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ADAMS, Geoffrey
19 August 1926 - June 15, 2012
On Friday, June 15th, in his 85th year, after a long struggle with cancer. Geoff was born in Toronto on 19 August, 1926 to Sinclair McClardy Adams and Valerie Dell Waddington. He studied history and modern languages at the University of Toronto when he obtained a B.A. and M.A. before moving to Chicago to complete a Ph.D in history in 1954. Research for the doctorate took Geoff to Paris with which he had already fallen in love after reading Flaubert and Jules Romains. After flirting with the idea of a career in the diplomatic service, Geoff taught history at Waterloo Lutheran College in the 1950s. He joined the cast of several Kitchener-Waterloo Theatre productions, ran as a CCF candidate in the 1959 Ontario provincial election but ended up resigning from the College over its refusal to hire non-Protestants.
For two years, Geoff taught at Elmira College in New York State before returning to Canada in 1962 to teach history at Loyola College (now part of Concordia University) in 1962. He chaired the History Department during a time when it produced three Rhodes Scholars, all of whom he taught. In the summer of 1963, he met his life-partner Jack and persuaded him to come to Montreal. Together, they bought a house in 1964, in Saint-Bruno. Geoff stood as an NDP candidate for Parliament in two federal elections. After his retirement in 1992, Geoff produced three books devoted to the role of the Protestant minority in French political life. Geoff was predeceased by his friend Jack in 2004. He leaves to mourn his nephews Brice and Wilson and their families, his godson Roland, his cousins David, Naomi, John, Maria, Judy and Joyce and their families, his colleagues at Concordia, including members of Scholars' Circle and CUPARUC, the Concordia Retirees' Association and his many friends in Montreal. At Geoff's request, there will be no funeral. Ashes are at : JARDIN URGEL BOURGIE 8145, Chemin Chambly St-Hubert J3V 5K2. A memorial meeting will be held at Loyola in the autumn.
Published in The Gazette on June 18, 2012
