Obituary of Isaac William Varty

February 9, 1924 - August 4, 2024 

The family and friends of Isaac Willam (Bill) Varty celebrate the long life and mourn the death of this remarkable man, who died at age 100 years on August 4, 2024.

Bill was born in the small English town of Consett, 15 miles southwest of Newcastle, by the banks of the Derwent River. Bill’s mother was a war widow with two small children when she met Bill’s father, a tough, hard-working veteran of WWI who refused to let serious war wounds from the Somme slow him down. Together Bill’s parents had three children, Tom, Bill, and Lilian, complementing his mother’s two older sons, Dick and Jack.

Bill’s early life was dominated by school, sports, and chores, with a few fistfights and canings thrown in for good measure. Standard fare for depression era schoolboys in a steel town.

Bill had started to study Economics at Leeds University when World War Two intervened, and he signed up with the Durham Light Infantry, later serving in India and Burma with the Assam Regiment and the 8th Gurkha Regiment. He returned home in 1947 as 23 year-old Captain Varty.

Post-war he enrolled in the Forestry program at the University of Aberdeen, where he completed his Bachelors degree, followed by a PhD in entomology. In Aberdeen Bill met his future wife, Dorothy, who was working as a bank teller in the Granite City. Following their courtship, marriage, and the birth of their first two sons a few years later, Bill was recruited by the Canadian Forestry Service. Bill and his young family emigrated to Canada in 1958. A few years later another son, Ian, was born, thus completing the family. Bill went on to serve as a research scientist with the CFS for 31 years, studying insect pests of trees and the ecological side effects of forest insect sprays.

Bill was a firm but kind and tolerant man; useful attributes for a man with three teenage boys growing up in the 1970s. He had patience in spades, and always found time to encourage the academic and recreational activities of his three boys. 

When he wasn’t doing his research, Bill enjoyed a number of recreational pursuits, including cross-country and downhill skiing, snowshoeing, squash, tennis, canoeing, birdwatching, painting, bicycling, gardening (which was legendary), highland dancing, and the occasional game of bridge.  He later taught himself to sail a small second-hand boat, and in his 60s took up windsurfing, which he continued to do into his early 80s. 

Bill and Dorothy were blessed by four grandchildren, who were their pride, joy, and delight.

Sadly, Dorothy later developed Alzheimer’s disease, which robbed her of many of her golden years and eventually led to a prolonged hospitalization, followed by a move to a nursing home. Once there, Bill visited her every single day (with few exceptions) throughout the prolonged and heartbreaking decline. He kept Dorothy amused with conversation, music, and walks around the grounds of the home. 

After Dorothy passed away, Bill continued to live in his own home until three months before his hundredth birthday, when he finally had to admit that sore knees and failing vision were a bit much to cope with in a split level home and he moved in with his son Doug, and his daughter-in-law Patricia. He loved to listen to a wide variety of music, and enjoyed playing the harmonica and glockenspiel. Apart from that, he proved to be a whiz at games of trivia, listened regularly to CBC radio and a variety of audiobooks and podcasts, and had long chats with son Ian on a daily basis. He particularly enjoyed being outside in the warm summer air, soaking up the sun, and reminiscing.  

Bill was a scientist and nature-lover at heart, and his search for truth and beauty continued until his final days. On the day he died, his granddaughters saw a newly-emerged Monarch butterfly drying its wings in the milkweed they had planted a few years earlier. This beautiful creature then took flight, gaining strength minute by minute, and then was off.  Where did he go? According to his granddaughter Anna “He peaced out.” 

Peace out, Bill, and rest easy.

Bill Varty is survived by his sons, Alex (Heather), Doug (Patricia), and Ian (Wendy), his grandson Julian, and granddaughters Franny, Kathleen, and Anna, as well as several nieces and nephews, cousins, and their families. He was predeceased by his parents and siblings.

The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of the DECH ER and on 3 East for their outstanding care and kindness during Bill’s final days. Thanks also to Drs. Matt Kenney, Ben McMullin, Jeff Moore, Cheryl Rushton, Kyle McCann, Jill Goodyear, and Jennifer Gillis-Doyle. Over his long life, Bill was lucky to be cared for by a number of outstanding doctors, including Laura Faulkner, Andrea Hickey, Bob Seymour, Richard Harvey, Luis Riveros, Alan Patrick and John Franklin, and the folks at the Cardiology department of the Saint John Regional Hospital. Your kindness and compassion will not be forgotten.

There will be no service or visitation at Bill’s request.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”  - John Donne