(1905 – 2010)
After a long life of faithful Christian service, George Dawe slipped quietly away to his heavenly reward on August 28. He was predeceased by his youngest daughter Carol in 1971 and his wife Evelyn in 2001, as well as two sisters, Lucy and Dorothy Paull. He is survived by daughters Hazel and Laurel.
George was born on October 29, 1905, in Golden BC, and lived all his life in this province apart from a short time in Los Angeles, where he attended the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and where he met his wife, and also a short time in Alberta. He served as pastor of Baptist churches in Mission, Salmon Arm, Edmonton, Kamloops and Prince George, as well as many others where he filled in temporarily. He co-founded, administered and taught at Western Baptist Bible College in Calgary, which later became part of Northwest Baptist Bible College in Port Coquitlam, now incorporated in Northwest College and Seminary in Langley. He and Evelyn were also instrumental in establishing camps at Mission and Sunnybrae on Shuswap Lake.
In October 1997, George and Evelyn went to live at Seniors’ Haven in Barriere. In January 2007, George moved to the Yellowhead Pioneer Residence in Barriere, and in June 2008, he moved to ForestView Place at Dr Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater. At all three places, he enjoyed the most thoughtful personal care he could possibly have wished for.
George wrote the following poem on the occasion of his 21st birthday on October 29, 1926:
A BIRTHDAY TRYST
Backward I glance o’er childhood’s day,
O’er shaded night and untried way,
And thank Thee when I kneel to pray –
Thy love has led me on.
For one and twenty years Thy grace,
O Lord, has kept me and I trace
The leading of Thy hand in every place –
Thy love is leading on.
Today I stand – before me lie
The future years, yet I’ll not try
To see beyond, for to that Home on high
Thy love will lead me on.
A funeral service was held at First Baptist Church, Kamloops, on September 3. If desired, gifts in memory of George Dawe may be sent to Sunnybrae Bible Camp, RR#1, S6, C26, Tappen, BC V0E 2X0.