Wallace R Girvan
1951-2022
It is with heavy hearts that the family of Wallace Robert
Girvan announces his peaceful passing on January 25th at The Moncton
Hospital with his family by his side. Born in Moncton, he was the
loving husband of Marilyn (nee Payne) and the son of the late Albert
and Winnifred (Campbell) Girvan.
There aren’t many people who
can say they began working at the tender age of 6. Wally was one of
them. He often told stories of working the wood lot with his father
and grandfather. While they were busy cutting and selling wood, Wally
would go around with a 5 gallon pail picking up scraps of bark. It was
from them that he learned the value of hard work. After graduating
from Moncton High School, he went on to work for Norman Teed as an
electrical apprentice where he learned how to work smart. In 1977, he
earned his electrical contracting licence and thus began a career that
would turn out to be the first love of his
life.
In 1986, when his dad Albert became
sick, Wally took over Seaside Chev-Olds at the young age of 35. It was
there that he met Mom, the other love of his
life. He tells the story of meeting her for the
first time when she came into the dealership with a pony tail and
yellow rubber duck boots. He was sitting at the reception desk,
answering the phone and was immediately smitten. It wasn’t
long before they were inseparable. Soon after, Wally had an instant
family, including her three daughters and a granddaughter,
Samantha.
With his family by his side, he spent
the next 18 plus years running the dealership, winning many awards
along the way. In 1998, he was honoured with the MacLeans magazine
award for Dealer Excellence. The dealership also won The Presidents
Triple Crown award from General Motors for many years in a row – not
an easy feat. Customer satisfaction surveys consistently put Seaside
at the top of the Atlantic provinces. Managers from GM would come in
and ask how this little dealership in the “middle of
nowhere” was doing so well. Wally would say ” I just treat
the staff and customers the way I would want to be treated”. To
him it was pretty simple; he treated everyone with kindness and
respect. He often said he didn’t know the first thing about
running a dealership but he sure knew how to make people feel good
about themselves.
Mom and Wally were fortunate to have
travelled together all over the world. On their trip to China in 1993,
they were touring the Great Wall where Wally was trying to get mom to
climb up onto one of the lookouts. She was complaining that it was too
far to walk, too cold and too windy to go up there. She finally agreed
to go under the lookout instead, which she described as being under a
stairwell. Unbeknownst to her, he had planned an elaborate proposal.
Needless to say, she felt pretty bad and told him ” I’m
surprised you still asked me after all the complaining I
did”.
In 2006, Wally decided to sell Seaside
and, instead of taking a well earned holiday, went back to his first
love – the electrical trade. He kept working right up until 4 days
before his passing. While in palliative care, his nephew Jeff called
to see if he needed anything. Wally asked if he could pick up an order
that he had called in to Harris & Roome. When Jeff arrived, he
recounted the story to the guys at the counter. Most of them
couldn’t believe Wally was still working, but after thinking
about it, weren’t that surprised. Being an electrician was
his life and he loved every minute of it. He spent the last 10 or so
years working alongside Terry Wilson, who turned out to be the perfect
partner and friend to Wally. They had great respect and love for one
another.
Wally was a consummate story teller.
Being such a deep thinker, he would start a story and then a long
pause would ensue while he thought about what he would say next.
Sometimes we weren’t sure if he would start up again and our
minds would wander. By the time he did continue on, we had often
forgot what the story was about.
Wally spent countless days at Barry
Murray’s camp in Chipman over the past 30+ years. One of
their favourite things to do was play cards, in particular, a game
called “63”. He and his card partner Greg, were very
competitive, but in the end, were all just happy to be together
laughing, telling stories and making great memories. The camp was
where Wally loved to be more than anywhere in the world. In his
excitement, he often “forgot” to tell Mom he was going until
the night before or the morning of. The stories he brought home with
him would keep us laughing for hours.
Wally had a nickname for most of his
family and friends. It was sometimes hard to follow who was who,
especially when he gave the same name to more than one person.
Sometimes he would just add “ie” to the end of your name or
call you by your initials. A few months ago, his daughter Jen dropped
him off at the hospital and said to call when he was ready to be
picked up. A little later, a nurse called and timidly asked “Can
I speak to Five”? Jen started to laugh and
once again, explained that Wally used to call her Jenni-four, which
turned into Jenni-five and eventually just Five. The nurse had quite a
chuckle and said she thought she had misunderstood him. I’m
sure this story was passed around the hospital that
day.
Wally, aka, Big Dog, Saucy Face, Wall,
WG, along with countless other nicknames, is survived by his beloved
wife Marilyn, who selflessly cared for him day and night, especially
over the last 6 months, their daughters whom he was so proud of, Susan
Nugent, Kim Noseworthy (Derek) and Jen (Five) Cusack (Chris). His also
leaves his grandchildren, with whom he lived along side for many years
and recently described as “precious gifts”,
Samantha ” Timoie Sweetums” Noseworthy
(Kyle Boucher) and Alex “Binger” Noseworthy (Danika
Desroches). It wouldn’t be fair to leave out
Jeff “Jeffie Bong Bong” LeBlanc, his
nephew, who was like a son to him. Jeff was very supportive during
Wally’s illness and did everything in his power to make him
comfortable while still having lots of laughs. He also had tremendous
love and support from his siblings and their spouses throughout his
life, especially during his illness. He leaves to mourn his big
brother and confidant, Sam Girvan (Vickie), his appointed
“twin” and loving sister, Sandy Girvan-Rogers (Jim) and
little brother Wayne Girvan (Susan Radford), who Wally felt blessed to
have spent more time with during his illness. He is also survived by
his aunts, Alda Cutcliffe, Loretta Campbell and Zeta MacArthur, along
with many nieces, nephews and cousins, whom he adored.
Wally’s friends were by his
side right until the end, always ready to take him for drive or a
visit to the shop. The love they showed him will never be forgotten.
He had the “camp boys”, Barry, Greg, Doug, Brenden, Jeff,
Apple, and too many more to mention. He had the “shop gang”,
DK, Terry & Susan, Rob, Mike S, Jeff, Mike
L, Derek, Chris, Rolly and countless others. He had his life long
friends, Emery and Jerry, along with so many others in the trades over
the years. His quick wit and dry humour left lasting impressions on
his customers, both from the dealership and his time as an
electrician. Beneath it all, he will be remembered as a humble man who
was a kind, wise and caring soul. Wally always took the time to talk
with you and seemed to know when you could use a kind
word.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to Kumar
Luke for his care over the past 17 years, as well as Dr. Stewart, who
was there for him during his last days. We would also like to thank
his daughter, Jen, for working tirelessly to ensure he was getting the
nutrition he needed. We are thankful for his Extra Mural nurse,
Ashley, who mom described as an angel, as well as Ann Marie and the
many nurses and doctors in palliative care. They treated Wally with
love and compassion during his final days and made sure we could be by
his side.
Respecting Wally’s wishes
cremation has taken place at Cobb’s Funeral Home and
Cremation Center, 330 Whitepine Road, Riverview (869-2007).
There will be no funeral but a private family gathering will be held
when permitted. Donations to the memorial of the donor’s
choice would be appreciated. Online condolences may be
expressed at www.cobbsfuneralhome.ca
He will be forever cherished and missed
by all who knew and loved him. Rest In Peace Wally – husband, father,
grandfather, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and
friend ❤️
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Wallace R Girvan 19512022..
Death notice for the town of: Riverview, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick