Kevin Neufeld

A Tribute to Kevin Neufeld

We are profoundly sad to share the news that Kevin Neufeld passed away on Saturday, February 26th. Kevin’s loving family was at his bedside and a Red-Tailed Hawk was perched on the ledge outside his hospital window. The hawk was an appropriately rich spiritual reflection of Kevin’s life - symbolizing courage, strength, honesty, and faith — and bound for the heavens.

Kevin’s inspirational life began in St. Catharines, Ontario on November 6th, 1960, born to Willie and Len Neufeld, older brother to sister Lynda, and companion and occasional tormentor to the family dog Champagne (“Stinky Dog” to Kevin).  Kevin’s life was filled with enormous love and friendship, and he indelibly impacted the lives he touched. To meet Kevin, one would never know of his extraordinary talents and achievements — he was a role model for his humility and values.  He had a lightning quick wit and laughed easily and often.

Kevin’s formative years were scripted from the Joe Weider advertisements on the back pages of the comic books he read as a boy. A self-described “skinny-kid”, he didn’t care much for school (Kevin used stronger language) ensuring his parents didn’t drive him past the school on weekends so as to avoid an inevitable feeling of dread. At age 11, Kevin discovered barbells and weight rooms, transforming himself into a formidable physical specimen. By the time he graduated from West Park Secondary School, Kevin was playing tight-end and lineman for the football team and recruited onto the rowing team.  He was movie-star handsome — “beautiful”, as often admirers described him.

Special family times growing up included trips to Florida, camping in provincial parks across Canada, and always with a deep connection to Elim Lodge on Pidgeon Lake in the Kawartha Lakes Region of Ontario.  Kevin spent hours behind the family boat slalom skiing, tubing, and exhausting his father and the fuel budget long before he would tire. In the winter, Kevin indulged his love for skiing, coaxing his underpowered white Volkswagen bug up any ski hill he could with his close high school friends.   Skiing was a passion he would continue with his own family on the West Coast, spending memorable times at Whistler with rowing friends and their families.

After graduating from West Park, Kevin competed for the St. Catharines Rowing Club - the white beetle in the club parking lot swapped out for a menacing blue Camaro Z28, affectionately called the “Zapper” by Kevin.  As one teammate described him, Kevin was “the Man” with a reputation for being “relentlessly competitive” on the water.  Kevin was intensely determined. You wanted “The Neuf” in your boat, growling in 2-seat. You feared looking over and seeing him in the boat next to you at a start-line. However, that competitiveness and athletic presence belied his genuine good nature, sense of humour and unpretentious ways that transcended cliques, crews, clubs and Camaros.  He was a friend to all.

In rowing, Kevin excelled in both the junior and senior club ranks.  By 1982, he was a member of the Canadian National Team, first representing Canada on the world stage in the eights at the 1983 World Championships in Germany.  The following year at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Kevin was a member of the Canadian men’s eight that took gold in an epic Olympic final, leading start-to-finish, edging the Americans on their home turf by 0.4 seconds. The same crew reunited each October for the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA., winning the Men’s Championship Eights four consecutive years and setting a course record. Kevin’s characteristic toughness was always on display - at the start line for one of those 3 mile races he tore off the splint protecting a nasty fractured hand (injured a few days prior) so he could better grip his oar.

Kevin rowed for the Canadian national team through the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.  Notable achievements along the way included a Royal Henley Regatta Stewards Cup and a gold medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in a straight 4.  Kevin, with his crews or individually, has been inducted into six sports Halls of Fame across Canada.

The young boy with an aversion for school went on to a distinguished university career - academically and athletically.  With encouragement from a St. Catharines friend, in 1982 Kevin enrolled in the University of Victoria — going from the outstanding amenities of the St. Catharines Rowing Club with a dozen or more boat-bays, to the humble beginnings of the UVic program where a single-bay plywood shack in the forest on the shores of Elk Lake was charitably referred to as the boat-house.  Kevin thrived at UVic and was a cornerstone of building UVic’s early rowing legacy.  His crews dominated local and national stages.  Kevin’s 1983 eight’s crew was inducted into the UVic Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.  In addition, Kevin was a two-time recipient of the prestigious President’s Cup —awarded annually to the outstanding student-athlete who best combines scholastic and athletic achievement.  He graduated with a degree in human performance in 1988 and became a life-long learner, with an inquisitive and analytical intellect, inevitably becoming an expert in any subject that interested him.

Kevin was a fun-loving adventure seeker to whom one could not apply the term “risk-adverse”. He embraced life completely and fully: becoming a certified scuba diver; learning to surf in the 16 to 20 foot swells off the North Shore of Hawaii, elbow to elbow with the very annoyed locals (the 3 foot surf at Waikiki was too pedestrian for him); testing his free-diving skills in Hanauma Bay, well beyond where tourists were snorkelling, using a borrowed mask and depth gauge, (he called it a success only after he dove impressively deep enough to injure both eyes with a mask not up to the task, for the remainder of the holiday amusingly explaining his two black eyes); “canoe-surfing” at Pachena Bay on the West Coast; and, by his late 50’s, deciding to scratch a life-long itch to ride motorcycles. Riding became his year-round passion, rain or shine, and he developed into an exceptional rider in an impressively short time, on and off-road. His was the exotic and “sweet” sounding bike that attracted curious admirers in the backcountry small-town stops on the long trips he loved, exploring B.C. and Washington State.

A gifted sales consultant, trainer and executive, Kevin was highly respected for his professionalism and leadership, his principled philosophy, and his unimpeachable ethics; his expertise was always in demand. He took on new challenges in often markedly different sectors — fitness, automotive, high-tech and financial.   His natural leadership never more evident and valued than in a time of crisis.  He was the executive that colleagues gravitated to for leadership in difficult times.

Far above all else, Kevin was a remarkable husband and father to a very special family.  Kevin met his love, Connie, in 1990.  They married two years later, and cherished 30 rich and rewarding years together.  They have 3 sons; Matthew and twins, Kai and Travis. To spend time at the Neufeld home is to witness the magic and miracle at the centre of Kevin’s life, with grandparents Len and Willie (Nan and Papa) living in an attached home, selflessly helping care for the twins who lead thriving and extraordinary lives with Muscular Dystrophy and autism (medical terms Kevin resisted applying so as not to limit by labels, their growth and development).  The Neufeld “compound” is a place to live, love and learn.  Watching Kevin banter with the twins, getting as good as he gave, guiding and challenging them in every-way and everyday was a  lesson for anyone in parenting and unconditional love.  Each day ended with Kevin hugging Kai and Travis good-night, three bowed foreheads touching, as he recited a nightly prayer.

The unique bond between father and eldest son Matthew was obvious in every moment they shared, and Kevin’s heart, spirit and soul live on in his son.  Kevin — father, mentor, friend and biggest fan — and Matthew would battle at one-on-one basketball in the driveway court, the ex-Olympian effortlessly held at bay by the extended arm of his imposing 6’11” son, who scored at will and goaded “the old man” to “up his game”.  Kevin relished it — unabashedly proud of his son’s character and achievements.

Kevin continued his childhood tradition and love for camping with his family.  Regardless of his demanding schedule, his priority was annual family holidays, often with friends and grandparents, to Rathtrevor Park, Miracle Beach, Tofino/Long Beach and staying with his sister Lynda and husband, Graeme, at their idyllic off-grid retreat on Quadra Island. Paddle boarding, kayaking, and playing in the surf with his boys were a joy for Kevin. Family trips to Arizona were an annual event to spend time with their beloved friends the Ravenhill’s. Oh, and yes, he loved chocolate.

Christianity characterized who Kevin was.  He lived the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control with everyone who knew him. Kevin continually questioned, explored and challenged this faith, always towards strengthening his understanding and belief.

In his final months, with his trademark faith and determination, Kevin bravely and stoically challenged a terrible and painful disease in pancreatic cancer.  In a rowing shell, teammates could wholly trust Kevin to expend every last ounce of strength and more - he had an extra gear. He did that and much much more in facing down cancer to extend his time with his family — maintaining an unwavering extraordinary philosophy,  a “win-win” he said; “if I live, it is a win to be able to grow old with my family, if I don’t, I will be in eternity with my saviour and king”; his remarkable philosophy a window into the heart of a remarkable man.

Kevin made friendships readily, and he made them for life.  He touched the lives of many, and enriched the lives of his friends.  Those friends supported and sustained Kevin and his family during his illness, just as Kevin supported and sustained them; a poignant demonstration that - in a good way, “what goes around comes around”.

Kevin, Dad, Son, Kev, Uncle Kevin, Kevlar, Neuf, The Neuf, Neufer, Unit, Big Unit, Mr. Neufeld - however you may have known him best, his loss is heartbreaking.  We will all terribly miss being able to grow old with him as he has left us far too soon, but his indomitable spirit will live on in each of us and forever be part of our souls.

Kevin is survived by his wife Connie, sons Matthew, Travis, and Kai, parents Len and Willie, sister Lynda, brother-in-law Graeme and nieces Keziah and Kira — and his extended family, Joe and Brigitte Schultze, brother-in-law Peter (Jacqueline) and nephews Brock, Max and Hugo.

A celebration of Kevin’s life is being planned for May 17th, 2022, at the Central Baptist Church in Victoria, B.C. (833 Pandora Ave.) at 2:00 p.m. (additional details or any changes, may be confirmed later).  In addition, friends are establishing a GoFundMe account and other means to accept donations for the family to support the increasing amount of care and special needs of the twins, Kai and Travis.

GoFundMe Link: https://gofund.me/d37dd1f0