William G Innes

Joseph William Gilles Innes died peacefully at home on 1 October 2022 at the age of 83, after a day of sunshine and a long fight with autoimmune and chronic lung disease. He was the beloved husband of Helena Margaret Innes (née Micks), proud father of Michael (Lorien) and Robert (Jennifer), and besotted grandfather of Alex, Tessa Jasmin, and Zazie Anne Margaret.

William – “Willie” to those close to him – was born in Montreal on 22 August 1939. He was the son of Edwin Alexander Kellas Gordon Innes and Lise Innes (née Brunel), brother of the late Margaret (Jean Lacasse), and uncle to Pierre, Marc, and Anne-Marie. He lived most of his life in the Montreal area, save a two year period in the post-war 1940s when the Innes family relocated to Scotland.

William attended St. Michael's Academy in St. Lambert and Cardinal Newman High School in Montreal.

In the late 1960s he took courses in political science at Sir George Williams University. Of the road not taken, he reminisced of his time as a teenage air force cadet, he had an early passion for photography, and at one time he aspired to become a military photographer.

As a young man he worked at the Montreal Customs House, and went on to pursue a career in sales. In 1966 he met his future wife Helena Margaret, a British-trained nurse and midwife from County Clare, Ireland, and recent arrival to Canada. They were married on 14 October 1967 at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, and over the next few years grew by two the Innes clan, welcoming their sons Michael and Robert into the world.

William could be at turns gregarious and stoic, but he ultimately preferred the clarity of silence and the certainty of unspoken truths. He enjoyed golfing with his father, arm-wrestling competitions with his nephews and sons, and fishing with his sons and grandson. In later life he turned his attention to genealogy, and become a tireless investigator of the family's Scottish, French, and Irish roots.

Family and friends bade farewell to William on 18 October 2022. It was a beautiful autumn day. Father Manus Paul Bradley of St. Mary's Catholic Church presided over a small, intimate chapel service, followed by an interment ceremony at St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery in Longueil, Quebec, where William now rests.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to those who could attend, those who could not, and to all for providing warmth and comfort in this time of loss. Special thanks are owed to the doctors, nurses, and others who took such good care of him in his final months and days.

Donations in William’s name and memory can be made to charities of donor choice.

Be Traist.