Obituary of Dr. Gerald Ashton Sears

July 8, 1928 to April 26, 2014 Gerald Ashton (Gerry) Sears passed away in hospital after a difficult post-operative experience. Dad was born in London, Ontario to Mary Margaret Ashton and George Alexander Sears. By all accounts he gave them a run for their money. The family moved to Toronto when Dad was three. He successfully competed for a spot at University of Toronto Schools where he completed his secondary education. Dad noted that he was kept busy between studies and sports, leaving little time for mischief. He went on to study medicine at the University of Western Ontario. During this time he met Catherine Helen (Kit) Sears on a blind date. They married in 1952, the year Dad graduated from medical school. He went on to complete a degree in Internal Medicine and Cardiology in 1958, all the while moonlighting as a janitor in his apartment building. For all of you who knew our father well, this is somewhat ironic. He was a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Royal College of Physicians in Canada as well as an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. Dad felt lucky to have a profession that continued to challenge and interest him through the years. He was truly dedicated to his patients. Over his 50 plus years in practice Dad received countless letters and other items - tomatoes, honey, wild rice, maple syrup, trees, homemade hooch and carved decoys - as expressions of gratitude. A few excerpts of thanks follow: "Thank you for caring and treating us and everyone we asked you to over the last 30 years. You have always taken the time to explain things in words I could understand . . . that takes a clever man. It has never failed that when I left your office I would feel that I had been seen by the greatest doctor in the whole wide world. Please take care of yourself. You are in our prayers every day." As well . . . "Every time I drove to London to see you, I was full of apprehension, imagining the worst about my heart disease. However, after spending a few minutes in your office, I drove back to… feeling relaxed and secure. In the immortal words of General McArthur (with minor changes): Old doctors never die, they just fade away (but the memories will live forever). My deepest and sincerest gratitude." Dad and Mom raised six children: Scott, Katie, Julia, Angela, Christina and Andrew. Shared values of family kept Mom and Dad together during challenging times. Theirs was a true partnership. Dad was extremely devoted to his work, so family times spent at our farm in Hepworth, at Sauble Beach and at Mitchell Bay, on skiing holidays, and on rare mornings when he would tell us invented Beagle Boy stories are cherished memories. Some of Dad's favourite times were spent fly fishing at Caledon, hosting friends at opening fishing weekend at the farm, and birding in Saskatchewan. Later in their lives, Mom and Dad travelled the world on their own, and with the Royal Ontario Museum. When Mom died in August of 2008, Dad continued to travel with various family members. While Dad was in hospital these last few months many staff recalled his briefcases cobbled together with hardware store chains for handles, seldom fewer than three in hand, and on his skull shaped coffee mug. If Dad didn't give it, then it wasn't his to give. He was a true individual. We will miss his huge presence in our lives. Our family thanks Dr. R. Inculet and his team, and the wonderful nurses and staff at Victoria Hospital in the CCTU and the Thoracic Unit. Donations in our Dad's honour could be given to the Nature Conservancy of Canada at www.natureconservancy.ca/donate, 1- 800-465-0029