Mr. Gregory Ralph Hale

All the days of my life I have had an enigmatic, loving, laughing father - August 14 was the last of those days. I am utterly heartbroken to be writing this for my father who was far too young to be gone. The vaccines were not available when Dad first got sick, this led to an unfortunate and unlikely series of events that culminated in multiple infections that in combination were simply unrecoverable. After a valiant fight Dad passed with me holding his hand and with Mom supporting him by his side every single day at the hospital.

Dad lived on his terms and also left us on his terms; handling these past months with grace and levity. Dad had a very full life with a social calendar that few of us could keep up with. Dad loved his family, his friends, he loved golf, he loved travel, he loved a good burger, he loved a drink at the pub, he loved cars, he loved reading the paper, he loved being a cynic, he loved the crisp air on a fall morning, he loved Vancouver, he loved Canada, he loved dogs, he loved Seinfeld and he was so very proud of finishing his degree at SFU in 2007.

I will miss my first golf coach, my first life coach, my first friend, I will miss our phone calls, I will miss the golf games, the lunches, the dinners, the walks in Boundary Bay. I will miss seeing him with Charlie, and him telling Tucker to calm down. We will miss a million little things that have been forgotten, and a million more that we hope not to forget. Mom will miss her husband of 42 years, her best friend, she will miss the trips down the I5, the cruises, listening to him talk to himself, and all the little moments that make up a life together.

As well as Mom (Cheryl nee Walsh) and I (Jason), Dad leaves behind his grandson Charlie, his sisters Sue Laughlin (Tom) and Allison Spencer (Bob), his daughter in law Pam, all his nieces and nephews in Vancouver, all his in-laws in Ontario (Walsh), and his father’s side of the family in Prince George. Dad was raised after the age of 7 by Mother Joan and his sisters in North Vancouver. Dad lost his father (Jack) in 1975, and his mother (Barbara) in 1963. Dad also leaves behind a legion of friends all across the country, some that date back all the way to the 60's at Carson Graham.

Celebration of life to be at Beach Grove Golf Club, very likely on October 16. Please no flowers, if you wanted to make a donation to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army in Dad's name we would love to know about it. Thank you to the doctors and nurses at Eagle Ridge Hospital, who threw everything they had at this.