You will always be remembered for all the help and all the love you freely gave. 

Dear Dorothy,

We are very sorry to hear of George's passing.

We always enjoyed George's company and certainly appreciated his help with our boat purchase.  

We were always impressed with the fullness of George's life experiences and the depth of his connections in the sailing community. He will be missed.

Kind regards, Dave and Kate McNabb
   

Dorothy,

Our thoughts are with you.  George was a very close friend and you two are as close to family as we had for our eight years in Toronto.  George's genuine passion for life and his selfless generosity towards all the people in his life will never be forgotten.  We feel privileged to have been able to get to know him so well over the last eight years and will miss him dearly.

Love,

Anne “Banana” & Mark Topping

White Rock, BC
“Sweet Motion”
 

George, we will miss the gentle, caring, warm person that we came to know over so many years and we enjoyed so much hearing about your wonderful adventures through your very unique storytelling manner.  Your ability to reach out to lend a helping hand to so many, in so many ways, was admired and appreciated by all of your friends and colleagues.  Your absence at boat shows and at Mimico Cruising Club will be very much noticed and we are grateful that we had the privilege of knowing you and being able to spend some small part of our lives with you and Dorothy.  May you rest in peace.

We were saddened to hear about George. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all his loved ones.
George was a real character as they say, and we've had many highly entertaining and lively conversations with him.
May love and fond memories surround you at this difficult time.
Mike Heeg and Claire Breakey
Niagara On The Lake Yacht Sales

From: "Medland, Christina" 
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 12:23 PM
Subject: George Ward


I wanted to express my deepest sympathy and also to share with you the
story of how I met George.

I was a non-sailor about 14 years ago, my then husband (also a
non-sailor) joined RCYC. I took 4 adult learn to sail lessons and
decided that I loved sailing and wanted to own a boat. When I say I was
a non-sailor, I mean exactly that. I didn't know the front end from the
back of a sailboat, I had no idea what a spinnaker was or when you might
use it, no clue about anything. I looked up Ward Yacht sails in the
phone book and went to meet George knowing absolutely nothing about him,
sailing or sailboats.

George showed me 3 sailboats and gave me his honest feedback about each
of them. He showed me a C&C 33, which I bought. He helped me through the
purchase process (talked me through the value of the boat, what its sail
inventory meant, got me a surveyor, made sure that I got a boat that was
good value and that worked for what I needed it for). I have said to
numerous friends in recommending George, that he could have sold me the
worst sailboat on his list and I would have know no better, but he
didn't. George took me under his wing and shepherded me through the
process, making sure that I didn't make a mistake.

His help did not end at the purchase of the boat. He helped me move the
boat, called in a favour from Genco to fix the furling track, had lunch
with me and explained the difference between a 1, 2 and 3 foresails. My
favourite saying of his was that driving a boat is "like slow dancing,
you can't do it from a book, you need to do it by feel". Because of
George, I have developed a life long passion for sailing and sailboat
racing.

I have always had the greatest respect for George. He was a very honest
and caring person. I will miss seeing him at the boat show each year.

I hope that those closest to George will take comfort from the thousands
of people whose lives he touched.

Christina Medland
Partner
Torys LLP
Suite 3000
79 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5K 1N2
Tel: 416.865.8111
Fax: 416.865.7380
mailto:cmedland@torys.com
www.torys.com




We will miss George.  
His friendship, support and " constructive " criticism was very much appreciated.  
 We loved the fact that he was to the point, and brutally honest.   

From your friends at Bridge Yachts Ltd.   

Please accept our deepest sympathy and heartfelt thoughts. 

Dorothy, please accept my deepest condolences I have just heard about Georgeès passing away from Steve Roll of Bristol Marine. Although I never got to meet him in person, George has been a remarkable figure in my life in recent years. Following the passing away of my sister from cancer, I had decided to finally take the big step and invest in my retirement sailboat. I came across the Ward Yachts magazine ad which provided informative and no nonesense facts on boat buying. An initial lengthy call with George convinced me that he was the man to direct me to a boat that would fit my needs. And he did a wonderful job of convincing me to jump on the great deal for Cathedral (now Orizzonti Sereni). George's vast experience and no nonesense personality helped me navigate through the trivial and to focus on the important. After 2 years and many hours of TLC, I remain convinced in my choice.

I am saddened that I never got the opportunity to meet both you and George. But the memory of our many phone conversations and email exchanges will be imbedded in my memory. Thank you so much to you both for your patience and help. 

Finally, I send to you my strongest energies during this very emotional and draining period. I wish you the best for the future,

Sincerely, Norman Préfontaine  

OBITUARY

George H. E. Ward

February 23, 1932 – October 23, 2008

MacKinnon Family Funeral Home

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services