George Seto

George Seto, 65, of Peterborough, ON, passed away peacefully on April 19, 2023 where he was surrounded by his family, after courageously battling complications due to Covid.

George was born on December 1st, 1957, to Louise and Edward Seto in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. His family operated a restaurant called Club 19 before moving to Peterborough in 1971 and opened the Crest Restaurant, which became a beloved Chinese food establishment for 30 years.

George attended Sir Sanford Fleming College from 1976 to 1979, where he graduated from the Electromechanical Engineering Technology Program. It was during his college years that George met Karen Wong, his partner in life. They were married for 42 years and had two daughters, Amanda and Sonia. George was Karen’s rock and his personality perfectly complemented Karen’s.

It was about 35 years ago when George began his teaching journey in the Futures Program at the Fleming College McDonnel Street campus. This Program worked with the provincial government to support “the most severely employment disadvantaged youth”. These youth were generally 16 to 24 years old and required a range of needs. Colleagues who first met George were instantly impressed by him. He offered these youth much more than just his exceptional computer and math skills. At times when a student couldn’t see the value in academics, George would allow the student to let out their frustration before calmly getting the person back on track. He helped them realize that their past challenges didn’t define them as a “disadvantaged youth”. With his guidance and patience, they were able to focus on their journey in establishing realistic future goals that paved the way to education and employment success. George would just calmly but persistently remind them of what they had discerned as their goals and how he was there to help them be achieved, one at a time. George really was a light of hope in a season of darkness for many of these youth.

The bulk of his teaching journey was at the heart of the main Sutherland campus where he was instrumental in acquiring and developing the Technology Wing and the Engineering Commons. Just like at the Futures program, he was committed to student success by teaching in many areas in computing: Engineering, Electrical, Electricity, Computer Security, and Operating Systems. His unconventional teaching style was filled with relatable stories that made it memorable to his students and his methods pushed them to become lifelong learners. George has worn many “hats” as a Part time faculty, Full time faculty, ATL, and Program Coordinator. As a Program Coordinator, George immensely participated in the development of the CTN, CTY, and WIN programs. These programs produced several award-winning student applied projects that George sponsored. Whenever a problem arises, many of the faculty and program coordinators would think “What would George do?” as he was a great mentor and role model to many.

Prior to working at Fleming College, George worked for the City of Toronto in their Information Technology department. This was a tremendous learning experience which prepared him for his future work as a professor at Fleming.

In 2017, George was given the gift of life in the form of a kidney transplant after spending approximately five years on the transplant list. This gift allowed George more freedom to pursue the hobbies and interests that brought him joy. As an avid amateur Ham Radio operator, he was the liaison for the Ham station at Fleming College which acts as a repeater for the Ham Club, and an Examiner for Ham radio certifications. His call letters were VE3 AKS. These letters represented the three most important girls in his life. As a devoted husband and father, he also loved cycling, photography, gardening, woodworking, range shooting, learning about the latest tech gadgets, and was always happy to tackle any handyman project around the house.

George will be greatly missed by Karen, his daughters Amanda (Richard Branch) and Sonia (Omid Karimpour), his mother Louise, his brothers Howie (Karen) and Ivan (Rose), his brothers-in-law Gord and Doug Wong, his nephews Zachary (Ivy), Alexander (Samantha), and Jordan, and uncle, aunts, and cousins on Karen’s side of the family.

George’s family will receive friends and family at the Comstock-Kaye Life Celebration Centre, 356 Rubidge Street. Visitation on Friday April 28, 2023 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm and 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Funeral service will be held on Saturday April 29, 2023 at 1:00 pm. Interment to follow at Highland Park Cemetery.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.comstockkaye.com for the Seto family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

“The only easy day was yesterday.”