Donald Gordon Perro

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Donald Gordon Perro on December 1, 2024, at the age of 64. Don was a loving father, husband, brother, uncle, friend, teacher, and a pillar of the animation world both at Capilano University and in the greater community. Don will be dearly missed by his daughters, Louisa and Laura, his wife, Carmen, his brothers Brian, Bob, Jim, and Bill, along with his nieces and nephews, family, friends, colleagues, and students. Don was predeceased by his parents, Charlie and Mary Eleanor Perro.

A service will be held for family and friends at First Memorial Funeral Services and Boal Chapel in North Vancouver at 2:00pm on Friday, January 24th, 2025.

A celebration of life for Don’s friends, colleagues, students, alumni, and the greater animation community will be held at a later date. Please continue to check this website for updates regarding an event.

Don was born on February 22, 1960, in Hamilton, Ontario to Charlie and Eleanor Perro, and was the fourth of five brothers. His brothers describe him as a child who was always happy, easy to get along with, and appreciative of spending quality time with others. Don had a small group of close friends and he loved to read, making it through the many volumes of The Hardy Boys. Don especially looked forward to Parent-Teacher Interviews, as he was someone whom all his teachers adored.

Even at an early age, Don was enthusiastic about art. He first learned how to draw from his older brother, who showed him the basic techniques. Don’s classmates at school were so impressed with his sketches that, naturally, he wanted to learn more. Don practiced often and spent his Christmases watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), drawing the Grinch from memory every commercial break, and getting into trouble for doodling on his desk at school. Eventually, Don won the Art Award at his high school and went on to begin building a career in the arts.

After finishing high school, Don applied to 50 different universities following four potential career paths. After multiple attempts, Don was finally accepted into Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver at the age of 20. At that time, Don learned and forever believed that “you can get anything you want if you work for it,” a belief he passed on to others throughout his life. After completing his first year in Graphic Design Foundations, Don was drawn to the animation department. Seeing figures come to life on paper was like magic to Don and he immediately became fascinated with the art of animation. Even though it was hard to find work as an animator, Don persevered. He had so much fun as a first-year student that he wished he could be a student forever. Don had discovered his passion, and it was around this time that thoughts of becoming a teacher began to circulate in his mind.

After graduating from Emily Carr in 1984 and seeing there was no animation work in Vancouver, Don went back east. He would travel on the bus for an hour from Hamilton to Toronto, carrying his portfolio, video tapes, films, and paper to visit studios he found in the phone book, knocking on their doors and asking if they had work. Realizing the need to hunt further, Don rode his motorcycle five hours to Ottawa, where he interviewed for The Raccoons at Atkinson Film Arts. At this time, Don wrote to his pen pal in Germany and told her that the next time she heard from him, he would be working at Atkinson Film Arts. Don made himself known to the studio by sending them a 10-panel comic strip depicting his desperation to be hired as an animator, and finally, he was accepted into the industry. This comic strip hung up in his office for the remainder of his career as a visual reminder to never give up on your dreams because hard work and perseverance pays off, even when it may not feel like it at the time.

As he worked his way up in the industry, Don continued to imagine himself as an educator and he set a 10-year goal to gain as much experience as he could before becoming a teacher. During this time, Don’s pen pal, Carmen, became his wife, and after a two-year stint of living and working in Germany, Don and Carmen moved to Canada where they welcomed their first daughter, Louisa, in 1992, and their second daughter, Laura, in 1995.

In 1994, Don was hired by Capilano College, (now known as Capilano University), to build the foundations for their Commercial Animation and Animation Arts program. It was his pride and joy of all the hard work and determination he had in his youth, and the networking and friends he made along the way had a special place in his heart. Don fought hard to keep the 2D animation program alive and growing, and he and his colleagues spread their knowledge and passion around the world in places such as Malaysia, India, China, and Jamaica. Don dedicated 30 years of his life to building this program, leaving behind a powerful legacy in the animation community along with a positive impact that is felt around the world.

Don lived a light-hearted life of kindness, unconditional love and support, humor, art, passion, humility, and empathy. He listened when you needed someone to hear you and was generous with his help whenever he could give it. To his daughters, he was someone who accepted them completely for who they were and was never afraid to say how incredibly proud he was of their accomplishments or how much he loved them. He was a man of many skills and hobbies, including drawing, 2D animation, hiking, dog agility with his beloved Sheltie (Sassy), kayaking, camping, e-biking, gardening, cooking, eating only the chocolate part out of Neopolitan ice cream, and of course, making people laugh with his puns and jokes. He walked through life with positive ease, a pep in his step, a smile on his face, and a characteristic twinkle in his eye.

Don’s heart beat for the last time doing something he loved in the December sunshine and in a beautiful place he cherished. The Perro family is incredibly grateful for the love and support from all those who knew Don.

The artwork that has been created in his memory fills us with so much comfort and love, and we do not have the words to express our gratitude. We hope you are filled with memories of Don and will keep his spark alive by sharing stories of him with each other. Don will be deeply missed but fondly remembered by all who knew him, learned from him, and laughed with him.

“Grief is the last act of love we give to our loved ones. Where there is deep grief, there was great love.”

Thank you to Spark Computer Graphics Society for capturing Don’s positive energy and warm spirit in their podcast, The Spark Cast, in which Don talks about his fulfilling life and rewarding career. The episode can be accessed on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/episode/21FIh4pwdz7dv1iXMB5lP3?si=c4ff3d21948542ec