Parcourez la nécrologie de Pierre Bernard Gobin Saturday April 15th 2023 résidant dans la province Ontario pour le détail des funérailles

Pierre Gobin, May 17, 1928 – Apr 15, 2023
A longtime member of the Queens University community, Pierre Gobin arrived in Kingston in 1955 to take up teaching duties in the French Department. Settling first in Strathcona Park with his wife Donna and two children, Bernard & Jenny, in 1961 he moved with the young family to downtown Kingston – a milieu that he greatly loved and that remained his home base for the rest of his life.
Indeed, for many downtown residents, Pierre became a familiar presence in the neighborhood, easily recognizable with his trademark beret and his penchant for walking through City Park with an open book in hand (often reading as he walked). For he was indeed an inveterate reader. Among his colleagues, the range of his interests and extent of his knowledge base were considered remarkable. As one put it, “il avait tellement de connaissances qu’il ressemblait à une encyclopédie vivante. Et sa compétence en littérature et en théorie littéraire était plus que impressionnante.”
Although nominally a member of the French department, his interests extended well beyond period specialization and the realm of French literature, and he was an early contributor to the fields of semiotics and comparative literature – drawing upon his formative studies in English and American letters and his extensive familiarity with key texts within the German, Italian, and Spanish canons. Today this type of “ecumenical” approach to understanding and interpretation is more widely practised; but for much of his career the breadth of his professional interests made him an outlier. Nor did his interest in interdisciplinary studies end there. Always ready to collaborate in innovative undertakings, he spearheaded the creation of a “French-area Studies” Centre that invited collaborators from departments such as history, political studies, sociology, and the other modern languages to participate in colloquia, gatherings, and research initiatives focused on cultural movements and events such as the Paris Commune of 1871.
There is so much one can say about Pierre: he delighted in roses and birds, newspapers, essays, Europe and the idea of Europe, oysters/fresh crab/prawns, travel, small courtesies and kindness, children, the absurdity and silliness of French nursery rhymes, language and the acquisition of language, fruit and gardens and orchards, history, museums, babies — perhaps more than weddings, cultural history, geography, women who wear scarves and high heels, statistics, wine, cognac, champagne, his long daily walk,… oh, the list is endless. If he can be said to have had a credo, it would be that of Montaigne and his prescriptions for a life well-lived: to read, study, think, converse, and converse again; to enjoy the sweetness of life; to avoid pretension, arrogance, and ignorance. He loved to quote Voltaire (and a hundred others): “Le superflu: chose si nécessaire.».
Arrangements in the care of Wartman Funeral Home – Kingston. Aquamation has taken place. A celebration of Pierre’s life will be held from 1pm – 3pm on Friday, June 16, 2023 at the University Club at Queen’s (formerly the Queen’s U Faculty Club) 168 Stuart St. Kingston ON. Friends desiring may contribute to the charity of their choice in memory of Pierre. On-line condolences and condolences at www.wartmanfuneralhomes.com.

Saturday April 15th 2023

wartman funeral homes

Décès pour la Ville:Kingston, Province: Ontario

avis deces Pierre Bernard Gobin Saturday April 15th 2023

nécrologie Pierre Bernard Gobin Saturday April 15th 2023

Nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux amis de Pierre Bernard Gobin Saturday April 15th 2023 et espérons que leur mémoire pourra être une source de réconfort pendant cette période difficile. Vos pensées et vos mots aimables sont grandement appréciés.