Richard George Ross Viner

April 25, 1930 - March 21, 2026

With silver in his hair and gold in his heart, this gem of a gentleman is shining his light upon us from a different angle now.

Dad was in his 95th year when he passed with family by his side.

As a youngster he was of the mind that if he lived to be 70 he would be old. Little did he know a quarter century would be tacked on to that age as he passed just one month shy of his 96th birthday.

Dad was born in Reading, England - the youngest child and only son of Evelyn Gwendoline Viner (Rice) and Reginald George Viner.

When his father died in 1936, his mother moved the family back to Harwell Village to live in the family home known as “The Poplars”. Dad’s grandfather, Dr. Richard Rice, stepped in to help raise the four children and Dad had many wonderful memories of his family life.

He adored his three older sisters - Gill, Jackie and Sally and shared many a pint and happy times with his three brothers-in-law - Blondie, Hugo and Saxby.

He was a student at Christ’s Hospital School in Sussex prior to coming to Canada. An “Old Blue”, he recalled his school years with great affection and was still in contact with some of his school mates up until about 5 years ago.

Pre-deceased by his wife of almost 60 years, Beverley (2012), and his daughter, Linda (1999), Dad was a one-of-a-kind father to Linda, Rhonda, Jeffrey (Donna) and Heather (Brian).

He cherished many years of imparting his wisdom and stories of days gone by (not all of which we are certain were true lol) to his grandchildren - Jordanah, Todd, Sheena, Carleigh, Hughston (Brianna), Bradley, Clayton (Madie) and Damian (Nicole).

He enjoyed his role as Great Poppa to McKinley, Daxton, Levi, Lennox (2019), Everly, Malcolm, Chase, Hutch and Margot.

Dad was a fond uncle to nieces Kate and Kim and nephew Andy in England, and a most treasured friend to his honorary daughter, Liz.

The relationship he created with our Port Colborne family was one of his favourites - one that is 5 generations strong now.

In 1947, at the age of 17, Dad travelled on his own from England to Canada aboard the RMS Aquitania. The voyage took about 5 days.

He attended MacDonald College in Quebec where he obtained a degree in horticulture and agriculture. His first part time job was with Weall and Cullen Nurseries.

He took a second part time job at the Odeon Hyland Theatre in Toronto where he met Mom. Dad was an usher, Mom was a coat check girl and they married in 1952.

With a view to starting a family, Dad took a full time job with the CBC. He started out emptying garbage cans and somehow ended up on a path that led him to enjoying a 35-year-long career as an award-winning Lighting Director.

He aimed many a light on the sets of the Wayne and Shuster show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood, Juliette, the Tommy Hunter Show, Mr. Dressup, Friendly Giant, The Fifth Estate, Fraggle Rock, The National, The Journal, TV specials, variety shows and numerous Stratford Festival productions and ballets.

He was the go-to guy for The Juno Awards from the year they first debuted until he retired. Upon retiring his co-workers gifted him with the personalized licence plate “Junos”.

He even managed to rub elbows with the Queen and a Prime Minister/President or two.

He also designed the lighting for the concerts presented at The Forum in Ontario Place.

In the early 1960s Dad came up with the idea of camping near Parry Sound - in the Depot Harbour area where Mom’s family was from. They enjoyed the camping lifestyle to the point where they had a canvas tent large enough to house the whole family custom made in Toronto. His father-in-law made sure he was armed with a snake bite kit - mind you, no one seemed too worried about the bears we might encounter as we trudged through the woods with snack-laden pockets lol.

After a few years of camping they decided to lease a lot on Parry Island and built a family cottage. The cottage was a hub of activity with many generations of family and friends sharing years of making memories.

Over the years he (and Mom) enjoyed many trips back to England to visit with the family and share a G & T or two.

Dad had a long and active retirement enjoying the country life and his “G” hobbies - grandchildren, great grandchildren, gardening, golden retrievers and genealogy. The amusing antics of his grandchildren and great grandchildren helped keep him young at heart.

One of Mom and Dad’s favourite pastimes was feeding the birds - learning to recognize their songs and following their comings and goings. They taught many a youngster about “Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal” and their fine feathered friends. Birdsong will forevermore sound even more beautiful.

As per Dad’s wishes, there will be no visitation.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to do so may donate to the Peterborough Humane Society in recognition of Dad’s love for all creatures great and small. He lived in the country and the odd time a mouse would find it’s way into the house. He would capture it in one of the humane mouse traps, walk it up the field and release it - pretty safe to say the mouse made it back to the house before Dad did lol.

Dad’s was a life well-lived.