Glowing tributes for a city champion
More than 300 mourners packed a University of Calgary gymnasium Monday to pay their respects to prominent lawyer and city champion Jack Perraton, who died unexpectedly Feb. 19 after a brief battle with leukemia.
Amid glowing tributes delivered by business luminaries such as J.R. Shaw and Brian Felesky and former mayor Al Duerr, the most moving honour for the former U of C chancellor came from his grief-stricken daughter.
“When Dad told me that the doctors had given him six months to live, I grabbed his face — ‘Not my dad,’ ” said Perraton’s youngest daughter, Lindsay.
Perraton would not survive the six months and died just over a month after being diagnosed with leukemia on Jan. 13. He was 65.
“I’m more than devastated to lose my mentor and best friend,” Lindsay said.
Despite the rawness of their grief, family and friends urged a celebration of Perraton’s life, including his support for Calgary’s bid to host Expo 2005.
The corporate lawyer and member of the Order of Canada served as chairman and CEO of the corporation that led the Calgary bid for the expo. Though the event would eventually be awarded to Aichi, Japan, Perraton would be recognized with Calgary’s Citizen of the Year award for his passion and dedication to the campaign.
“There was no better ambassador for the city and for Canada,” said Duerr, who emceed the service.
Lauding Perraton’s spirit of volunteerism, Kids Cancer Care foundation CEO Christine Mciver lamented that he did not live to see the fruition of some of the projects he worked so hard to make possible— including the reopening of Camp Kindle, a summer camp for kids with cancer.
Perraton had chaired the foundation for nearly a decade.
“He inspired civility, integrity and trust,” Mciver said of her colleague and friend. “We’ll miss (him) at our board table and dining table.”
The corporate lawyer was also recognized for his advocacy and support for higher education, serving as U of C chancellor from 1998 to 2002 and as chairman of the board of governors from 2007 to 2010— making him the first person to have held both positions at the university.
University president Elizabeth Cannon noted Perraton’s unfailing presence at athletic events and convocation ceremonies, and Monday a contingent from the U of C Dinos football team attended the ceremony in honour of the long-serving chancellor.
“Jack didn’t just come to the university to perform his role and then go away,” Cannon said. “His legacy will be his care and attention to students.”
In the end, Perraton’s family thought his own words would make the most fitting tribute. Monday’s memorial service ended with a recording of a speech he gave to U of C graduates at a 2011 convocation ceremony:
“My wish for each of you is that you stop . . . and take the time to look at where you are, who you are and who you are blessed to share your life with. That you’ll look out at the mountains, at the prairies, at your spouse, your child, your grandchild — your life — and you’ll reflect that a person couldn’t ask for anything more than this.”