Glenn Wayne Spartz

Sadly, Glenn’s motto to ‘live life until the end of life’ has come to fruition. On May 3, 2025 Glenn died peacefully, surrounded by the earth angels of Hospice and holding Sharon’s hand. Although he will be missed by many, we are thankful he is at peace.

Born on October 6, 1949, Glenn grew up in Vancouver, the only child of Jean Ayers and Jake Spartz. Glenn had a great childhood in a loving home, graduated from Sir Charles Tupper Secondary in 1967 and found his calling in the ‘Sales and Marketing Program’ at Vancouver Community College.

After the death of his Mother, Glenn learned he had been privately adopted as a baby, reaffirming the desire for a family of his own one day. It took awhile, but Glenn, 7 years her senior, married his “child bride” Sharon Mile on April 18, 1987. They were so excited to welcome their son Garrett a year later and at 80 years old, Papa Jake was ecstatic.

In 1989, feeling his mortality, Jake wanted to ensure his family had family after he was gone and connected Glenn with “his people”. Glenn was overwhelmed, but delighted to meet his biological parents, Joy Andrews and Tom McColl and learn he had siblings. That first meeting started 20 years of family gatherings and although both Jake (always invited) and Tom died early on, Glenn developed a close relationship with his Mom and some of his siblings. Glenn felt privileged to have 2 such loving families in his life.

In 2015, after retiring from a successful 32 year career in the B.C. marine industry, Glenn and Sharon found community and friends in Cumberland B.C. They were overjoyed to see Garrett marry Danielle in 2017 and that paled in comparison, to becoming grandparents to Carter in 2019 and Kayden in 2023. Glenn held many titles in life, but Papa G was definitely his all time favorite…his only regret was, he would not be here to watch them grow up.

Glenn is survived by his wife, Sharon; son, Garrett Spartz (Danielle); grandchildren; Carter and Kayden Spartz; siblings Carol Hayashi, Corrie Ford Allen and Darrel McColl; brothers in law, Stewart Mile (Betty) and Nestor Zander and there are too many nieces, nephews and friends who became family to name here.

Glenn was sentimental, had a sense of humor, wrote poetry and had a deep love for music, especially the Blues. He was precise, liked predictability and had a distinct preference for doing things his own way. In a nutshell, Glenn was ‘old school’ traditional with an appreciation for dramatic flair… his Moroccan cape and Luche Libra wrestling mask weren’t just for Halloween.

Glenn had a photographic memory and an astonishing capacity to store and retrieve detailed information at will. It helped make him successful in life and coupled with his diverse interests, guaranteed he was always everyone’s first pick when playing Trivial Pursuit.

Although your memories of Glenn will vary based on the context in which you knew him, one memory will be common to all. Whether you knew Glenn for an hour or a lifetime, you saw that charming smile and knew he loved to talk…words were literally his stock in trade.

Glenn firmly believed that making a good first impression, in person, was the key to building relationships and it seems he may have been right (he loved hearing that). He started collecting life long friends at 7 years old and added to the list as he went through life. Beyond work, you may have met Glenn during his rugby career with The Red Lions (nicknames Chicken or Bird), 10 years on Board of Directors of Boating B.C., 25 years living on 86B cul de sac, 35 years in the Gourmet Dinner Group or 50 years at the ‘Framily’ cabin on Hornby Island.

Glenn's family appreciates all the kind words and messages of condolence they have received. They would also like to thank EMS and North Island Hospital staff for their compassionate care while Glenn was in hospital. Glenn’s family will be forever grateful for the empathetic and nurturing support, provided by the Palliative Care Team and the Comox Valley Hospice Society. If you would like to honor Glenn’s memory, please consider a donation to the Comox Valley Hospice Society or the Glenn Spartz Scholarship Fund (Google Glenn Spartz).

In the end, we all become stories, so please share yours, on this legacy page or join us in person, to celebrate Glenn’s life. As per his request, there will be a “simple service” from 1-4 pm at the Burnaby Rugby Clubhouse, located at 3760 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby, B.C., on October 6, which would have been his 76th birthday.

https:comoxhospice.com/memoriam

https://www.boatingbc.ca/cpages/glenn-spartz-scholarship