Obituary of Gordon Morris Burgess

BURGESS: Gordon Morris (Gord) Burgess. August 11, 1942 - July 11, 2019. Peacefully and without pain, in the dawning hours of Thursday, July 11, 2019, Gord left us, one month short of his 77th birthday, with his hand in the hand of his loving wife Dot, and with their sons and their wives at his bedside. He was born in Hartney Manitoba, the only child of William and Marjorie Burgess, and was her pride and joy. He attended Berry Hill, Lauder and Hartney schools, before the family moved to Brandon in 1959, when he attended Brandon Collegiate Institute. Gord and Dot attended Lauder High School at the same time, and had known each other from early childhood. Gord is survived by his wife Dot (Dorothy); their sons: Michael/Mike (Alison) and Mark (Tammy) and five grandchildren: Alex, Jordan (Melissa) and Brenden Smith; and Taylor and Matt Burgess, brother-in-law Frank Jezzard, brother-in-law Joe (Jenny) and sister-in-law Anne, sister-in-law Cheryl Dooley, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. Gord and Dot were married on October 12, 1963 in Lauder, MB. Mike was born in 1966 and Mark in 1968. Gord was always able to find a job and was justified in his pride that he was never unemployed for 57 years. He did skate sharpening at the old Wheat City Arena, worked at Brandon Packers, installed furnaces for George Strange, was a mechanic for Butcher and Sons, then worked at Northern Auto Parts, Kane Equipment, and Hood Auto Parts. After the boys came along, he drove taxi and poured bar on weekends so Dot could stay at home with their boys. A good friend, Tom, told his boss Cal Szacasch at Mutual Life about Gord's easy way of talking to folks, and that is how his career in Life Insurance began in 1972. It was a career he loved as he felt he was able to assist his clients in supplying the security to a family by them owning life insurance. In 1984 Mutual Life closed the Brandon office, and Gord moved to Manufacturers Life/Manulife Financial. Many of his clients followed him, saying they had bought from Gord, not the company. Gord was proud of his boys, and happily they each found strong women in Alison and Tammy to share their lives. He loved and was proud of his five grandchildren. Travelling and camping were ways summers were spent with his family. They began with a tent, then three pop-ups, and finally three motorhomes. While camping the family travelled to Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver and California and the Grand Canyon on vacations. They had a back-yard pool for several years when they boys were teenagers; Gord and Dot felt that their back yard or the family room or games room was a safe place for their boys and their friends. Fishing was a loved pastime, especially with friend Kent at Rivers or Thomas Lakes, and made several trips to Rocky Lake with the Mutual guys and then with Dot's brother Joe and his wife Pat. Gord and Dot also enjoyed Dauphin's Countryfest, attending for about 19 years. He enjoyed a lot of sports, playing fastball as a young man, curling, and finally Gord became quite a golfer; self-taught mostly, and was proud to shoot a 67 at Glen Lea golf course on September 8, 2005 with his partner Jim, and this was just short of a year before cancer started to take its toll on his life. He courageously golfed in the Senior Men's league at Wheat City Golf Course in 2018, and spared at Glen Lea the next day, even though battling pain and discomfort from the cancer. He lived life to the fullest! After retiring in 2003, Gord and Dot travelled extensively with their motorhome, mainly to Arizona but also to California to the Rose Bowl Parade, southern California, and through Texas twice. They went on two Caribbean cruises, the last one in 2014, when they drove to Miami, also visited a niece and nephew in Key Largo. The first years in Arizona, winters were spent at an RV resort, where he learned how to make jewelry, mainly silver. The last nine winters were spent volunteering at Kartchner Caverns State Park, south-east of Tucson, where they made many friends, both U.S. and Canadian. Gord always liked working the gate when Canadians came to visit, teasing them with questions like 'Where the heck is Manitoba?', he then proudly told them he was from Brandon. The last month they were at the park they had the opportunity to assist in a Hummingbird banding program. He and Dot helped the Rangers to carefully trap, weigh (about the same as a nickel), and feed and release the tiny birds when the Ranger had checked for a band or put one on. He lived Life to the fullest! Volunteering was a big part of their lives, as Gord believed that was how we pay for the space we take on earth. He was a member of the Brandon Kinsmen, Assiniboine Kiwanis, worked together with Dot on the Scott Tournament of Hearts in 1993, the Ford Worlds in 1995, and the Olympic Curling Trials in 1997, Canada Summer and Winter Games, was Host/Security for the Memorial Cup, helped with the two floods that hit Brandon, and sat briefly on the condo board where they live, until illness stopped him. They both helped several years with Operation Red Nose, and enjoyed doing Meals on Wheels. He was active in the reformation of the Brandon Westman Ostomy Support group, through help from the Winnipeg Ostomy Association, and supported the local group and fellow ostomates until his passing. He was a part-time driver for an auto-parts business after retirement and finished the basement and garage of their condo in his spare time. Gord always enjoyed the love and support of Dot's large family, and participated in all that went on at her family reunions, and was very happy to reconnect with several of his own cousins recently. His life motto was "No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. Life isn't fair but it is still good". A Celebration of Gord's Life was held at Central United Church on Tuesday, July 16th. Donations in memory of Gord may be made to the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation "Palliative Care" or to "Cancer Services", 150 McTavish Avenue East, Brandon, MB, R7A 2B3. Gord, you will be missed by a lot of people, most especially by your wife Dot and our sons, their wives and grandchildren.