Mark Alexander’s Final Voyage
It is with great sadness that we inform you of Mark Alexander’s passing last Tuesday, June 27. His last days were filled with warm wishes, meals with family and friends and recounting of good times.
A Celebration of Life reception will be held on August 9 at 4 pm at the UBC Golf Course. We hope to share many happy memories on the occasion.
Obituary – Mark Cannon Alexander
Mark Cannon Alexander died peacefully at his home on June 27 at the age of 70, surrounded by close family and friends. Mark is survived by his son Luke, his daughter Kate, his siblings Dean, Robyn and Neil and his grandchildren, James and Isobel.
Mark was born on September 4, 1946 in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Bob and Phyllis Alexander and grew up in Lachine, Quebec and West Vancouver, B.C. He completed undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia, an MBA at the Ivey School of Business of the University of Western Ontario and was a Certified Human Resources Management Professional.
Mark lived in many places and held a number of jobs, all centered around his passion for the improvement of human resources management. He was Assistant Professor in the Business Department at St-Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., where his children were born. He briefly lived on PEI, working for the Canadian Labour Congress throughout the Maritimes. He settled in Montreal for a number of years in the 1980’s and held positions as a human resources manager and executive with Air Canada, John Labatt Limited and Shirmax Fashions. He then moved to Toronto to work as Vice President Human Resources at the Toronto East General Hospital, before creating his own human resources consulting service, MacB Group in the mid-nineties. He continued to operate MacB Group from Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver and remained in Vancouver following retirement to continue to be close to family and friends as well as the great outdoors. For thirty years, he was also an adjunct faculty member at the McGill University Executive Institute. His work with McGill and latterly the International Air Transport Association took him to: Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere as a consultant and program leader.
Mark was an avid outdoorsman, world traveler and beer-league hockey player, who loved to share his adventures with family and friends. His main passion was white water canoeing, organising expeditions on the Nahanni, Mountain, Thelon, Stikine and Seal rivers, just to name a few. He also loved downhill and cross-country skiing, hiking and backpacking. His travels took him to South Africa/Zimbabwe, Argentina and Bhutan, as well as many times to New Zealand/Australia, Europe and the UK. Between his travels and outdoors adventures, Mark also found time to publish two novels, Danny, What Are You Doing? and Neil, Where Are You? and compose and record a collection of Songs of the Broadview Canoe Club.
Mark was a loving father, grandfather, brother, son and friend. His children will remember how he inspired a sense of discovery and curiosity about the world. Friends and family will remember his deep loyalty and generosity as well as many wonderful meals, stories and laughs.
A Celebration of Life reception will be held at the UBC Golf Course on August 9, 2017 at 4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the BC Cancer Agency, who provided Mark with exceptional care and compassion. Condolences can be sent to lalexander9@hotmail.com, 2115 Lawson Ave, West Vancouver, B.C., V7V2E1 or http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.Mark-Alexander.