- PYKE, Rev. Canon Gordon Earl
Age 83 of North Sydney, passed away in Halifax, Saturday, August 6, 2016, after an extended illness. Gordon was the last surviving member of his immediate family. He was predeceased by his parents, Charles Robert and Mable (Enion) and his sisters, Frances MacLean (Blowers) and Doris McMullin (Rod); and brother, Cecil (Gertrude). Gordon, the son and grandson of Cape Breton coal miners, was born in Sydney Mines and grew up in the family home on Atlantic Street. After graduating from Sydney Mines High in 1952, he attended Dalhousie University and The University of King’s College - graduating with a B.A. in 1957 and a LTh in 1959. During the summers he worked at Keltic Lodge, on the railway and in the same coal mine where his grandfather was killed in a pit accident many years prior. In 1955 he entered the Royal Canadian Air Force University Reserve Training Plan and obtained his commission as a pilot officer. He married Eleanor on June 24, 1954 and together they raised a family of five boys and enjoyed 62 years together. On May 9, 1958, Gordon was made a Deacon of the Anglican Church in a ceremony at Saint Phillip’s Church, Halifax and appointed to Saint Andrew’s Church, Hantsport where he served until 1963. During this time Gordon and Eleanor welcomed their first three boys. On July 25th, 1959, he was made an Anglican Priest during a ceremony at Saint Andrew’s - the first such ceremony to take place at Saint Andrew’s. From 1963 to 1966 Gordon was appointed to Saint Thomas 'The Garrison Church' in St. John’s, Newfoundland as the youth minister. Gordon and Eleanor welcomed another son. In 1966 he led a group of youth from St. John’s to a work camp at Port Hope Simpson in Labrador where they built a church centre and ran a summer camp for kids. 1966 - 1974 was spent at Saint Mary’s Church, Glace Bay and their final son arrived. As in all the parishes he served Gordon was involved in innumerable community organizations. Gordon’s final appointment was to Saint John the Baptist Church, North Sydney from 1974 to 1992. In retirement he filled in at Cape Breton area churches for the next 10 years until he packed it in for good and burned all his sermons. Many happy summers were spent at the family cottage in Pyke’s Point near Ross Ferry on Boularderie Island - gardening, berry-picking, swimming, boating, bonfires on the beach, the annual wharf rebuild and going for long walks. Gordon was also a big fan of CBC radio. There will be a visitation today, Tuesday, August 9th from 7-8:30 p.m. in Saint John the Baptist Anglican Church, North Sydney. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in St. John Anglican Church with Archdeacon Brenda Drake officiating. Following the service there will be an interment in Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery on Tobin Road, Sydney Mines.
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1932 - 2016 (83 years)
