James Howard FULLARD

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SUNRISE: DECEMBER 29, 1952 SUNSET: MARCH 6, 2010 JAMES HOWARD FULLARD At home in Ottawa, after a valiant 2 year battle with pancreatic cancer. James is survived by his wife and soulmate Michelle Venance, his mother Jean (nee Wright), sister Millie Engel, niece Leah (Aaron) Marshall, great-nephew Isaac Marshall and brother-out-law Frank Engel, and predeceased by his father Howard. He leaves his extended family of Michelle's parents Lorence and Lee Venance, sisters Shannon (Maura Purdon) Venance, Yvonne (Barry) Relf, Katherine Venance, Maureen Venance, brother David (Michelle Exner) Venance, nieces Natalie and Danielle Relf, Brook Venance, nephew Ben Relf, brothers-in-arms Mike Hamilton and Gary Bell and numerous friends. His spirit will live on in his two namesakes: Alexis James Thomas and Oliver James Dawson. James was a lover of all things tropical: palm trees, hibiscus, passion fruit, papaya and lime, South Pacific islands and atolls, coral reefs, Mai Tais, gin and tonics, Hawaiian shirts, hot summer nights, Moorish idols, the kura and kopeka birds, Atiu and Rarotonga and native island music. He was fortunate to be able to combine his love of the tropics with his research on insect auditory systems and over his 30 year career as a biologist he travelled extensively in Africa, Australia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Hawaii, the Cook Islands, Samoa and French Polynesia always living for the moment. The family wishes to thank Dr. Derek Jonker and the nurses at the Ottawa Cancer Centre for doing all that they could and Dr. Lisa Cross of the Palliative Care Network, the Carefor home nurses and Archana Sarkar of At Home Hospice for their incredible end of life care. James has been cremated privately, but a celebration of his life will take place on Saturday, June 19 at the Queen's University Biological Station in Chaffey's Lock, Ontario, where he cherished countless summers and mentored generations of talented students. In his memory, contributions to the Nature Conservancy of Canada would be appreciated.