Born in Reading, UK and died in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Michael is survived by his sisters Wendy (Malcolm), Rosemary, and Elizabeth (Andrew), and his nieces and nephew Samantha, Louise, Charlie, Nicola, Sarah, and Claire,
He spent his childhood living through a war and the deprivations of post-war England. As a teenager he enjoyed the beauty of the Berkshire countryside, riding around on his bike listening to classical music, with his radio strapped on the back.
Michael had a successful, research career in Chemistry. He received his B.SC and Ph.D. (1971) from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This was followed by a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Helsinki and later a Research Officer with the Finnish National Board of Waters. In 1975 he was employed as a Research Fellow at Université de Montréal.
In 1981 he began a career he loved at the Canadian Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET). He was already an environmentalist and one of the leading catalyst researchers in Canada. He became an expert in fuel quality and the related environmental emissions, seeking to design better catalysts. Michael published many papers during his career including groundbreaking work in the Journal of Catalysis (1985). He served as President of the Canadian Catalyst Society and ended his career as an NRCan Emeritus Scientist in Victoria B.C.
Gifted with the capacity to learn languages, he became fluent in Finish. His ability to reproduce the accent was so good that Helsinki Fin’s thought he was from the North. In Montréal his high school French transformed into functional bilingualism, while working in the laboratory and sitting in Café Campus.
His musical ear was even better, he could identify pieces of classical music especially any piece by Brahams. With his beautiful singing voice, he regaled us with folk songs from the UK but especially from Scotland.
When he came to Ottawa in 1974, he discovered the cross-country ski-trails in the Gatineau Park. He had learnt to ski in Finland, but he thought the trails in the Gats were the best. He loved his view of Mt Baker from his apartment in Sydney, B.C. and never ceased to admire the Olympic Mountains when driving down to Victoria. He thought we had so much more to learn about the universe and wanted humans to look up.
Condolence may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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Catherine Hughes
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Meri Marja-terttu MacLeod Even though our contact with Michael was sporadic, he has a very special warm place in our hearts and minds. We remember Michael as a gentle, brave, kind, caring soul, with an endearing wit, and keen intellect. Determined and resilient- in spite of daily physical pain from birth onward, and the trauma of war, both Finland and Canada are indebted to Michael. A respected knowledgeable leading scientist and environmentalist, he was instrumental in cleaning up Finland’s vast waterways polluted by a burgeoning post-war lumber industry.
On behalf of Finland, I, as a former Finn, declare Michael, a truly Honorary Finn whose scientific knowledge combined with his ‘sisu’ (i.e. grit, resilience,determination) has benefited all. Although far and between, I will miss those memorable delightful conversations in Finnish with Michael.
Peace be with you Michael. To family, and friends, may loving memories of Michael fill your hearts and give peace and comfort.
Love Meri Marja-terttu, Greg, and MarniMichael is
Michael’s proficient and skillful command of the Finnish language made conversations with him in Finnish both delightful and interesting.
His keen interest in maintaining command of the Finnish language always made conversations with Michael interesting, fun, and thought-provoking…and there were times, his Finnish was even better than mine.
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Louise Chai I have many fond memories of Uncle Michael, especially his Sunday evening calls to me at university. Despite the distance, he would call internationally from Canada to Durham, UK, showing a genuine interest for my education. His background in chemistry made him particularly interested in my A’level and 1st year University studies, and he had a special connection to County Durham, the home of our ancestors. His legacy will live on through the work he did – he really was ahead of his time.
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Margaret Hughes Our family enjoyed so much our Christmases in Ottawa and Kingston with Rosemary Sam, George and Michael. He was a great participant in our activities, some creative, some culinary and some silly present giving. I remember him with much fondness. He was a great companion.
May he rest in peace, Margaret
Thank-you so much for the lovely obituary for Michael, and for everyone’s comments. I learned so much about Michael from them, and I so appreciate his environmentalism.
I too have fond memories of him amongst all the comfortable fun craziness of family gatherings. I still enjoy cooking from recipes found in a Greek and an Italian cookbook that were generous gifts to Mikaela and I from Michael.
My condolences.