Alumni Notes

John (Jack) Urie (BCom) died Feb. 25, aged 95, just three days after the death of his beloved wife of 68 years, Dorothy (James). Jack was born in Guelph, but raised in Ottawa. Following a family tradition (father George, Meds’13; uncle Percy, Meds’19, and, later, his brother Norman, Meds’51), he chose Queen’s, and studied Commerce. After graduating at the height of WWII, he enlisted in the Cameron Highlanders and was shipped overseas. He landed in Normandy on June 8, 1944—D-Day plus 2— and the following day was hit by shrapnel and broke his leg when his motorcycle drove over a mine near Caen. For his D-Day service, he was awarded France’s Legion of Honour less than a month before his death. He was proud of his regiment and served for a time as Honorary Colonel of the Camerons. While back home recuperating from these wounds in hospital, Jack met Dorothy, a friend of his brother Norman. The couple married in 1946, then moved to Toronto, where Jack studied law at Osgoode Hall. After returning to Ottawa, he became a founding partner of the firm Burke- Robertson, Urie, Butler & Chadwick. Some of his accomplishments in a distinguished legal career captured headlines. He was an assistant counsel to the inquiry into the Gerda Munsinger affair, a 1966 sex scandal involving a federal cabinet minister and Munsinger, an East German spy. Three years later, he was on the legal team for St. Louis Blues rookie Wayne Maki, who was charged with assault after a fight with Boston enforcer Ted Green left Green with a shattered skull. Maki was acquitted when the court agreed that the attack was an involuntary reaction to Green’s provocation. The case is considered a landmark in the field of sports law. Jack, a lifelong sports fan, travelled to Russia with the Canadian delegation for the 1972 Summit Series. In 1979 he authored the federal Canadian Hockey Review, which examined hockey violence and the decline in skills that had eroded Canada’s standing as the No. 1 hockey nation. In 1973, he was appointed a federal court judge, a position that took him and Dorothy around the country. He remained on the Court as a supernumerary, retiring only in 2005. Jack cared for Dorothy at a retirement residence following her 2009 stroke. When she died on Feb. 22 of unexpected kidney failure, Jack was in the final stages of colon cancer. The couple’s three children, Jan Snell, Alison Banbury and David Urie, had all spent time alone with him just minutes before he died. The couple’s life together was celebrated on March 26 at a memorial service that included a Cameron Highlanders piper and honour guard.

Jean Evelyn (Brown) Ellis (BCom) died Nov. 2, 2011, in Kingston surrounded by her family. She was 91. Wife of the late Lt-Col. William Henry Ellis, BSc'39, and predeceased by her children Jean and Katherine, BSc'75, Evelyn is survived by her children David, Sc'68, MSc'69, Gordon, Arts'71, Ed'73, Susan, Arts'74, Robert, Artsci'88, MA'90, PhD'96, Nancy, BCom'77, and Peter, Sc'83, MBA'92.

William (Bill) Gray, BCom, BA’41, died on July 24, in Winnipeg. Following his war service as an Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, he began a distinguished chartered-accountancy career, retiring in 1980 as a partner at Price Waterhouse. Among the honours he received were the Chartered Accountants of Manitoba Lifetime Achievement Award and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His extensive community service included tenures as Chairman or President of the boards of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education, Canadian Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, University of Manitoba’s Board of Governors, and The University of Winnipeg’s Board of Regents, among others. In retirement Bill volunteered with Canadian Executive Services Overseas in Tuvalu, Lesotho, and Costa Rica, and participated in assignments with Price Waterhouse to East Malaysia and Bermuda. He was predeceased by his wife Helen and eldest son Bill and is survived by his children Ainslie; Nancy (Alla Smeall); Barbara, BA’76 (Ted Bigelow); Ian, BA’78; and Cari, BA’88, (John Canning); as well as 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Robert Armstrong, BCom, died in April in Toronto at the age of 98. He is survived by Dorothea, his wife of more than 71 years; children Michael (Linda), Brock (Lynn), Barbara (Geoffrey) and Robert (Paula); and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Following his discharge after World War II, Robert enjoyed a distinguished business career, the last 15 years of which were spent at Rio Tinto as an Executive Director and at subsidiary Rio Algom as CEO.

Professor Emeritus Ted Neave died on Feb. 6 at Kingston General Hospital. He was 88. Ted joined the business school in 1971 as an associate professor, retiring in 2005. In 2009, Ted was inducted into Smith’s Faculty Hall of Fame. In 2014, shortly after his wife passed away, he established the Elizabeth Neave Fellowship for MSc students to support research that fosters social progress. Ted is survived by his two children and three grandchildren. In an email to the school, daughter Barb noted that “Queen’s was a huge part of Ted’s life for over 40 years, and I can confidently say that he loved belonging to Queen’s.”