Arthur William Despard
Died: January 13, 2006 | Place: London Health Sciences Centre - Victoria Hospital
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Obituary
DESPARD — Suddenly at London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Hospital, on Friday January 13th 2006, Arthur William Despard of London, passed away in his 73rd year from heart complications. Missing him is his wife Patricia, his daughters Dr. Caroline Despard, Melanie Despard and Samantha Despard. Loved by his grandchildren Genevieve, Sarah Jane, Alexandra, Tristan, James, Luke, Rebekah; and his great-grandchildren Zachary and Shannon. Past President of R.I.B.O., Past Senior Vice-President of AON Reed Stenhouse, founding member of Thorncrest Village, and proud member of the Sons of the Desert. Special person to Mai Tai, Lily and Prince. A very special thanks to Heather, Gary, Daniel and Melanie for all their help and support. Friends will be received by the family from 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. Sunday at the A. Millard George Funeral Home, 60 Ridout Street South, London (433-5184). Cremation. There will be no funeral service at this time, but a special celebration of Art’s life will be held at his home, 135 Baseline Road East, London, on Saturday May 20th 2006 at 11 A.M., and all are invited. In lieu of flowers memorial donations would be appreciated to the Friends of Algonquin Park, Box 248, Whitney ON KOJ 2MO. On line condolences accepted at www.amgeorgefh.on.ca
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There is no doubt that Art was an Insrance Man.
He will be missed by the Insurance community as he was still active. I am sure the Insurance Institute will miss his presence.
I offer condolence and prayer
To Art’s Family:
I was saddened to learn that Art passed away, yesterday.
I have known Art since I came to Toronto in the early 70s, when I was transferred to the Toronto office of Reed Stenhouse and I had the pleasure and honour of working with him until I retired in the late 80s. Art served our company in a senior capacity for many years and was considered an icon specializing in the casualty side of the business.
He was well revered in the insurance business from coast to coast and was frequently called upon as a prominent spokesman for our industry. He also served as the President of the Insurance Institute of Ontario, the Insurance Brokers of Ontario, and the Society of Fellows with distinction.
Those of us who knew him well considered it a privilege to work with him, utilizing his vast knowledge and creativity for insurance planning and marketing. Art always made a statement in his outgoing personality and his flamboyant style of dress, and this, with his vast knowledge of our business, made a memorable impact on his many colleagues in Canada and the United Kingdom.
I was proud to be an associate of his and able to have the privilege of working with him for many years. He was one of the good guys, and will be remembered and missed by his many friends.
Cedric Gyles, Sr.
to Pat and family
We were saddened to hear about Art.He was a very good friend and we will miss seeing him.
I had a good visit with him at our Christmas lunch and we talked about our many good times playing golf and trips to England.
Our thoughts are with you and hope to see you in May.
Alice and Don Blinn
Dear Dr. Despard & Family,
We were deeply saddened to learn of the loss of your Dad / Grandpa. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Don, Eva & Gillian
My sincere condolences to the family of Art Despard on this occasion of his recent sudden death.I worked with Art at Aon Reed Stenhouse for many years and had much respect for him as a colleague and as a person.Hope to attend the special celebration of his life on May 20th, 2006.
To Dr. Caroline Despard and all her family,
Please accept our sincerest sympathy in the death of your father. We hope that you will find consolation in the presence of each other and in the sympathy of your friends. May God bless you all.
Mary and David Neelands and family
Dr. Caroline Despard & family,
May time and cherished memories help to gently ease the loss you bear, and may it bring you special comfort to know that others care.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you at this time.
Our deepest condolences to the entire family. Art was one of the most respected and honoured people in the Insurance industry. He was also one of the kindest and most supportive individuals I had the pleasure of meeting during my days at Aon. He was also a great supporter of our annual Chilly Willy Golf Charity. His memory will be with us forever.
Our Deepest Sympathy,
Joe Pedota & Family
It was with great sadness that I read of Art’s passing on.
He will be sorely missed – truly one of the great characters of the Insurance industry.
With great memories,
Peter Hindmarch-Watson,
Vancouver, B.C.
My sincere condolences to the Despard family. He was a wonderful and kind man who always put a smile on everyone’s face in the office at Christmas time by wearing his Santa boxers with his Santa gear. Art was definitely one of a kind!! He will be missed but not forgotten.
My sincere condolences to the Despard family.
Art was a very kind man and very respected in the Insurance Industry.
We will all miss this wonderful person.
Joseph Bouzaglo
Dear Caroline
I received your message while on a cruise so was not back in time to visit Sunday. Your dad was always an inspiration for me , first as a competitor and finally as a co worker. We shared the love of marketing. His weekly newsletters were always informative and always ended with an off colour joke which invariably got him in trouble but everyone waited for the next edition!
He was one of the most ethical people I have ever known and I miss him already.My condolences to you and the rest of the family.
I was a Director of Sedwicks in Canada and although we were competitors I always had the highest regard for Art and considered him a sincere and very honest person who I could trust. He was dedicated to insurance and his family. I will always respect him greatly.
Patricia: Having learned of the great loss with the sudden passing of Art, I want to extend to you and your family my heart felt condolences.
The emotional hurt and the sense of loss in circumstances like this can linger for a very long time. I am very sorry for your trouble.
Rohit Trivedi
Temple Insurance Company
My condolences to Art
I was stunned to hear of Arthur’s untimely passing. We met working in the insurance industry and what started many years ago as a business relationship quickly became a warm friendship. It was a priviledge and an honour to know him. He was a good friend and an outstanding insurance professional. Arthur will be warmly remembered by all who knew him.
Vic Budra
Pat, I was so sad to hear that Art has passed away.
I have many fond memories of Art and his parents when we were young children in Thorncrest Village, and of you and Art and your children. We really did grow up together and I remember him as a very kind, thoughtful, warm person, a good and respected friend. Mother (Dodie Cox) asked me to convey her condolences to you. She, my brother Michael and I have had some great chats about Art as we remember him, and those memories are all happy ones.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and the children.
Sally
While those of us who were fortunate enough to have enjoyed Art
Pat and Family
My deepest condolences. I had the pleasure of being a next door neighbour to Art in Thorncrest Village, Art had my deepest respect and was known as one of the truly, kindest young people in Thorncrest Village that I grew up with.
Mike
Dear Dr. Despard:
I send you my condolences in the loss of your father.
My thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.
Take care.
Maria Beadle
Community Palliative Consultation Team
Parkwood Hospital
I apologize for the lateness of this message. I am just returning to work and Faye gave me the news. take care.
David Munday and Cedric Miller of Ufans Insurance Services a long established Ontario Marine Insurance Wholesaler would like to express our condolences to Arts family. He was a long time businees associate of ours and always a great supporter with a friendly word whenever we met him. We are sure that his achievements and friendship will be remembered for a long time in the Canadian Marine Insurance Market Place. Art, Long may your big jib draw.
I would like to add my condolences to Art’s family and close friends. He was a genuine and reliable friend to all who knew him. Over the years he gave me lots of assistance, from providing reinsurance on surety bonds at Pearl Insurance to overseeing Eaton’s casualty program at Aon.He was also very active in connection with numerous insurance-related committees and conferences.Committee work at the Toronto Board of Trade and participation at Superintendents’ Conferences are a couple not mentioned in the lengthy list.More recently, he had much to do with trying to encourage some form of Disaster Insurance following 9/11.Once again, my condolences to Patricia and family. I hope to see you at the special celebration on Art’s birthday.
I had the privilege of knowing Art for over 25 years as members of the same industry , as students together at the U of T for night courses , as industry commitee members , as panelists on presentations, as competitors , as a client and in the latter years as a colleague . In all of these different situations , Art was a constant..I think David Pegues summed it up best when he said “In many ways, Art was larger than life and he occupies a special place in the Canadian insurance business . “In my own dealings with Art I always found him to be a consummate professional with an incredibly unselfish willingness to share his vast knowlege of our business and to give back of his time , energy and expertise to the industry . And this , all done with , as someone else said “ with an abundance of good old common sense “ and I must add with respect for others , with inimmitable humour and most of all with passion. Our industry has truly lost one of its giants and as individuals we have all lost a great friend . I for one will miss him greatly and can only imagine the magnitude of this loss for his family to whom I extend my sincerest condolences, my thoughts and prayers are with you all at this difficult time.
To Pat and her daughters,
Barbara and I learned of Arthur’s passing quite recently and we wish to express our condolences to the family.
Arthur was Dave’s best friend in our teenage years and will always remember his friendship and his influence in school, in sports and the many great experiences and conversations we had together.Dave can remember visiting Pat and Art and the girls at your home in Thorncrest Village and thinking how nice a family Art was raising.
His solid maturity was a beacon to watch and must have been admired by all who knew him. When I think of him and his mom and Dad,Norma and Harry, I remember great weekends at their home, Art serving hot dogs on Saturdays on the glass dining table, playing winter football with him on the snowy front lawn in front of a picture window,Art helping remodel the basement with some woodworking, and many other times.
We will be visitng Toronto in early June (next week) and will be sure to drive by the old Thorncrest haunts, and will say a prayer for Art there.
May god bless you all.What a great family with so many grandchildren and great grandchildren too.He left many legacies from a full life.Sorry I missed his birthday memorial last week
Barbara and Dave Shiels
4608 Mountain Highway
North Vancouver,BC, V7K 2K8
dashiels@telus.net or barbarashiels@telus.net
I used to work for Reed Stenhouse and Alexander Howden London . Art was Gentleman who I visited on a number of occasions in Toronto. It was a honour to have known him and in some small way supported his efforts. I am only sorry to have lost touch with him and the world is a lesser place for his absence. Paul