Armand DE MESTRAL

ARMAND de MESTRAL November 17, 1941 - June 16, 2023 Armand de Mestral died in Montreal on June 16, 2023, at age 81, after a lengthy struggle with multiple myeloma. A devoted husband, father, and grandfather, he will be lovingly remembered by his wife of forty-five years, Rosalind Pepall; his sons, of whom he was especially proud, Philippe (Julia Betts) and Charles (Jason Whetter); and his cherished grandchildren Arthur and Daphné. He was the admired older brother of Charles J. L. (Marie Josée Tremblay), the late Robert (Lorayne), and sister Jacqueline (the late Donald Bezanson); and he will be sadly missed by sisters-in-law, Anne Curtis (John), Diana Pepall (Cameron Pulsifer), Sarah Pepall (Jim Christie), and Jennifer Pepall (Henry Schultz); and many fond nieces and nephews. Born in Montreal to Rev. Claude de Mestral and Lulu Dell Bates, Armand spent his teenage years in Croyden, England, with his family, where he attended Whitgift School. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University (A.B. 1963), followed by law degrees from McGill University (B.C.L. 1966) and from Harvard Law School (LL.M.1968). After being called to the Barreau du Québec in 1967, he went on to study at the Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales, Geneva, Switzerland, and to work as a member of the United Nations Secretariat. In 1970, Armand returned to Canada when he joined the Department of Justice in Ottawa, where he focused principally on constitutional issues and public international law and on the negotiation of the Law of the Sea Treaty. In 1976, he joined the McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal and taught mainly in the fields of constitutional, international and trade law. His calling as a professor enriched his life and those of many students who valued his wise counsel and quiet encouragement. Proud of his Swiss heritage, Armand faithfully kept in touch with many de Mestral uncles, aunts, and cousins on visits to Switzerland, highlighted in 2006 by the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of the de Mestral family's recorded origins in the Canton de Vaud. Armand also maintained close links as a visiting professor with Japan where his mother was born, and where his Canadian grandfather, Dr. C. John Lighthall Bates, served as a missionary from 1902 and as president of Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Kobe, from 1920 to 1940. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, both dedicated to community service, Armand became a board member for ten years and then President of the Canadian Red Cross Society from 1999 to 2001, on the heels of an especially challenging period of its history. Modest about his accomplishments, others boasted for him. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the Université Jean Moulin, Lyon, France, (1995), and from Kwansei Gakuin University, (2001). In 2003 Armand received a Jean Monnet Chair in the Law of International Economic Integration, and in 2007 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2014 he became a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ont. For ten years he enjoyed lecturing as a Visiting Professor every spring at the Central European University in Budapest, accompanied by Rosalind. Armand was a voracious reader of wide tastes, from Trollope to Murakami, from P.G. Wodehouse to Pamuk. In his last three months, he achieved a longtime goal of completing the seven-volume series of Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. He equally enjoyed classical music, from his high-school days listening to BBC radio to recent performances of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and as a patron of the Allegra Chambre Music series, Montreal. But Armand's heart was in the Gatineau Hills, where he purchased an old farm- house in 1972 on a 100-acre property of cedar forests and fields. He enjoyed nothing better than driving his vintage tractor, collecting wood or cutting hay. The Gatineau River lay close by for swimming and canoeing, and the farm became a family retreat. Holidays there were only interrupted by an annual hiking expedition along the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire with Rosalind, the two boys, and Ottawa friends. A generous, kind, serious yet fun-loving man, Armand will be missed by a vast network of family, life-long friends, and colleagues from around the world. The family has arranged a private service and interment in Rupert, Quebec, in July, followed by a memorial service on September 9, at 11:00 am at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath St., Montreal, where Armand was an active member for many years. Donations may be made in Armand's memory to the Cedars Cancer Foundation of the McGill University Health Centre or to the McGill University Faculty of Law.