Denison D'Oyley Mears

February 5, 1927 to November 25, 2018

“Always a gentleman,” Denison was an athlete and engineer, a competitive man and a curious citizen of the

world. Den carried his knowledge lightly and was always humble about his considerable achievements. He

was a husband, a calm and supportive father, and a patient grandfather. He carved his good life from hard

work and reason, and he lived it -- always --on his own terms.

He considered himself a very fortunate man who could look back on an interesting career, a wonderful

marriage and children who made him proud. He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Eileen Mears, and

is remembered by his son John (Hélène) and daughter Bronwen (Stephen Antle). Den will also be missed by his

grandchildren Denison and Chantal Mears, and Gareth and Kai Antle.

Born in BraziI on February 5, 1927 venison D’Oyley Mears grew up in England, just north of London, part of a

British family that included on his father’s side teachers and brewers and on his mother’s the Taylor Bell

Foundry, the largest in the world and the only bell foundry left in England.

The boy who always wanted to be an engineer became one, and he was proud that the work he did around

the world made life better for people in countries poorer than Canada. After graduation from Kings College,

University of London, Den worked for a decade for the English Electric Company, learning about its

operations in UK factories making steam, gas and water turbines, diesel engines, and electrical equipment.

His early experience was varied: he helped build a hydro plant in Cofrentes, Spain, took a diploma in hydro

engineering at Imperial College, London, and studied for a summer at the French Hydrologic institute in

Grenoble. After a year back at English Electric’s head office in London, he was awarded a Commonwealth

Fellowship to study at Harvard Business School and MIT, and was soon on his way to Boston.

There on a blind date in 1954 he met a lively physiotherapist, Elizabeth Eileen Shier. She was an adventurer

with an eye for beauty and a love for avant-garde art. They married in England in 1955, and Eileen remained

there while Den travelled to Egypt to work on preliminary plans for the Aswan High Dam, establishing a

pattern that would continue until his retirement, as he worked all over the world and she took care of their life

on the home front.

When Western support for the Aswan project ended, Den was out of a job, and with Eileen expecting John, they

moved to St. Catherines, Ontario where John was born in 1956. A job with BC Electric Company soon beckoned

the young family west. This time Eileen was pregnant with Bronwen, born in Vancouver in 1958.

For the next sixteen years, West Vancouver was the Mears’ home. When the BC government made BC

Electric a Crown corporation in the early 1960s, Den joined Tom Ingledow in setting up T. Ingledow and

Associates and focused on developing overseas markets. First they were awarded a very small hydro

project in Cuenca, Ecuador, that Den was assigned to supervise. Such projects made way for UN-led hydro,

flood control, irrigation, and water supply projects in Ecuador, the Philippines, and the Middle East.

Den was away a lot, but when he was home, he was engaged with the lives of Eileen and the kids, and this

home life was a huge source of pride for him. He looked forward to the freedom of family times on Hornby

Island each summer. Although he loved boats and coveted a sailboat, Eileen deemed it more practical for

the family to have a ski cabin, so she bought one at the new Whistler in 1968 -- and Den continued to ski

regularly until he stopped by choice at 87. When Eileen was concerned the kids were not seeing enough of

their Dad, she sent the three of them on a trip to the UK, France, and Belgium. The highlight of this trip for

Den was a visit to the family bell foundry. There John and Bronwen rang the bells that were to be installed in

the Episcopal Cathedral carillon in Spokane Washington in 1968.

In the mid-1970s Den parted ways with Ingledow and began what he considered the third phase of his

professional life -- this time based in Edmonton as a Director of Stanley Engineering, helping to steer its

tremendous growth into Stantec over two decades. He travelled extensively and worked on projects from

flood management to garbage systems in Belize, Jamaica, South Korea, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St

Lucia, Ghana, Zambia, and Malawi.

On retirement in 1992, Den and Eileen moved back to Vancouver, living on the sea and near the mountains

for the next 26 years, and enjoying time at their house on Bowen Island, welcoming family and spending time

with grandchildren.

They continued to travel. On Eileen’s eightieth birthday in 2004, the whole family went to Maui. On this trip

Den took the last of his many scuba dives around the world. He enjoyed a spectacular dive with John, then

hung up his mask and snorkel and declared his diving days over.

With Eileen in declining health over ten years, Den considered it his turn to be caregiver, and as an eightyyear

old man he learned to shop, cook, and live with the rhythms of their difficult new life. After Eileen’s death

in February 2018, he tried to continue to enjoy life and travelled to Hornby and Cortez Islands to holiday with

Bronwen and to Princeton to have weekends with John. By the end of the summer, with a recurrence of

cancer, Den decided against treatment and opted for Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID). On November

25, he left this world peacefully, holding Bronwen’s hand, just the way he had planned. Den said: “It’s not sad.

It’s time,” No service by request