Bill Reid: 1920-1998
Harry Warren: 1904-1998
Harold Copp: 1915-1998
Hundreds gathered at the Museum of Anthropology March 24 to remember Bill Reid, who died March 13 at the age of 78.
The great Northwest Coast artist's ashes were brought into the museum in a canoe carried by 12 friends. More than 50 speakers paid tribute, among them architect Arthur Erickson, scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, former politician Iona Campagnola and biographer Doris Shadbolt.
Reid's connection to UBC spanned 40 years. It was 1958 when Harry Hawthorn, head of anthropology, invited Reid to create part of a Haida village for the university.
The two Haida houses, mortuary poles and totems gave Totem Park residence its name, and now stand outside of MOA.
The village was a turning point in Reid's artistic career. His work, which revived traditional Haida carving techniques and designs, went on to achieve international prominence.
Reid was born in Victoria to a mother whose Haida ancestors included the great carver and silversmith, Charles Edenshaw. Even as he worked as a CBC radio announcer in Toronto, Reid studied jewelry making and began to explore his cultural heritage.
The Haida village was first of a series of large-scale works for which he is best known.
They include the Spirit of Haida Gwaii, a pair of 19-foot bronze sculptures located at the Canadian embassy in Washington D.C. and Vancouver International Airport; a 50-foot cedar canoe, Lootaas, commissioned for Expo '86; and the Lord of the Under Sea, a killer whale sculpture at the Vancouver Public Aquarium.
Another of his most celebrated works is Raven and the First Men, a large sculpture carved from laminated yellow cedar on display at MOA. The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Reid's works, including canoes, sculptures, masks, bracelets, earrings, spoons, brooches, boxes and dishes.
The British Museum, the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa are among the many museums which also display Reid's works.
Accolades included honorary degrees from UBC and six other universities.
"Up you go, forwards! Like a pack of hounds!" Harry Warren would ring encouragement to a ragtag group of boys from University Hill School playing field hockey behind UBC's Brock Hall, long before the days of uniforms, paid referees and McDonald's after the game.
The unbridled enthusiasm and dedication he brought to junior boys' field hockey in B.C. was a manifestation of the outstanding character of Harry Verney Warren, who applied these admirable qualities to everything he undertook throughout his long and remarkable life.
Affectionately know as "The Robe" on campus, he will be remembered by generations of UBC students for having brought geology alive, on stage as it were, during their university years.
Harry earned a BA in 1926 and a BASc in 1927 from UBC. As an undergraduate, he threw himself passionately into a wide range of extracurricular activities, while maintaining a high scholastic standing. During his four-year tenure, he helped form cricket and field hockey teams, played rugby and excelled in track and field.
In his spare time, he indulged his considerable thespian talents with the UBC Players club.
As a B.C. Rhodes Scholar at Oxford from 1927 to 1929, Harry continued to excel in all his endeavors. earning an MSc and a DPhil.
As a member of the Canadian team at the Amsterdam Olympic Games of 1928, he coached the women's relay team to a gold medal.
A noted sprinter, Warren himself equalled the Olympic record in the 100 metres two weeks later at the Irish Games.
Harry returned to UBC as a lecturer in the Dept. of Geology and Geography in 1932, where he taught full time for 41 years, 28 of them as a full professor.
As a researcher, he pioneered the field of biogeochemistry, which looks at the relationships between the occurrence of trace elements in surface soils, rocks, vegetation and animal life, and the metal contents of the bedrocks below. This led to invaluable mineral exploration techniques adopted by mining companies and geological surveys throughout the world.
Harry published 198 articles and scientific papers and received numerous academic and professional awards including the Order of Canada, Order of B.C. and honorary degrees from UBC and Waterloo. He is also a member of the B.C. and UBC sports halls of fame.
Harry maintained a lifelong love affair with prospecting at the family-held mineral claim at Watson Bar, north of Lillooet, the scene of countless happy hiking and camping outings, as well as the never-ending search for the "motherlode."
Harry was blessed with a wonderfully long and productive life and never lost his inherent graciousness and mischievous twinkle. He will be fondly remembered by generations of friends, students and relatives.
Dr. Webber is a professor in the Anatomy Dept. and former dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He was also one of Dr. Copp's students.
With the death on March 17 of Dr. Harold Copp, UBC lost one of its most distinguished scientists and committed advocates.
In l950 he became the first head of the Physiology Dept. in the newly established Faculty of Medicine at UBC.
Along with an impressive group of other remarkably young leaders, he was faced with the daunting task of starting classes with few faculty. He and the late Edgar Black were the Physiology Dept., working in as yet unfinished army huts.
Ever creative, Harold began teaching on the wards of Shaughnessy Hospital. He was always amused that many years later, introducing medical students to patients early in their program was thought to be a new idea.
His research interests were in bone and calcium metabolism and, in spite of the heavy demands of organization and teaching, he rapidly established his research program.
In the late l950s and '60s he isolated a hormone from the parathyroid and thyroid glands of the throat. That hormone was calcitonin, used around the world to treat osteoporosis. When Harold found the cells producing calcitonin came from the ultimobranchial gland, he suggested calling the material ultimobranchial calcitonin or UBC.
His distinguished research contributions led to many honours, including fellowship in the Royal Societies of Canada and London, companion of the Order of Canada, and honorary degrees from numerous universities, including UBC.
He was also an outstanding teacher of both undergraduates and advanced trainees, many of whom went on to academic careers.
After his retirement in 1980 he continued to be both active and interested in the affairs of the university, faculty and department.
He was unfailingly positive whether it was collecting ultimobranchial glands from chickens, facing administrative challenges or dealing, in his later years, with serious health problems.
For me, he was not only an internationally renowned scholar but also a teacher, mentor, colleague and friend.