From: Karen and Rob Hiebert
Relation: Friends

Our sincere condolences to April and to the family. We pray that you experience comfort and peace as you grieve Gary’s passing.

From: David Hsu
Relation: Friend from Peace Church

I met Gary when he and April started to attend Peace Church. He always had a polite and pleasant manner when we conversed. He was then a UBC student. He liked to run and participated in marathons. I will remember Gary as a dear friend in Christ with a resilient spirit, a scholar with an unrestricted mind and a theological teacher with a law degree background.

From: Rudy and Laura Kasdorf
Relation: Were members in the same church in Abbotsford, BC

We want to express our deepest sympathy to you, April, the passing of Gary will leave a vacancy in your daily life style. Gary was a special devote person with sincere care for whomever he meet. We remember, when Gary was asked to preach a sermon on a given Sunday that he had prepared to serve, as his messages were always well explained so that a regular adult could understand with simplicity. We appreciated his excellence and clarity as he spoke. And to April, we wish you God’s richest blessings as you continue on life’s journey.

From: Julene Fast
Relation: met his wife at church

Hi April,
Julene from Hawkesville – just visited with you in our break out room. I share sadness with you – I know grief well – hearing of Gary’s death was shocking – even though I don’t know him – having just visited with you – it feels like a punch in the gut. I know your grief is big and huge – how can it not be? I wish for you the whatever it takes to walk the days that come your way – and when whatever it takes is not available may your tears and sobs somehow bring some rest

From: Sven Soderlund
Relation: College professor and friend

Reading these tributes to Gary from April, his brothers and friends, I have learned so much about Gary’s life and passions that I didn’t know previously. Although I first came to know Gary when he was a student at Regent College, there were aspects of his life and passions that did not come to the surface in that academic setting. For years I thought of Gary as a single minded academic, but his passions for sports, music, movies and much more, clearly show that the canvas of his life was much bigger than just books.

As for the academic books that he did write, these were serious and insightful contributions to scholarship, in particular the broader subject of biblical interpretation. His special interest in the importance of “point of view” (something he learned from the movies he analyzed), was creative and state-of-the-art. I’m not sure all his students would have understood or appreciated the significance of this advanced level of scholarship, though New Testament academics certainly did (and I suspect some students did as well). Along with “point of view” scholarship, Gary’s love for the study of Greek came strongly to the fore in his last years, especially in his pursuit of fresh ways to teach introductory Greek. Thankfully he was able to bring some of that work to completion which hopefully will continue to be published along with his others works.

Clearly Gary was a person of broad ranging interests, able to integrate academic life with the best off modern culture. But not only modern culture. Ultimately Gary’s commitment was to serving his Lord and the church he loved through a total offering of body and mind to the cause of the gospel. That same quality of commitment was reproduced in his devotion to his wife, April, both to her ministry and to their home together. We understand, April, why you will miss Gary so much. We pray for strength and peace in the next lap of the journey, albeit without Gary at your side, yet never totally alone.

From: Lorna Goertz
Relation: Friend

I’ve had the privilege of having Gary and April as friends for over 40 years. We learned to know each other when Peace Mennonite Church in Richmond, BC was in the planning stages. Gary was Peace’s first deacon of communications and led the library committee. He was also active in our young adults group. Our friendship continued when they went to Elkhart, Indiana and Richmond, Virginia to study and when they came ‘home’ and Gary began teaching at CBC. Gary put his training to good use, not only as a dearly beloved prof at CBC, but also in discussing the everyday implications of the teachings of the Bible in ways that put things into perspective for people like me. He was passionate about his faith, Greek, movies and hockey and also interested in what was important to others. He will be deeply missed.

From: Jean and Phil Hood
Relation: Friends

Dear April,

Jean and I are deeply sorry for your great loss. We love you and we loved Gary and we loved Gary’s many gifts. You both are extraordinarily gifted individuals.
I have been thinking about Gary a great deal and I can’t comprehend your personal loss as well as the loss to our community and to those of us who called him friend.
I rarely missed an opportunity to hear Gary teach and I never left one of his sessions without unique or even an exciting new understanding.
Gary was so intelligent yet articulate and innovating. He tackled deep and complex issues and really cared that his students understood. I loved his Lego movies! And I’m always relating ‘point of view’ to my study of scripture – or almost any other deep-thinking projects I’m working on.
I have been working on historical research and writing and often try to think in terms of Gary’s ‘directing a scene’ employing historical point of view.
I always thought of Gary as a good and personal friend. Part of that was Gary’s way of communicating — an almost one-to-one personal level even while teaching a large group – he cared about his students and sincerely wanted us to understand.
Jean and I are deeply grateful to have known Gary, our lives are greatly enriched for knowing you both.

Jean and Phil

From: Barb Nickel
Relation: Friend

Brilliant, generous, enthusiastic, and inspiring are words that come to mind when I think about Gary.
Just last fall, I sent an e-mail to Gary asking him about a Greek word I had come across and wanted to use for a talk I was giving. Looking back over the e-mail exchange now, I’m amazed at the time and thought that Gary spent clarifying this word to me, then going on to enthusiastically tell me about his ground-breaking Greek teaching project, into which he had poured thousands of hours! All of this in the midst of his challenging health journey. The words of his e-mail ring so clearly to me: “It’s my pleasure to be able to talk about Greek!”
Gary was not only brilliant but also so humble and supportive of others. I remember him and April visiting in the Chilliwack Hospital just after my oldest son, Nicholas, was born. Fast forward thirteen years and this same boy is sitting forward in the pew, hanging on Gary’s every word as he explains with great clarity the scientific and biblical occurrences surrounding a new view of the date of Jesus’ birth – not December 25! When we talked about Gary following his passing, both of our boys remembered this sermon so well and marveled at it.
I recently learned from April that one of Gary’s favourite songs was “The Tree Song” by Ken Medema. What appropriate words to celebrate Gary’s life: “I’ve got roots growing down to the water, I’ve got leaves growing up to the sunshine, and the fruit I bear is a sign of the life in me…”
It’s miraculous to think of all the people that Gary touched with his kind ways and infectious enthusiasm. This is the fruit of a life that continues to bear…
Our prayers are for April and all of the family.

From: Kent L. Yinger
Relation: Academic colleague

For a valued and creative colleague. I will miss Gary’s warm and genuine Christian spirit at our academic conferences.