Gord Snow Memorial Education Fund

On Monday, February 19, we lost a long-time cherished member of our team and one of the best friends you could ask for, Gord Snow. Gord had been suffering from a chronic illness for many years and last month he suddenly and unexpectedly lost the battle.

Gord worked for GPPD/Shaw’s for over 10 years, he was a part of the original 6 - Gavin, Pat, Tim, Mark B and James Dumas. Last week Tim and I started talking about the old days in the trailer with Gord and all the good times we had all shared. One of the stories that came up was when we were looking to expand and needed to add an inside sales member. We both knew Gord in different capacities and unanimously decided he was our man; the decision was made Gord was going to work here whether he knew it or not.

So started the Grand Seduction. At the time, Gord worked at Gregg Distributors and would walk to the gas station for lunch daily. Well, Tim learned this and started “casually” driving by at the same time, stopping just to see if he needed a lift, but then would go in and buy Gord a cougar fuels gas station dog and an energy drink. Day after day, week after week Tim wined and dined Gordo with the finest smokies, red bulls and Doritos while subtly pitching him the idea of coming to work in a 8’ x 20’ office trailer that ran on a generator and thankfully won him over.

Between then and now there have been countless peaks and valleys, successes and failures and everything in-between but what has always stayed consistent is Gord’s happy infectious attitude. Gord left his mark on everyone he worked with, clients he helped and vendors he dealt with over the decade, which was quite evident by the overwhelming response from everyone who reached out with condolences and many uplifting stories of back in the day and how he touched their lives in a positive manor.

Gord had so many hobbies, interests and pursuits it was hard to keep track, but his desk trinkets were always a good reminder for us here at the office. From Show Choir to Rugby, snowboarding to Lego, and Mountain Biking to Star Wars, he was passionate about all of them and somehow knew everything about everything which you would know if you ever watched an episode of Jeopardy with him.

But Gord's true love was always his Family and friends, whether it was hearing on the radio there was a car off the road and having to text Allison immediately to make sure it wasn’t her, needing a day off to celebrate Baxter’s birthday with him or asking to leave early on Friday to go down and visit his nieces. Many of you have asked about how you could help, and it has been decided that we will be taking up a collection that will be put towards his niece’s future education and all funds raised from this campaign will be going directly to that cause. We feel this is what Gord would have wanted.

Since his passing, I’ve heard a lot of Gord stories from all walks of life, a lot of which I have heard before but haven’t thought about in years and a few new ones that made me smile but there’s one in particular I would like to share. Mark Brown told me a couple years ago him and Gord were talking, and Mark mentioned his mother told him she would like an Irish wake when she passes. One last celebration to remember the good times, one last party where everyone can cheers to our friend lost to soon. According to Mr. Brown Gord smiled at him, looked up and said “that’s really cool I hope someone does that for me one day” so with that we are going to honor Gord's wishes and hold a celebration of life here in Fort McMurray on Saturday May 4th at 2pm at the Fort McMurray Legion. If you are able, please set that date aside to come and join us celebrating our beloved friend and coworker.

Please pass this along to anyone who may have known Gord that we have missed as I know he had many friends that cared about him that I have forgotten.

Thanks and May the 4th be with you!

Sincerely Gavin Perry