Donald Murray Page

Donald Murray Page passed away peacefully at the age of 85 after battling cancer and pneumonia for two months. Don had been living in Langley British Columbia and is survived by his loving wife and teammate of 61 years, Annabelle and his two son’s Stephen (Crystal) and Daryl (Lisa) and grandchildren; Birch, Cedar, Aspen, Alexis, and Hudson. Don was born in Toronto and was predeceased by his father, George Page and his mother Florence (nee Matthews) Page.

Don studied history and received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1972. His inspiration for studying history came from the Greek historian, Polybius, who wrote: “For it is history and history alone, which, without involving us in actual danger, will mature our judgment and prepare us to take right views, whatever may be the crisis or the posture of affairs.” Don was trained and functioned as a public historian, taking lessons learned from the study of the past and applying them to present situations. He was able to do this as a university professor and then a senior historian for the government in Ottawa. As a Senior Policy Analysist for the Department of Foreign Affairs Don advised on decisions and wrote speeches for Prime Ministers and Deputy ministers in the federal government.

In 1989 Don moved to Langley British Columbia to become the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Trinity Western University. This significant move enabled Don’s passion to build into young people to be Christian leaders in the world.

In 1995 he was inducted into Canada’s Who’s Who for his contributions to Canadian foreign affairs and university administration.

In 2008 he was given an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trinity Western University.

In 2013 he was nominated for the Order of British Columbia.

The Deputy Premier of BC, Rich Coleman, Senator Gerry St. Germain, and NHL hockey great, Ryan Walters, nominated him for the Order of British Columbia.

His favorite book that shaped how he viewed the world as an historian was – Christianity and History by Herbert Butterfield.

Don wrote more than six dozen books, chapters, and articles as a public historian. His main emphasis was on how the public influenced the making of Canadian foreign policy, the craft of the public historian, and servant leadership. Don has taught courses at Peterborough Collegiate, University of Regina, University of Victoria, Pan African Christian University, Trinity Western University, and Columbia Bible College. Don was invited to give guest lectures at every English-speaking university in Canada and several in the United States. He made eleven trips to China teaching servant leadership. As an accomplished speaker Don delivered over 3,000 speeches in his lifetime and in one year made 360 presentations. From 2011 to 2015 he served on the British Columbia Degree Assessment Board.

Music was always a big part of his life. He was an avid player, instructor, and judge in drum corps and continued his interest therein until his death. He played in Canada’s Marching Ambassadors and led the University of Toronto Marching Band. It was through drum corps that he and Annabelle shared their common interests.

Don was an active Sunday School teacher and board member at Greenbelt Baptist Church in Ottawa and Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church, in Langley. Most recently he was on the board for a leadership development program called Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions, in Rwanda helping to develop leaders after the genocide.

His interests have included: sailing, power boating, RVing, biking, and model railroading.

A celebration of life is scheduled for 2:00pm, January 11, 2025 at Gracepoint Community Church, 3487 King George Blvd, Surrey, with a reception to follow. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Don’s life or follow the live stream that will be posted online.

If you would like to make a donation in Don’s memory, please consider supporting Don’s passion in developing leaders of the future at Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions in Rwanda https://www.kurumbuka.org/ or the Laurentian Leadership Center in Ottawa through Trinity Western University https://www.twu.ca/giving/make-gift.

Links:

Kurumbuka https://www.kurumbuka.org/

Laurentien Leadership Center through Trinity Western University https://www.twu.ca/giving/make-gift