DEKIERE, Paul Bernard

Paul died peacefully, without pain, and relatively quickly after a battle with mesothelioma. He was in good spirits and entirely himself right up until the end.

Paul lived an interesting life. His favourite story was how his family were chased by cannibals in Africa in the late 60s. His father, mother, two brothers, and himself were rowing frantically in their canoe. Their canoe had sails, but there was no wind, so the cannibals, in their larger boat, with more people rowing, were slowly catching up to them. Thankfully, their distress call was received over CB radio by an oil rig and they were airlifted to safety by helicopter.

More recently, Paul unwaveringly supported his son all the way through and then out the other side of drug addiction. Substance abuse creates division and exile within families but it somehow brought them closer together. They became best friends, the person the other could always depend on, without question. Mostly that meant having fun and laughing over a meal or drinks, no matter the seriousness of the situation, and his final days were no exception.

Anyone who worked with him, will have known him as a total workaholic. Work gave him purpose and it was a purpose that continued right up until Christmas Day when he was taken to hospital. Although he was due to retire on December 31, had he been allowed, he probably would have continued working from his hospital bed right up until the end.

He was fun, intelligent, impulsive, gregarious, generous, sensitive, conscientious, hardworking, cheeky, regularly naughty, occasionally angry, complicated, fiercely independent, and unapologetically himself. His departure is an almost unbearable loss. Our only solace is that he died with us, feeling loved and relatively happy.

We ask that you do something fun in his honour, because that's what he would want. Eat something really delicious and expensive (two courses or more), drink something French (Gevrey Chambertin was a favourite of his), laugh while you do it, think of him, and maybe shed a tear or two (because anything more would make him uncomfortable).