Amy,

Chris Hodgson recently advised me of Hermano's passing.  My deepest condolences to you and family. 
 I have many fond remembrances of Hermano particularly in his drafting room working away and always available to help out with questions that preparing maps and diagrams may require.  As a fresh student graduate on my first job with Southwest Potash Corporation in 1964 he noticed the problem I was having folding a map.  He very congenially took the reins and gave me a map folding lesson I never forgot.  His skill as a draftsman was unsurpassed.  I had a great respect for his work ethic and attention to detail.  He outlasted me at Amax Exploration Inc until after I left for a Calgary position with Union Oil in 1977.   His friendship and good nature meant a lot to me at Southwest Potash and Amax and he will be sorely missed. He was a wonderful person with a good sense of right and wrong.  I am sorry to hear about his struggle with cancer.  I know he is now in a good place free of pain and the things of this world.  He is with loved ones--family and friends who have predeceased him.  To Hermano I can say:  "One day we shall all meet again and until that day so long for now my good friend and colleague".  Again, my very best wishes and condolences to you and family. 
 Amy, I believe that Hermano is now in wonderful place with all his faculties in association with loved ones and friends that have gone before him.  I look forward to one day seeing him again.  If there is anything I can do for you please do not hesitate to ask.  Calgary is not that far away.  

All the very best,
George Leary
 
Hi, Amy, David and Maria

So sorry to hear about Hermano.  I'll never forget the good times we had together. I regret so much having lost touch over the years.

My deepest sympathy.
Don Allen
 
Hi Amy,

I am very sad and disappointed that I did not see Hermano before his parting from us. I have not been in Vancouver very much over the last several years, but I have thought about you two and about how the years were racing by and about coming to visit when I could get away from the pressure of work and schedules of meetings and always rushing away to the airport. I had no idea that Hermano had been ill. I really regret not keeping in touch and assuming that we will all just continue ticking along as we have. Hermano was a very cheerful and positive influence in my life when we worked together at Canamax and I know there are many of us who are going to miss him terribly. I really regret not having said goodbye to a dear friend.
Claire and I are travelling in Italy at the moment and quite a few hours ahead of you. Chris thought that there was a service taking place today. Please know that I am with you and Dave and Maria and Hermano’s friends today in spirit though I cannot be there physically. I hope that there is a wonderful celebration of the beautiful guy that Hermano was and what he meant to those of us lucky to have known him.
 When you are able to I would like to hear how you and Dave and Maria are doing.

 Love,
Jeff Toohey
 
Dear Amy,

Gloria and I would like to pass along our sincere sympathies to you and your family on the passing of Hermano.
The news came as a bit of a surprise as we weren’t aware that Hermano had been sick.
I worked with Hermano  from 1961 when I first joined AMAX in the Vancouver office to 1973 when I left AMAX. He was a first-class draftsman who provided all the geologists he worked for with exceptionally accurate and well drafted maps which contributed significantly to the professionalism and understanding of the reports . He was also more than a draftsman as he often gave the geologists advice on how to prepare maps and often pointed out mistakes and omissions made by the geologists in preparing the maps.
I understand that after AMAX Hermano continued to contribute significantly to his new employers through his dedication and high professional standards.
Please know our thoughts are with you and your family.
 
Sincerely,
Jim and Gloria Allan


Tribute to Hermano

I have known Hermano for over 55 years and in those years we became Close Friends. He was always more than willing to help no matter what. It did not matter if the project was large or small or if it was advice on something or a major health problem,  he was always there to help,  physically and mentally. You could not ask for a better friend.
He was Born in October 1939 in the Azores, a group of Portuguese islands. He spent his boyhood on the Island of San Miguel in the Town of Lagoa. At 17 he went to the United States with a scholarship to further his education.

When he was 18 his family moved to Ontario, Canada. He moved there to join them and finished school. In college he majored in drafting and later joined a company who in 1963 transferred him to the Vancouver office.
In 1964 he met the love of his life, Amy, and in 1965 they were married.
In 1966 they moved to North Vancouver and started their family.

Amy and my late wife Barbara worked at Shell Oil and became close friends, and as couples, we saw a lot of each other. As our marriages were in their infancy and we did not have much money, Hermano and I would help each other in small projects around our homes.

One thing he liked to do was travel and over the years they did many Tours. They started in 1987 by going to Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. In 1999, they went through the Panama Canal.  He took Amy to the Azores to meet friends and relatives and see where he spent his youth. They also toured around B.C. and Barbara and I joined them for many enjoyable and fun filled trips.

When their children Maria and David grew up and started their families there were four grandchildren - Amanda, Tyler, Nolan, and Maya and three great grandchildren - Dominic, Noah,  and Natalie.  After Hermano retired it became a routine of looking after grandchildren which they took much pleasure in doing.  But when the great grandchildren started arriving with distance and old-age it was just too much for them to look after children although they still Loved to have them all over visiting.

It was a Very sad time for me and everyone when Hermano became ill and left us. Rest in peace, my friend.

REMEMBERING HERMANO

Good morning.  I’m a geologist who worked with Hermano in the remote past – some 30 to 50 years ago – in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, when Hermano in his prime was working as draftsman in Vancouver for a medium-size metals exploration company by the name of Amax Exploration Inc.  After the company was reorganized in the late 80’s, Hermano went on to bigger and better things (known in the business as Autocad) with BC Hydro, my wife Margaret and I went down to South America and finally ended up in south Surrey.  So Margaret and I haven’t seen as much as we’d have liked to of Amy and Hermano over the past few years.
To get back to the early days, Amax was one of a number of exploration companies based in Vancouver combing the western Cordilleran in search of copper and molybdenum.  The Amax office comprised perhaps 15 geologists, geophysicists and geochemists and dozens of summer and temporary assistants.  The roster changed annually, but by and large we were a very stable group over the years. 
So, what did we do?  Every May we geologists saddled up our Land Rovers, galloped off to remotest corners of BC and returned in September with a whole pile of field data that had to be organized into maps and reports.  That’s where Hermano was indispensable.  The pressure was on, as all maps and reports just had to be finished by Christmas.  Every Christmas Hermano would tally up the sum total of his drafted maps that year and give us a verbal report.  It was like a year-end stock market report: by how many maps did he beat last year’s tally?  Of course, we never did manage to complete everything by Christmas, but that was the goal.  I remember once Hermano had to have a wrist operation for carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from a severely overworked wrist.  We were in a panic!
But don’t get me wrong.  Summer and winter were not quiet times for Hermano.  I remember one summer when Hermano came up to the Cariboo to help me finish off last year’s report, one of my best.  And in the winter there was endless preparation of promotional maps and slides to convince upper management of the wealth-creating potential of our proposed programs.  Hermano maintained assiduous control over all the basic stuff we needed in the field: pens, pencils, scale rulers, maps, etc.  He organized an extensive collection of pretty well every topographic map ever made of BC and Yukon, which he meticulously kept up to date.  
In the New Year, the exploration cycle started all over again with budgeting, planning and preparing for more field campaigns, either on specific properties or on “grass roots” exploration programs where we really didn’t have a clue apart from a gut feel or rumour that such and such a region had BIG potential.  And so, it went, year after year, with many failures but occasional successes.
Drafting back then was a very bespoke operation.  In other words, all by hand and each map individually designed.  The artist in charge was Hermano.  Geologist George Leary, now in Calgary, says Hermano’s skill as a draftsman was unsurpassed.  I fully agree – he was the best in Vancouver.  He was precise, particular and demanding of both himself and the geologists.  A photo in David’s album here at the church shows him proudly at his post, at his ample drafting table, with many of his day-to-day tools on display.  The drafting room was the nerve centre of the office, where we geologists would see the maps taking shape and argue over results.  Drafting papers such as sepias, mylar, fade-out paper and clearprint were very familiar to us geologists as drafting basics, but now have probably disappeared along with the Dodo bird.
Geologist Dave Fleming, writing from an exploration project in Zimbabwe, says Hermano was a mentor through his skill and attention to detail.  Dave remembers being berated for using an engineer's scale (that’s a triangular ruler for measuring distances) for actually drawing lines.  A no-no!   George Leary says Hermano once even gave him a lesson in folding maps.  It’s funny, the details people remember.
Geologist Jeff Toohey, writing from a yoga resort in northern Italy, says on his first day in the office he walked into the drafting room and Hermano walked over to him with a big smile on his face and said “Hi, I’m Hermano”.  They became friends instantly and worked well together from that day onwards.  Jeff will always remember that big, generous, friendly smile and the many conversations they had during the winter months with geologists congregating around Hermano.
Jim Allan, then western Canada exploration manager, now in Calgary, says it seems to him that we were more than just co-workers.  We worked together both in the office and in the field, sharing the common goal of discovering an economic mineral deposit.  We also sometimes got together after work to discuss our work and share a joke over a pint or two, usually at Hotel Ritz on Georgia Street.  Jim goes on to say that, although Hermano was not a geologist, he was always considered part of our group through his outgoing personality and important contributions to our work reports.  How true.
Bette Minty, our long serving receptionist, typist, book keeper and photo album keeper, now living in Kelowna, met Hermano in 1964 when the office was just getting started.  The following year on April 29, 1965 she attended Amy and Hermano’s wedding and years later, in 2004, she and husband Fred attended a wonderful Happy 65th Birthday party for Hermano.  She says we all knew Hermano to be caring, conscientious and very proud of his Portuguese heritage.  If you ever wanted to know anything about stamp collecting or genealogy he was the man to seek out.  Bette says Hermano was a true and honourable friend.
On a personal note, Margaret and I were new to Vancouver in 1969, and the following March Margaret gave birth to our first child, Alyssa.  Amy and Hermano were proxy godparents at her christening in April. The ties that bind…
Hermano, dear friend, the world is a better place because of you.  You have set an example to us all and will be sorely missed.  May you gently rest in peace. 
George Leary, now a dedicated Christian, says, "One day we shall all meet again and, until that day, so long for now my good friend and colleague". 

Chris Hodgson

Personal messages of condolence have been received from the following former Amax staff: Jim Allan (western exploration manager), Bette and Fred Minty, Jeff Toohey, Dave Fleming, George Leary, Ron McMillan, Ted Fuller, John Hansuld (Canadian exploration manager), Don Allen, Chris & Margaret Hodgson, Neil Sterritt, and many others.

Eulogy for Hermano

Good morning.  Thank you all for coming.  My name is Reg Gordon.  I'm a long-time parishioner of St. Stephen's and a friend of Hermano's.  While I don’t actually know the members of Hermano’s family very well, (except for Amy), from everything I’ve heard it is safe to say that Hermano was truly a family man.  He loved Amy, their children Maria & David & their respective spouses, their grandchildren and great grandchildren, and all of the members of their extended family, more than words can express.  He would do literally anything for them and any time he spoke of his family members you could hear and feel the love he had for them.
To be honest, I came to know Hermano, over many years, primarily from our time together at church.  Here at St. Stephen's he was very active in the church community.  There are so many things that could be said that I'm sure I will miss some, so my apologies for that.  Here are some of the ways he was involved:
Quite a number of years ago we sang in the choir together.  For a number of years, he served as an usher, and in addition, he has served as a Eucharistic minister, for more than just a single two-year mandate if my memory serves me correctly.  He was very active in the Parish Prayer Group going back years to when Vernon Robertson used to lead it and carrying on until more recent times.  There he would sing praise and worship songs and pray for so many people.  At times he was involved in Bible study as well as the Chrismatic Movement where he prayed over many people.  A number of years ago he even went on a Cursillo Weekend at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Coquitlam, during which time I'm sure he drew nearer to God.  I remember him readily helping out setting up the tables and chairs at the annual Church Trivia Nights which Joan Billesberger used to host in the Church hall.  More recently, he served as a dedicated helper at the Soup Kitchen which Deacon Rennie Nahanee had started up at St. Paul's Catholic Church a number of years ago.
In a desire to grow in faith, and to be able to pray for others more deeply, Hermano went on a couple of pilgrimages, the first one being to Fatima (Portugal) with his mother almost 40 years ago, and the second one being to Medjugorje (Bosnia) with his sister, Tina, and two nieces, Rhonda and Dana.  Both trips were very special to him.
Being an adventurer, he explored the world.  He and Amy travelled extensively, including trips to Hawaii, Japan, Macao, The Bahamas, The Grand Cayman Islands, Paris, Prince Edward Island, and even on a cruise through the Panama Canal, among others.  Due to his love of genealogy he also needed to include a trip to his home town in the Azores where he visited the local cemetery and obtained precious information about his deceased relatives.
He was an avid soccer fan, and nothing brought him more pleasure than to route for Portugal during the World Cup once every four years, because in spite of being Canadian, Hermano never forgot his Portuguese ancestry.
Something like 14 or 15 years ago a Neocatecumenal Way community was formed by a number of St. Stephen's parishioners which included me, my wife Angela, Hermano, and a group of others.  We continued in the Way for something like 7-8 years I think before deciding not to continue any longer.  After this, four couples from the Way maintained the friendships we had formed.  These were the Pires', the Jamieson's, the Domenici's, and the Gordon's.  We have continued to spend time together and truly enjoy our mutual company.
Not long ago I was informed that when he was younger Hermano was very good at working on the family home, taking things apart to renovate or fix, then putting them back together, only better than they had been before.  Apparently, however, in more recent times he had remained strong in the first part, that is the taking things apart, but may have lost some of the drive to put everything back together again.  In any case, knowing him as I did, as someone who took pride in a job well done, I'm sure he was doing as much as his body would allow and I'm sure everybody understood.
His belief in the power of prayer cannot be overstated.  On a daily basis he would pray for one hour in the morning and then for two hours in the evening, as well as praying the Rosary.  He prayed for so many people and had a separate sheet of paper for each person with a list of all the issues he was praying about.  When he prayed, he prayed specific prayers for specific "issues" and/or medical conditions people were battling in their lives.  As you can clearly see from all of the things I have just described he was a true servant of the Lord.
In closing, in order to honor him in the best way I know how, (since we used to sing in the choir together years ago), I would ask for your patience as I sing a short song which I believe sums up precisely how Hermano saw his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

( Sing:  “Jesus, Lover of My Soul, All Consuming Fire Is in Your Gaze” )

Jesus, lover of my soul                         It’s all about You, Jesus
All-consuming fire is in Your gaze                 And all this is for You
And Jesus, I want You to know                   For Your glory and Your fame
I will follow You all of my days                   It’s not about me
For no-one else in history is like You               As if You should do things my way
And history itself belongs to You                  For You alone are God and I surrender
Alpha and Omega You have loved me              To Your ways
And I will share eternity with You


I was very sorry to hear of Hermano"s recent passing. It was my privilege to act in the role of family physician for him and his family until my own retirement three years ago.  Hermano was always a cheerful man, even at times he was unwell, and I grew to actually look forward to his visits. His loss will be a huge blow to the family and I hope his memory  will continue to inspire you all. 

With sincere condolences, 
Dr Mike Marshall

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Hermano Da Costa Pires

9 octobre 1939 – 22 août 2018

First Memorial Funeral Services & Boal Chapel and Memorial Gardens

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