George William Boorman was born on April 13, 1951 in the small town of Rimbey, Alberta. He grew up in a loving and busy household with parents Dr. George Coverdale Boorman and Blanche Evelyn Boorman, as well as his brothers: Dave, Mike, John, Bob, and Doug; their family dog, Prince and for a time, Grandma Wallace. George was noted as being somewhat of a rambunctious child, always keeping his mother on her toes. He was also known for being the class clown and often, “too cool for school”. George grew into a tall and handsome boy with a big smile, goofy facial expressions, and thick glasses. He made several attempts to complete high school in Rimbey, Dawson Creek, and Ponoka---all to no avail. George admitted in a Rimbey High School reunion book to having “raised a little hell along the way”.
After an early exit from high school, George took on many odd jobs which contributed to his incredible breadth of knowledge and skills. Here is a non-exhaustive list: He worked at a sawmill in Chetwynd, a feed mill in Dawson Creek, and a transformer factory in Red Deer. Also, as a welder’s helper in the gas fields west of Rimbey; a coffee machine repair man, and a delivery truck driver. Then as a taxi driver in Edmonton, where he also worked deep underground in the sewers of Edmonton, as well as on a deep gas well driving rig near Hinton.
George returned to school in the fall of 1971, under the category of “adult student”, where he pursued a degree in General Sciences at the University of Alberta. He met many lifelong friends during this time; most of which referenced these years as “wild” and “rowdy”, with plenty of laughs and good times. An old friend said, “he is one of those unique individuals that you can remember exactly where you were and what you were doing the first time you met him. There is no shortage of George stories”. He was an avid traveller spending time exploring the world, including backpacking around Europe in Italy, France, and Greece, either solo or with his family.
George graduated university in 1976, which he described as “a complete surprise to his parents”. Since work was scarce and very competitive in the mid-seventies, especially with a general degree, he decided school was not so bad, and signed up for Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. During this time, he spent his summers learning to form concrete, frame houses, and eventually ventured into house building. George once talked about being more focused on his studies during these years, although we are sure some of his family and friends may contest this.
After graduating from engineering in the Spring of 1980, George moved to Vancouver to work as the Site Engineer at Saint Paul’s Hospital. But George’s new love of academia, and his lifelong love of adventure were calling. After three years in Vancouver, George set off to England to embark on a new educational journey. He began a Master of Science in Construction Management at Brunel University in Uxbridge, West London. George thrived in the program, and received recognition for his novel thesis outlining a theory of construction management. His thesis was immediately accepted despite it being the draft version. Even the last few pages of the thesis had been cut off by a printer, and were handwritten to be submitted on time.
While in London, George met his first wife Maryanne, and after his graduation they moved back to Canada to start a family. George and Maryanne had two children. Nick was born in 1985 in Vancouver, and Sarah in 1988 in Rimbey. George was an amazing father, he showed great love and affection towards his children and genuinely wanted to be around them. He taught them how to ride a bike, rollerblade, golf, and play tennis. He took them on incredible camping trips in the Westfalia van (always choosing the longest route to see the sites). He loved to read stories, and talk about the world to them. He taught them how to use power tools and to garden, built them toys and tree forts, and so much more. Although George would often say he worked a lot while his kids were young, they recount the quality time he spent with them. They feel incredibly grateful to have George as their father, knowing how much he influenced the people they are today (including some of their own little hell-raising, in their youth).
After spending time general contracting in Rimbey, and finding life financially challenging, in 1989 George relocated the family to Port Coquitlam to start a job at Killick Metz Bowen Rose (KMBR) Architects as Chief Construction Administrator. By now, George had developed an incredible work ethic and was highly motivated to succeed. With the assistance of three others, over time, George acquired ownership in KMBR, becoming a managing partner. George separated from his first wife in the mid-nineties, and moved to an apartment in Vancouver down the street from his office. He would spend the rest of his working years with the firm.
He soon met Cristina Marghetti, an Architect and managing partner at KMBR, who had three daughters: Roberta, Lauren, and Mer. Together, George and Cristina blended their families and created a loving family home in Vancouver, complete with their two Labradors, Sophie and Kayla.
There is a bit of a joke that George was the Alpha around the dogs, whether his own dogs, “grand dogs”, or any dogs for that matter. They would gravitate towards him, and for good reason. Most mornings you could find George chatting with the dogs, while throwing them bits of whatever was for breakfast. Everyday, rain or shine, George would leash up the dogs and take them out for a nice long walk in the forest, or along the river. But most importantly, we suspect they gravitated towards his kind and calm spirit.
In 2013, George joined Cristina in retiring from KMBR and settled into a comfortable life of companionship and hobbies. They worked in sync together, supporting one another in different ways, and always with love. They also travelled together to places like Italy, Argentina, Mexico and more recently, Hawaii.
One of their shared hobbies was gardening. Year after year, they cultivated beautiful flower beds and landscaped the yard to look like something out of a magazine. It is such a special place for them that the family has decided to have George’s memorial service in the yard, surrounded by the beautiful landscape they built together.
In recent years, George welcomed four grandchildren: Tyus (6), Vanessa (5), Zander (3), and Sofia (1). George adored his grandchildren, and was equally adored by them. He spent countless hours with them, and was amazed to watch them grow and develop. Just one look in the backyard of George and Cristina’s house tells you all you need to know about the type of Grandpa he was. From the giant sandbox, to the playhouse complete with slide, to the pull along go-cart, and of course the wooden airplanes - all built by George - showing his love for his grandkids and his desire to make them happy.
George genuinely loved his family; he was a family man. When others were asked how best to define George, the first thing that came to mind was family. He was exceptionally generous to all of them and would do absolutely anything for them. He had a special bond with his mother, and missed her dearly when she left us. He was also a person who tried to keep everyone together, often instigating conversations and get-togethers to keep family connected. Whether that was at a Sunday BBQ, singalongs at Christmas time, or impromptu Grey Cup parties, he wanted his loved ones to be together.
George was the life of the party. He had a great sense of humour which many people gravitated towards. There are many wild tales from throughout his years that perhaps are not the most appropriate to be documented here. But we can all attest with certainty that George had a great time along the way, from his early years right until the end. He had a larger-than-life personality and wanted everyone around him to have fun. He had a big voice and a big presence that filled the room. He was unapologetically himself and was not afraid to show his goofy side, often throwing on funny outfits or contorting his face to get a few laughs.
He thrived at the Boorman family cabin (i.e., Tirnanog) in the Summer Village of Gull Lake, Alberta. There are countless memories of the grandparents, six brothers, spouses, children, friends, and multiple dogs gathering until the cabin was nearly bursting for late night sing-alongs, dance parties, and of course the ceremonious sauna and midnight dips in the lake. George was often the first to kick off the event and the last one up at night banging on the piano into the wee hours encouraging everyone to sing louder, whether they had musical talent or not. He also relished the Boorman family weddings, many will recall George out on the dance floor, tie around his head, busting moves until his entire shirt was a darker shade than when the evening first began.
George also loved his many friends, including his neighbors. He was the type of person who made a concerted effort to stay in touch with friends, despite time or space between them. Anytime he was travelling within the vicinity of his friends , whether in BC or Alberta or anywhere for that matter, he would venture off the dusty trail to spend a few hours with his old buddies. Many of his friends have said they will miss George’s humour, great conversation, positive outlook, and commented that George was an all-around great guy, and dear friend.
George was also a compassionate and caring person, even towards strangers. He was the type of person who would stop in busy traffic to help someone with a broken-down car. He befriended a person living in the parking garage of his office and provided him with fresh clothes and food. He also donated regularly to several international relief and development organizations, likely inspired by his mother’s philanthropic spirit. He often spoke very fondly of her work with Amnesty International and the United Church Women’s Club in Rimbey.
George was athletic and played many sports including basketball in high school, volleyball at the University of Alberta, and had ongoing hobbies of golf, hockey, squash, skiing, tennis, and others. His family and friends fondly remember playing sports with George and of course, having a few beers and great conversation afterwards. In recent years, George had been playing a lot of golf with his children and friends. He was always quite delighted when he was able to pound a big drive down the middle of the fairway. George shared his love of sports with his children and grandchildren, spending numerous hours patiently teaching them the basic skills and encouraging their development. Many joke that George also taught the adults, especially on the ski hill, where they can still hear George yelling “bend your knees like you’re sitting on a toilet!” “rise up out of your turn and back down!” “shoulders down the hill!”.
George was a natural teacher. He loved sharing his knowledge with others, not just his knowledge of sports but of science, engineering, business management, carpentry, gardening, and everything else under the sun. In one conversation he might describe how lightening occurs, and in another tell you the proper way to frame a house. Many people over the years have said George knew a bit about everything, which he contested was a difficult façade to maintain due to the growing accessibility of information on Google, and fact checking. But the fact is that George was highly intelligent and had an incredible amount of wisdom to share. He knew how to weave together a story or speech which was both humorous and enlightening all at the same time (taking longer than most to get to the point, but we loved listening all the same). He also enjoyed a good debate and often brought an interesting and well thought out perspective to the table.
George was a skilled carpenter and although he moved away from general contracting, he always maintained a workshop to house his many tools and design ideas. He continued to build a variety of creations over the years, either for his own home or for others. The list would be rather long if we asked the family to compile a list of things that George had built for them, from tables, to bookshelves, to flower boxes, to fireplace mantels, there wasn’t anything that George would not build for you. Over the past few months, George & Cristina had bought a Ford Transit Passenger Van, and were retrofitting it as a camper, complete with a bed, cupboards, sink, countertops, fridge, and even a toilet. He would send the family updates of his progress and selfies of himself working away on the van, clearly proud of his new adventure. They had plans to drive the van across Canada to visit the Maritimes, somewhere he had always wanted to see. Although he never had the opportunity to fulfill this dream, he had a wonderful time designing the van with Cristina, and finishing the major components of the job. The family is planning to complete the camper and take it on a maiden voyage to honour George’s adventurous spirit.
George was a talented musician. He could often be found early in the morning fingerpicking classical Spanish music on his guitar, or in the evenings, lightly playing from his piano books with a glass of scotch (with plenty of ice). He had a variety of piano books including classic songs from the forties and fifties, old rock and roll, country music, and of course, Christmas carols. He was a self-taught musician and showed great dedication to improving his skills. George was also a perfectionist, stopping and starting songs until he hit all the right notes (perhaps to the detriment of some of his listeners). He shared his love of music with everyone around him and encouraged others to join in, whether with another instrument or just their voice. His eyes would literally light up at the sight of someone willing to sit with him and play music, or turn the pages for him at the very least.
George passed away suddenly on May 3rd, 2021 from a heart attack. He had been experiencing some minor symptoms for a while and had begun to seek treatment. Unfortunately, in this unpredictable life, it was not soon enough. The world got a little darker the day George left us. It is hard to describe the grief we are all feeling from his unexpected departure. He was such a big and loving presence in our lives. He will be incredibly missed by so many including his wife Cristina, his children Nick (Viri), Sarah (Trevor), Roberta (Gabe), Lauren, and Mer (Troy), and his grandchildren Tyus, Vanessa, Zander and Sofia. We will hold him dearly in our hearts forever, and he will live on in the memories of all the people lucky enough to have known him.
George was not an overly religious man. At a recent wedding he was asked to say grace and in true George style, he quoted a definition of grace that he had found through some internet research. He then went on to discuss the history of the universe, while changing the song lyrics of “Johnny Apple Seed” to talk about the cosmos, and finally ending the grace with “Albert Einstein”, rather than Johnny Apple Seed. But George was a spiritual man, he once talked about how the source of the nuclear energy stored inside atoms was unknown and that perhaps this unknown component of the essence of the universe was suggestive of a higher power. We look forward to the day we meet him again, so he can tell us all what he has discovered, over a drink and some tunes.
“As some people journey through life, they leave footprints – of kindness and love, courage and compassion, joy and faith. Even when they’re gone, the trail they’ve left behind continues to inspire us.” – Unknown
In lieu of flowers, we ask that you please donate to one of the following charities which George supported on an ongoing basis:
Amnesty International- https://amnesty.ca/donate
Doctors without Borders- https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca
Covenant House Vancouver- https://www.covenanthousebc.org
or a charity of your choice.
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Memorial Service Details
Date: Friday, May 14, 2021
Time: 4:00 pm via Zoom
Information: If you haven’t received the Zoom link, please email [email protected]
Viewing Details
Date: Friday, May 14, 2021
Time: 12:30 pm to 2:00pm
Details: If you would like to attend the viewing, please email [email protected] to schedule a time.
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To leave an online condolence for the family, please visit our website at www.dignitymemorial.com
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