Gregory’s family welcomed us in celebrating his life, sharing stories, memories and photos on
Wednesday, January 29th, 2:00pm at Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street.
Dan Libman, hosted, shared warm remembrances of his Uncle Greg and provided photo memories.
Tributes were also shared by Greg’s coworker, Cheryl Strogen, long time friend, Janice Van Aertselaer, and QUIRK-E member, Cyndia Cole. Their thoughtful words are below.
Greg was a most valued member of QUIRK-E. Please see his entry under About Us, In Memoriam to read his stories and reviews.
Some words from Janice Van Aertselaer to be shared at the memorial gathering for Greg Bourgeois
Greg and I became friends while we were in high school, though a tap-dance group we were part of, and through performing in a high school drama, “The Crucible”.
During that time he asked me to go on a “date”. We were in a restaurant, talking, and eventually he said, “I need to be honest with you. I’m seeing a “shrink” because I think I’m a “fruit” … those are the words he used! … and this guy told me that I should try going out with a girl who I like and see what happens. But I’m going to tell you right now, I really do like you, but nothing is going to happen”. I think I said something like, “Well, something has happened, because we’ve become good friends”. That is what happened, and we continued to enjoy hanging out together.
We both headed to the University of Manitoba in 1971. Recently I read the piece he wrote for the Quirk-E magazine about being part of the founding of the first gay liberation group in Winnipeg. I remember that well. I went to some of his speaking engagements. I thought he was very brave and I saw him growing in confidence after being so unsure of himself in high school. It seemed he had had found his rightful place. In that article for Quirk-E Greg describes asking a question of Jack Baker. “Jack answered my question thus: “That’s a pretty standard approach. You tell a counsellor that you’re gay, and he tells you that you’re intimidated by women, and you just need to find an approachable one, and date her for a while, and the sexual feelings will come. That just doesn’t work”. It made me smile when I read that, because I had been that approachable woman for Greg.
Eventually we both ended up living in Toronto at the same time and we continued to hang out. We enjoyed sharing meals at the Swiss Chalet. I accompanied him to some gatherings with his extended family. And I remember going on a little train trip together to New York city because he wanted to see some of the art deco. I didn’t have a clue what that was, but he explained it as he pointed it out.
Following those years, I moved to Saskatchewan and he moved to BC and we lost touch for a while. With Roselle’s help I found him again in 2011 after seeing their Mom’s obituary, and we corresponded a bit by email. In 2013 I made a trip to Vancouver and we had a good visit. He took me on a lovely lunch date, somewhere by the water, being proud to show me that he had learned to drive and had acquired a car. He told me about his work, and I told him that the way he spoke about his clients, with such acceptance and respect, reminded of Jean Vanier of L’Arche saying, “What you do is the most important work there is to do”. He said he appreciated that because sometimes he wondered if he was making any kind of difference.
We continued to be in touch for a few years after that. He sent me a book with one of his home-made cards, and he enjoyed sending me videos of tap-dancers, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He never lost his delightful and witty sense of humour. Sadly, we lost touch again over the last few years, which I very much regret. Life happens.
For those of you who knew and loved Greg, I hope these memories bring a tear or a laugh or both, and I hope they contribute to your appreciation for who he was. May your hearts be warmed by your own memories and by one another’s presence as you celebrate Greg’s life today.
Tribute for Greg from Cyndia Cole on behalf of QUIRK-E
I first met Greg in November 2021 when he applied to join QUIRK-E, the Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders. We were still under a lot of Covid Pandemic restrictions at the time so I met with Greg only over the phone. I found him very easy to talk with. As I did his orientation to QUIRK-E we covered a lot more than the basics of who, what, when, where and how because it was so comfortable to chat. I thought it was brave of Greg to meet a whole lot of new folks – a well-established group with not so many gay men and lots of lesbians while we were meeting only through zoom. I learned over time of Greg’s rich history of founding and joining activist groups, writing newsletters and supporting our 2SLGBTQ+ community. Once we could get together in person, Greg volunteered to staff our book table with the confidence of one willing to step up and take on the work. Despite his health challenges, Greg made the effort to attend our picnics and gatherings. We felt at home with his easy-going personality. He brought friends along to all three of our annual on-stage performances for Surrey Pride at the Museum of Surrey. In his presentations we learned that Greg had been speaking out to groups with courage, honesty, vulnerability and humour since he was 19 years old. In his own words, “as just a dumb guy with one good idea: Gay Liberation.”
Fifty years later all of us now enjoying the fruits of his labours, a life in service of our rights and freedoms, say, “Thank You, Greg. We are honoured to host your book and movie reviews; your memoirs of your personal and our collective liberation on our website. We treasure your legacy.”
