HENDERSON
E.S. (Ted)
Sept 17, 1919-June 13, 2009
Ted passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in Comox, BC. Ted is greatly missed by Barbara, his wife of 60 years, his son Scott and wife Deborah Gohl and their children Molly and Lucas, daughter Jane and husband Mark Horne and their son, Greg, daughter Lesley and husband Mark Fleming and their son Justin, and Ted’s brother Geoff and his wife Jean, his sisters in law, Fran Henderson and Georgie Henderson, as well as his nieces and nephews and their children. Ted was predeceased by his brothers, Jim and Mike.
Ted was born in Victoria BC, and raised in the Comox Valley, moving to Vancouver after completing high school. With the advent of WW ll, he joined the Army and was a member of the Rocky Mountain Rangers He transferred to the RCAF and after completing his pilot’s training he became a flight instructor and eventually commanded the RCAF Flying Service Training School in High River Alberta. He was posted overseas and was seconded and served with the Royal Air Force 514 Squadron as a Flying Officer, piloting Lancaster bombers out of Waterbeach England. His wartime experience contributed to his strongly held belief that “War is the atrocity” and he became a lifelong supporter of the Anti-war movement.
After the war he met and married Barbara Biart and they moved to West Vancouver where they raised their family. Ted had a very successful career in real estate and land development and was proud of his involvement in the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, of which he was President in 1974. He was a groundbreaking visionary, recognizing and promoting the importance of urban planning, green space, rational housing policies and the need to preserve and protect the environment, decades before they became mainstream issues.
Ted and Barb moved back to the Comox Valley in the eighties, living first at Kye Bay and then in Comox.
Ted continued to advocate for and support many causes on a local, national and international level, adding public health and well-being issues to his environmental and anti-war work. He will be much missed as a voice of integrity, reason, compassion and common sense in a world which often seems to lack those qualities.
The family wish to thank Ted’s many friends and extended family who have offered support and condolences. In keeping with Ted’s wishes there will be no service, but a Celebration of Life is being planned.