March 11, 1947 – April 27, 2024

Gisli Sigmundson was born in Gimli, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, 77 years ago, and on April 27, 2024, with a view of the lake from his window, he rode those waves back out again. As a child, Gisli’s bedroom faced the breakwater, and perhaps it was the sound of the lake that instilled in him a sense of wonder and adventure, of freedom and of joy, that he carried throughout his life.

For 42 years, Gis and his wife and best friend, Joan, shared family, laughter, journeys, struggles, joys – all those things that make up the fullness of a life together, always together. Gis and Joan met when they were in a bagpipe band together in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Really. Despite neither of them being Scottish, they both continued to play for years, and their neighbors once told them “I don’t care what anyone else says, I really like the bagpipes”.

Gis was fearless – or faked it well. He was always willing to try new things, whether starting a new business, returning to school to become a software engineer, changing careers again, moving to China for a couple of semesters, or spending a winter in Victoria (thus confirming that rain wasn’t really his thing). He was the instigator of these large adventures and many small ones, such as: How many people could do jumping jacks in a motorhome at the same time? Turns out, quite a few if most are giggling children.

He started a new career in his late 30s as a professor at Medicine Hat College and ended up finding the job he both loved and was exceptional at. He took pride in all his students’ success, but had a special soft spot for older students, as he himself had been, who were often nervous amongst so many young people. He was one of only a few instructors in North America at the time who was qualified to teach Microsoft’s high-level certification programs and taught at a dozen colleges and universities from California to Qinhuangdao, China. While teaching one summer at UBC Okanagan, he befriended an injured mother duck and became stepfather to 13 ducklings that followed him around faithfully, up and down the stairs into the trailer that was his home for the summer. That’s who he was. But if the trailer park manager asks if anyone was feeding the ducks: absolutely not. He taught at the college until he retired at 65, but retirement didn’t quite stick, so he continued to work right up until Parkinson’s made him too ill to do so.

Try as he did, although not very hard, Gis never really learned how to enjoy a good green salad, although he would choke one back to be polite. Usually. He was always a man who enjoyed a sweet and, ever the businessman, he would occasionally buy one or another of his children’s desserts from them.

He loved his Joan and his family – his children and grandchildren and siblings and nieces and nephews – and his eyes would light up and dance at the mere mention of one or another. He was a fun and funny guy, but was serious about kindness and treating people with respect.

Gis felt lucky and blessed to have so many children: Kevin (Kristina and children Scott and Maddy), Craig (Lauren and daughter Scarlett), Monica (Scott and children Anna, Lucy, and Faye), Megan (Ryan and children Keenan [Michelle and son, Jasper], Ethan, and Danika), and Kate, his precious last-born daughter. He is also beloved by his sister, Tammy, and their older brother, Danny, who went ahead of Gis by only a few months. By now Gis has, hopefully, had his chance to gloat at outlasting him.

While it is difficult to know that the world has lost a man with such an incredible amount of knowledge and an impressively broad set of skills (ranging from being unbeatable at strategy games to figuring out how to build an entire house on the fly), his wisdom lives on in not only his children and grandchildren, but in hundreds of students all over the world.

Gis has filled us with love and wonderful memories and will be deeply missed. The next time you enjoy a jellybean, butterscotch pudding, or a delicious salad, toast your fork to Gisli. The aliens finally beamed you up.

A memorial service will be held in the warmth of summer on the shores of the lake. We wish to thank the compassionate care that Gisli received at Betel Home Gimli. Memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba, 120 Donald St. Wpg. MB. R3C 4G2

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

-Mary Elizabeth Frye

Family and friends are invited to share memories and condolences on Gisli’s memorial page using the comment field below.