The BC Flag (Main Mall and Agronomy Road) will be lowered today, Thursday, July 12th, 2012 to mark the passing of:
Dr. John E. Phillips passed away on June 29, 2012. He joined the UBC Zoology Department in 1964, became the Department Head from 1991-1996, and Professor Emeritus in 2000. He received several awards for his group’s life-long research contributions, including election to the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) (1977), a Killam Senior Fellowship (1980), a UBC Killam Research Prize (1988/9), the Fry Medal (2000) from the Canadian Society of Zoologists, and the James Chair at St. F.X. University (1993).
John’s other great avocation was classical music. On moving to Vancouver in 1964, he joined the Vancouver Opera Chorus for 4 years, and was a 1st tenor with the Vancouver Bach Choir (VBC) for 43 years.
A service to celebrate John’s life will be held on Saturday, August 4 at 2 p.m. at St. Faith’s Anglican Church, 7284 Cypress St. at 57th Ave., Vancouver. In lieu of flowers, donations to a local arts organization or charity of your choice would be appreciated. Messages of condolence may be e-mailed to jephillips@telus.net. His obituary can be found here.
Professor Ralph Raymond Loffmark passed away on July 7, 2012. He graduated with a BA and MBA, and later obtained Law and Chartered Accountancy degrees, and specialized in teaching law to Commerce students. He entered provincial politics in 1962, serving as Minister of Trade and Minister of Health, and thereafter in 1972, returned to UBC as a professor. Ralph received a Master Teacher Award in 1975, became Professor Emeritus in 1985, and continued at UBC until his retirement in 1990.
Ralph was instrumental, along with Dean Peter Lusztig and co-founders Murray Leith Sr., Michael Ryan and Milton Wong, in setting up the UBC Portfolio Management Foundation. The program provided undergraduate students real-world experience in financial investing. The UBC Portfolio Management Foundation has been a significant success at the business school and is still recognized as a major achievement that would not have come to pass without Ralph’s vital input and expertise.
A small gathering of family and friends took place at his home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to UBC Sauder School of Business, c/o Andrew MacIsaac, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2.