Walter Malcomson Barss

Walter was born January 29, 1917 in Corvallis, Oregon and died January 28, 2015 in Sooke, BC, on the eve of his 98^th birthday. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 55 years, Margaret, in 2003, by his parents, Alden and Emily Barss, of Vancouver, and by his sisters Ruth (Will) English, of Victoria, and Elizabeth (Jim) Wheat, of Ottawa. He is survived by his son Jon, daughter-in-law Sylvia Imeson, and grandsons Joseph, Francis and Lawrence. Walter grew up in Vancouver, where he attended Lord Byng High School, and earned a B.A. and M.A. in Physics at UBC. He received his PhD from Purdue University in Indiana in 1942, and was then hired by Canada’s National Research Council, where he worked on various war-related projects. He married Margaret Rae in Vancouver in 1947 and the young couple immediately left for England, where Walter worked for three years at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. In 1950, they moved to Deep River, Ontario, where Walter worked for Atomic Energy of Canada at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. Their only son, Jon, was born in Deep River, in 1954. Walter accepted a very interesting secondment, in 1958, to the Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, in Geneva, where he edited a volume of the proceedings. In 1964, Walter joined the UVic Physics Department, retiring in 1982. Walter kept extremely busy in retirement, travelling widely, working on family genealogy, inventing useful household gadgets, and continuing his association with various groups, including the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the Victoria UN Association, and the Victoria Choral Society. He and Margaret enjoyed attending performances by the Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria, and at the UVic School of Music. He was a long-time parishioner at St George the Martyr in Cadboro Bay, and very active in church affairs, serving as a synod delegate and on various national committees of the Anglican Church, and on the Board of Governors of the Vancouver School of Theology. In recognition of his contributions, Bishop Shepherd conferred on him the rank of lay Canon of the Diocese of British Columbia. Over his last years, dementia gradually stole away most of Walter’s brilliant, inquisitive mind but he remained until the end cheerful and positive, unfailingly courteous, and grateful for the many blessings in his life. We ourselves are grateful for the warmth of his welcome at his weekly outings at the Metchosin Community House and at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Sooke, for the excellent medical care of Dr. Tracy Forsberg and, most of all, for the loving goodness and kindness of his caregiver Sandra Eglington of Shamrock House in Sooke, where he spent his last three happy and contented years.

A funeral service will be held at the Church of St George the Martyr in Cadboro Bay on Tuesday, February 3 at 2:00 p.m.

McCall Bros. Funeral Home

www.mccallbros.com