glove as a young adult, watching sports either in person or on TV became a favourite pastime for Dad. This is where we learned about his capacity for concentration. It was legendary! While focus is a helpful quality to have when you are working inside someone’s brain for many hours on end, it also came in handy on Saturday nights. For years, Mom would set Dad up with a “TV dinner” so he could watch the Vancouver Canucks on TV with the sound muted all while following the BC Lions on the radio, and reading his much-loved historical non-fiction stories and biographies and taking calls from residents who needed guidance on care of a patient. What a guy!

Gifts for Sharing With Future Generations

Dad’s generous nature, caring soul, quiet spirit and endless patience earned him respect as a husband, father, Papa, uncle, friend and colleague. He has left his wife, children, grandchildren and future generations of our family with the greatest gift of all - stories with real life examples of how to use these qualities in service to others. Dad was an icon to many and above all, a rock and shining light for his family. It is an honour for us to share these stories in the spirit of leaving our readers with a reminder of the essence of what Dad brought to this world and generously shared with many. We agree with Uncle Chris’ comment that, “the world would be a better place if there were more like him!” We will continue to do our best to carry forward the gifts he has left us.

Gordon Bruce Thompson was a beautiful person, who lived a beautiful life, and had a beautiful death. We will forever hold a place at the table for Gordon/Dad/Papa and our dear sister Wendy. May they both rest in peace, together.

Lovingly prepared by,

Meg and Tracey on behalf of the Gordon Thompson family

A Quiet Pioneer (link to original article) – as told by friend and colleague, Dr. Felix Durity

Dr. Gordon Bruce Thompson, MD, FRCSC

Feb 6, 1925 – Sept. 24, 2022

Professor and Head Emeritus, Division of Neurosurgery

Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia

By Dr. Felix Durity

It is with deep remorse that the Department of Surgery announces the death of Dr. Gordon Thompson, who, after a short illness, passed away peacefully at the Royal Jubilee Hospital on September 24, 2022 at the age of 97 years. He was surrounded in his last hours by his loving family: his wife Sally of 62 years of marriage and by his daughters: Tracey and Meg and three grandsons: Oliver and Ethan Spratt and Calvin Cotton.

Gordon was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. After his undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba and his medical degree at McGill, he undertook neurosurgical training at the world-leading Montreal Neurological Institute under the influence of Dr. Wilder Penfield and Dr. William Vernon Cone, with whom he forged a special bond as his tutor and mentor. In 1960 he joined the neurosurgical staff at UBC and the Vancouver General Hospital under the leadership of Dr. Frank Turnbull whom he succeeded as Head in 1966. Until his retirement Gordon served as Head for an amazing 24 years (1966 – 1990). During his tenure he established the first neurosurgical training program at UBC in 1966, whence he trained a myriad of successful duly-certified neurosurgical trainees and recruited several colleagues to join and enlarge the Division’s expertise in functional, spinal, tumour and neurovascular subspecialties. That legacy continues within the Division to this day.

Gordon himself excelled in complex spinal degenerative diseases and in the field of Epilepsy Surgery and with the help of epileptologist Dr. Juhn Wada, he humbly achieved results comparable to the best world centres in the area of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Outside of the operating theatre, he served his specialty in the important roles of Chief of the Royal College Neurosurgical Exam Committee for ten years, as Head of the Canadian Neurosurgical Society for two years and as President of the Western Neurosurgical and North Pacific Neurosurgical societies.

He was a generous and caring leader who treated his colleagues, his trainee residents and nursing and neuro-rehabilitation staff with respect and support, sometimes even financial. He also loved entertaining them at his home in joyful parties.

Nonetheless his greatest joy was his loving family: his wife Sally and their three daughters – Tracey (Thompson-Franson), Wendy (predeceased) and Meg Thompson), their husbands and his three grandsons. On retirement, Gordon moved from Vancouver to Parksville for 18 years for the “quiet”, community-involved life but moved to Victoria 4 years ago to be close to his immediate family. Our dear colleague, friend and mentor lived a long, full and productive life. A man of faith, may he rest peacefully. His legacy to us will be enduring and he will be missed by those who knew him.