RODNEY STUART FRENCH

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RODNEY STUART FRENCH 1943 2014 Rodney Stuart French passed away June 21, 2014 at 70 years of age, in Richmond, BC and is survived by his loving life partner Mary Stapleton of Steveston, BC, and his brother Peter (Marlene) of Orleans, ON and their sons Robert (Kerry) of Keswick, ON and David (Mary) of Kanata, ON and their children. Cousin Joan (Haydn) Williams of Saanichton, BC, and Cousin Marilyn (Steve deceased) Barkanyi of Victoria, BC, and many members of Mary's large and extended family. Rod was born in Winnipeg in 1943 to Frederic (Eric) and Nellie (Grace) French. Rod's father was with the Bank of Commerce and the family moved to Saskatoon in 1947 and then to Prince Albert before returning to Winnipeg in 1955. In 1965 he received his B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering Degree from University of Manitoba. He started his career in Winnipeg with Shell Canada Ltd. at the St. Boniface Refinery. On his move to Calgary in 1973 he joined Fish International Canada for two years. In 1975 he formed Saturn Engineering Ltd. with Peter Morgan and Bill Vandenhengel. SNC acquired Saturn in 1981 and Rod stayed on until 1985. At that time he turned to consulting as R.S. French Consulting Ltd. where he remained active until his passing. This included frequent collaborations with friends and co-workers at Titan Projects, Nordic Engineering, and Parkland Ltd. Rod loved his work and developed many very close and cherished lifelong friendships. He had a wonderful sense of humour and many lives were enriched by having known this gentle giant. Rod loved his baseball and was a regular fan of the Calgary Cannons, Okotok Dawgs, and Vancouver Canadians. He planned on fully retiring in Steveston and continue to enjoy his "game". A celebration of life will be held in Calgary on September 23, 2014 at 1.00 p.m. at the Calgary Elks Lodge & Golf Club, 2502 6 St. NE, 403-276-7981. If you so wish, donations may be made to the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Foundation https://s.vancouverfoundation.ca/VancouverCanadians/donateonline.asp or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 19, 2014