Rev. Ian Robert NESTEGAARD PAUL

Ian Robert Nestegaard Paul

August 28, 1949 – January 5, 2020

On the 12th Day of Christmas, January 5, 2020, Ian Robert Nestegaard Paul died at 70 years of age surrounded by love.  He is survived by his best friend, partner, and soul mate of 30 years, Brenda Nestegaard Paul and their daughter Bronwynn, Port Alberni, BC; elder children Jordan (David) Burnaby, BC; Ian (Haggar), Tel Aviv, Israel; and Yvonne (Jimmy), Taipei, Taiwan; grandchildren Ryder, Amelie, Noah, Effie, Demitri, Michael, Zoe and Adam; brother Doug (Faith) Edmonton, AB and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends.  Born Ian Robert Paul, he was predeceased by his parents Richard and Maude, elder sister Adele (McNicol) and younger brothers Gordon and Greg.

Ian was born in Edmonton, a year to the day his parents and elder siblings arrived from Edinburgh, Scotland.  Work and choices took him from Edmonton, to Vancouver, to Edmonton.   Ian was a Renaissance man who had the capacity to do whatever he wanted to do.  He was an actor, a singer, a musician, a computer programmer, a breeder of shelties, a tax driver, a salesman and more.  His role in management for IPSCO took him to Regina in the early 1980’s.  A realignment in management led to him working in the computer sphere once more.  Music and drama were always a part of the picture.  In 1989, during call backs for Fiddler on the Roof, Ian met Brenda and, as he put it, “the most interesting and loving 30 years of his life” began.   Taking each other’s surnames, he was the actor who sings, she the singer who acts.  As Yente would say, “they fit like a glove.”  Their dream was to perform together for the rest of their lives but it took a twist. A year and a bit after their whirlwind courtship and wedding, Brenda admitted to a call to the ministry.  Upon hearing her confession, Ian said ‘me too’.  Though raised and heavily involved in the Roman Catholic church from childhood, including declining a call to the priesthood at 18, Ian had been introduced to the Lutheran church via Brenda.  He said, “this is catholicism that makes sense.”  They began their seminary studies in the fall of 1992 at Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Saskatoon and were ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament on the same day in July of 1999 to serve in the ELCIC.   Open to the possibilities of Full Communion, Ian served both Anglican and Lutheran parishes in Saskatchewan and British Columbia over 17 years.  Failing health led to his retirement from active ministry in September of 2016.

Ian was a quick witted, forgiving, kindly man.  He was a flautist, guitarist and player of recorders.  He was a director and an actor who knew how to tell a story and a joke.  As Brenda would say, though Ian was a Scotsman by heritage, upon learning that three of his grandparents were Irish “it explained the blarney.” He was a feminist, a socialist, a cook, a lover of roses, movies and games.  He loved to cycle, to golf, to walk.  A voracious reader, Ian was engrossed in politics and world affairs, in geekdom and fantasy.  He loved to drive and as a Roughrider devotee, bled green and white.  Ian was devoted to ‘his Brenda’.  They never stopped singing.  His family meant the world to him.  He was a good friend who liked people.  He loved life.  He was passionate about the gospel of grace.  He will be sorely missed.

Through these last three years, Ian and Brenda were grateful for the care he received, so thankful for the Canadian healthcare system.  The family is especially grateful for the care received at the Dufferin Care Centre in Nanaimo, the Renal Unit of NRGH and in the Palliative Care Wing.  In the midst of a system where so much is expected and not always with all the resources needed, again and again angels being about their work was experienced.  Bless you.

Ian’s funeral will be at 1 PM on January 14th, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Nanaimo, Bishop Gregory Mohr presiding. (A Celebration of Life will be held in July of 2020 in Regina following the interment of Ian’s cremains there).  Donations may be made in Ian’s memory to the Transforming Futures Fund, Trinity Anglican+Lutheran Church, Port Alberni, BC and/or The Grace Faculty Fund, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, SK. 

All who read this are encouraged to laugh in Ian’s memory, to be kind and to sing out loud. He would love that.

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