Terry Gaw

It is with sorrow that I announce the death of Terry Gaw…

Terry was born December 3, 1957 in Fort William, ON and died March 30, 2024 in Calgary, AB, surrounded by Sheila, Liam and Kira.

He was predeceased by his parents, Mike Gaw and Barb Grant, his parents-in-law, grandparents, and uncles Terry and Jack and his faithful fur family.

He is survived by his wife Sheila and their beloved children Liam and Kira; his brothers, Steve and his children Chad, Lauren and Cody, and Mike(Mel) and their children Jeremy and Danielle(James); brother-in-law Ken (Verla) and their children Roger(Jack), Sarah, and Brian; brother-in-law Bill(Denise) and their children Kathryn(Ben), Fright(Rika), and Rob; Marcie and step-siblings Monique, Hally, Lance and Chad; as well as numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins; and dear friends Gary A. and Diane C.

Terry became part of a family at the Father Lacombe Care Center, where he was cared for by many wonderful staff with love, compassion, respect and humor, for which the family is sincerely grateful. Terry got a second chance at life at age 26 after surviving a motor vehicle accident as a passenger, albeit with permanent physical challenges.

Over the years, as a consequence of the accident, Terry faced many health problems. He surely had at least 9 lives, and with each life challenge, he fought valiantly to regain his health and vibrancy and retain his independence. Terry was loving and caring, inquisitive, bold, brave, loyal, wise, a BIG tease who loved to laugh, considerate, LOUD, charismatic, accepting of others and perseverant. He often called it like he saw it...raw and unfiltered...until he couldn’t. Terry was most proud of being a father to Liam and Kira.

He worked at many jobs in his early years, but he courageously returned to school as an adult to first obtain his high school diploma and then go on to SAIT to become a Chemical Technologist. After health challenges prevented him from continuing with paid employment, he became a full-time CEO of the Gaw household (e.g., chief cook and bottle washer, nose wiper, carpool “dad,” cooperative babysitter, “advisor,” Househusband of Lake Sundance), briefly a volunteer at ARBI and an armchair adventurer. Terry loved: family, nature, walks by the Bow, wild and domestic animals -especially snow leopards, whales, cats and dogs, space, the ocean, reading - all literary genres favouring historical fiction and Steven King novels, playing online role-playing computer games, Bejeweled, fast cars not fast women, all genres of music (LOUD), anything sweet, trips to Nanton’s candy store, pizza, Dairy Queen Blizzards, sports (e.g., actively playing competitive hockey as a youth as well as being a spectator of the Flames and MMA; volunteering as scorekeeper or pitch counter at Liam’s baseball games, although he really socialized too much for the task; sitting with his mom watching Kira play soccer), and just sitting in the sun.

We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to all of you who have cared for and cared about Terry over the years and those who have supported Sheila, Liam and Kira. Terry was loved immensely and his presence will be missed enormously but we believe that Terry is now fully restored and he is finally FREE.

I am honoured to have accompanied Terry on his life’s journey…”love isn’t easy, but it’s worth the price”…goodbye my love ❤️

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date; please stay tuned.

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