Gordon Amos Barnes

Gordon Amos Barnes passed away peacefully on July 23, 2023 at Margaret Bahen Hospice with his friend Laura Gardiner by his side.

On March 2, 1933 Gordon was born to an electrical engineer and a secretary, making their way through the Great Depression on a 120-acre Minnesota farm. From a one-room country school he went on to a BA from the University of Minnesota and a MFA from Alfred U.

He immigrated to Canada in 1962 to teach pottery at the Central Technical School in Toronto while also making pottery in Honest Ed’s Markham St. Village.  In 1968 he moved to the Ontario Craft Foundation, as Administrative Director. Four years later he became Visual Arts Centre Director, Seneca College, King Campus. After 20 years as administrator and teacher he retired to activities with amateur wine-making, two decades of volunteer work with the Probus Club of Aurora and the Aurora Arboretum and was named Aurora Citizen of the Year in 2010. He served thirteen years on the Aurora environmental, parks and accessibility committees. Gordon met Marie at a craft conference in 1967. The slow-motion courtship began, culminating in a wedding as Marie was retiring from Georgian College in 1989. The reception followed, only four months later, at Eaton Hall on the King Campus. They were soon together in the Aurora century home. The last three decades of happy retirement have been filled with friends, family, the garden, tomato tastings, and community activities.

Gordon was preceded in death by Marie on February 17, 2019.  He is survived by his older brother Donald (Louise) in Austin MN; nephew Brian; niece Amy; Marie’s children Anne, George and Clare plus 12 grandchildren and more.

On passing, Gordon observes, “Being members of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1945), we have had the benefits of being in a small cohort when jobs were looking for people. We received frugality training from our depression-raised parents and had the good fortune to work through the boom and effervescent years of Expo 67, Man-on the Moon, and the Green Revolution. As we leave the stage for the retiring Boomers, the GenXers, and the Millennials, we hope the ecological cost of our magnificent ride will not be too high for them to bear.”

Arrangements entrusted to Peaceful Transition York (2-15236 Yonge Street, Aurora) and condolences may be forwarded through www.peacefultransition.ca