Legacy

About Gerald Kwok

“Ger” was born in Calgary at the Holy Cross Hospital and was the oldest of 5 brothers and sisters. Having graduated from the University of Calgary with job prospects looking thin, he decided to join Calgary Transit for the summer. He started off as a part time driver, graduated then to a full-time driver, an instructor, an infrastructure planner and eventually finished his long-storied career as a supervisor. The passion he had for his job earned him praise and ridicule from his co-workers; “There is no need to Kwok-erize it,” which was their way of praising Ger for his commitment to excessive due diligence.

When he was not on the job, he fulfilled his insatiable need to tinker about by working in the back yard. While there were many projects that he did complete, there are a few that are left unfinished. Whether they were successful or not, he enjoyed each journey it took him on. This meant lots of garage sales and trips up and down alleyways, treasure hunting and re-purposing. His inspirations most often came from something he saw on tv that one time, or something he read about in the paper, or in conversation with a stranger.

He thoroughly enjoyed the great outdoors as well; from piloting his own bi-plane, riding his motorcycle, fishing, hiking, hunting, and camping. At one point in his life, believe it or not, he was an avid jogger. Ger’s true passion however was lugging the family out on to the open road with our trusty red 4runner and our little tent trailer in tow. The kms we traveled, the places we saw, and the fun we had will never be forgotten. No matter where we went, or who was in the car, it was written in stone that Ger had to be the driver.

His love of food, family and friends was immeasurable. He always believed in and supported our dreams even when they seemed a bit too adventurous for his tastes. When he couldn’t actively partake in our activities, he devoted his time into planning the logistics from start to finish. He was a kind, caring and decent man who loved his family and life.

It did not matter how remote the places we traveled to, he would always find someone to strike up a conversation with: offering up a serving of “Classic Ger Style Philosophy” or stories of old. He knew a lot of the neighbors and befriended them through his unusual sense of humor. Since his retirement he has been giving back to his community by volunteering at the Bingo Barn for Decidedly Jazz Dance Works. He would always make sure that the other volunteers were not only well fed with good food and laughter, but that everyone had a safe way to get home, especially at the end of a long night shift.

In 2013 Ger spent several months in ICU with a diagnosis of septic shock and flesh-eating disease. He was only given a 5% chance to make it through. He did beat the odds. Over the years his health declined and he was not able to pull through the latest set of health issues. Ger did achieve two of his goals: not to die on April 1st, and not on a named holiday, although he did come pretty close. He was lucky to not be a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also important to him that he not be left to linger in long term care. He would have been pleased with the free hospital parking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We would like to thank the staff at 811 Health Link and 911 Emergency Services. We would also like to personally thank the staff of the ER and Unit 36 at FMC for delivering the best care they could within the COVID-19 guidelines. Simply Cremations deserves due thanks too, for their efforts in making a difficult time flow more smoothly.

We will not be holding a service because of the pandemic, but perhaps when things return to normal, we can have a good old-fashioned BBQ and celebrate his life. We would like everyone to remember Ger by buying locally, and by volunteering their time to help rebuild Calgary when the pandemic is no longer a threat. And of course, to have a good laugh and to always enjoy the things and people that bring you happiness.