Harold Gary ANSELL

Harold Gary Ansell

Born: July 31, 1943, Toronto, Ontario

Died: November 25, 2024, Nanaimo

In Toronto, on July 31st 1943, Joan Ansell (Aitken) presented her husband, Frank Thomas Ansell, with their son, and first child, Harold Gary Ansell.

Gary grew up in Willowdale at 141 Churchill Ave. with his 2 brothers, Dave and Jim and 3 sisters, Leslie, Margaret and Lindsay. Gary attended Churchill Ave. Public School, Earl Haig High School and graduated from Northview Heights Secondary School in 1961. As a child he was bright and mischievous and loved to play tricks on his siblings. He was an avid scouter and belonged to the Boy Scouts and the Rovers. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping and canoeing, especially in Algonquin Park.

He tried his hand at Math, Physics and Chemistry at U of T but wasn’t really ready for year of graduate school at Queen’s, he met his future wife, Valerie Elizabeth Fisher, also a geology major.

Gary and Val were married that same year on September 14th, 1968 in St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Burlington Ontario. With a wife still in university, he left the graduate programme and took a job as a mineralogist at the New Brunswick Research Council in Fredericton. There, he assisted Dr. Roy Boorman in the high temperature study of platinum group minerals. After Val graduated, they started their family. Their daughter Kathleen Elizabeth, was born Aug. 24, 1972, in Fredericton.

With a new family, Gary decided that he was ready for a change and applied for a job at the Geological Survey in Ottawa. He took the position of curator of the National Mineral collection and stayed there until he retired, July 31, 1997.

He and Val moved out of Ottawa to Carleton Place, Ontario in 1973. They welcomed their 2nd child, Christopher Frederick Ansell at the Grace Hospital, January 26, 1974. While in Carleton Place, Gary engaged his love of sport, playing hockey, soccer, golf and curling. He and his family returned to Ottawa in 1982. He loved to ride his bike to work, weather permitting.

While working for the Survey, Gary travelled the entire country, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island to the Arctic Islands collecting minerals from mines that were closing and from new or unique mineral localities. One of his favourite locations was Rapid Creek, located in northern Yukon. For his extensive work collecting and preserving specimens from this locality, Darko Sturman and Pete Dunn named a new mineral from this site in his honour. Garyansellite, for his mineralogical friends and colleagues. is a member of the phosphoferrite group and is described at mindat.org. As H. Gary Ansell, he authored 3 publications and was cited in 16 others.

During his travels, he developed a love of British Columbia, and in 1998 Gary, Val and Chris moved to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, leaving Kathleen behind in Ottawa. He spent many happy hours boating and playing cards with long time friends, Rob and Wendy Stewart. Gary enjoyed his retirement and pursued his hobby of nature photography. As an active member of the Nanaimo Arts Council he displayed and sold many of his photos. He also joined the Lost Lake Croquet Club where he spent many happy hours with his friends. He also continued to bike and travelled many, many miles with his cycling buddies.

Sadly, after a bike accident, he suffered a lot of pain from shoulder damage. As fate can be so cruel, began to develop Alzheimer’s as well. He and Val became care partners on his journey. Early in 2024, he received further bad news. He had developed metastatic prostate cancer with damage to his spine. While his final journey was not as any of us would have chosen for him, he bore it well. He left us to become one with the universe the afternoon of Monday, November 25, 2024. He will be sorely missed by his wife, his family and his many friends for his kindness and sense of humour.

 He is survived by his loving wife Valerie, his 2 children, Kathleen Price (Chris Price), Kathleen’s 2 children, Rowan and Eddie, all of Ottawa, Chris (Melissa Hamilton Ansell), his step-son, Matthew Hamilton all of Nanaimo, his brothers, John David (Lila Ansell Schroeder), of Mount Madonna, CA, USA and Frank James (Patti Smith-Ansell), of Owen Sound, ON, and his sister, Lindsay Anne Ansell of Innisfil, ON. He is predeceased by his parents and by sisters Leslie Joan Leeds and Margaret Rose Greene (Brian Greene). He also leaves behind nephews Gary and Michael (Les), Paul and Clayton (Lin) and Chiara and Andrew (James), Jeff and Chris (Marg).

A private celebration of life was celebrated on the Thursday following his death. Would any of his friends and family, who could not attend, like to meet at some future date to remember him? Contact Val at thornasite@gmail.com. Subject: Gary.

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