It’s with great sadness that the New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society announces the passing of NWHPS President Steve North on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. He was 63.

In the words of his wife Gail, Steve was “The Original Good Guy”. Decent. Kind. Funny. Patient.

His dedication to his family, his business and his community made him a respected figure in the many circles he inhabited.

Steve had a passion for New Westminster and the important work of heritage preservation. He and his beloved Gail opened the door to their historic Arthur Davis house–their “work in progress”–many times over the years in support of the Heritage Homes Tours.

Alarmed over the rapidly increasing demolition of older houses in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood, he readily volunteered for the 2014 Heritage Study Working Group that helped craft the 2017 Queen’s Park Heritage Conservation Area.

Steve served on the Board of Directors for both the Queen’s Park Residents Association and the NWHPS. In 2017 he was elected the President of the NWHPS. It was a role he relished. He sincerely believed that protecting our heritage resources provides present and future benefit to all residents of the City of New Westminster. He was proud to be part of a group that could help foster and promote these ideals.

A highlight for Steve as President was presiding over the NWHPS 40th Annual Heritage Homes Tour in 2019. He coordinated all the moving parts, inspiring the Directors as they planned the celebration of four decades of Homes Tours.

We will miss so many things about Steve. His intelligence and warmth and the way he welcomed you like a valued friend, old or new. He had a wealth of wisdom to share, and the hands-on touch to turn ideas into action.

We will treasure the many memories of Steve, glass in hand, eyes twinkling, beginning a tale with “the funny thing is…” 

His was a bright spirit. We’ll miss his light. 

“It is not what he has, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.”