Obituary of RONALD ALLAN BOUCHARD

RONALD ALLAN BOUCHARD, PhD, JD, LLM After a courageous battle with depression, Ronald Allan Bouchard passed away on June 14th, 2014 at the age of 54. He will be greatly missed by his wife Patricia Barker, children Rhael, Naomi and Zoe, family, friends and colleagues. Ron was born June 1, 1960 in Winnipeg and grew up in St. James where he attended John Taylor Collegiate sharing great memories and crazy times with his dear friends Roland, Richard, Herald, Darryl (DB), James Harper, Gord, Doug, James Angus, Milson, Bob, Brad Oliver and Phil Roadley. The stories of his youth such as playing broomball, football and working at McDonalds were tremendously entertaining to his family. Ron began his career as a basic scientist, completing a PhD and PDF in Pharmacology & Therapeutics, focusing on cardiac electrophysiology and biophysics at the University of Manitoba and Calgary respectively. Later he completed a law degree at Queens University and graduate work in law at U of T, with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and technology transfer. As a practicing lawyer in Toronto, he was thrilled to have appeared before the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. Ron’s work focused on providing transparency to the public and private sector and his work was built on what he believed would provide a middle ground, cost-benefit share between public and private. Ron was honored to have worked alongside of Thomas Faunce, Dan Cahoy, Graham Dutfield, Feroz Ali, Heesob Nam, Bengt Domeij, Paul Jones, Juan Luis Serrano and Aidan Hollis to create a Global Consortium for the Study of Pharmaceutical Linkage. Prior to passing, he held a position acting as Senior Advisor, Office of Intellectual Property Management & Business Development, for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). This was a position he was very proud to have worked in. Ron was encouraged to write, create and collaborate on a cutting edge model for Biobanking in Canada, with Dorothea Blandford and Louis Bryden, which could potentially improve Public Health. The family sends a heartfelt thank you to Dorothea and Louis in providing great mentorship, drive and support in their work with Ron. People remember the words he expressed about his work, “If someone wants to understand who I am, all they need to do is read my work.” If you are so inclined please check his blog, Science & Legal to get a glimpse of his creative process and the footprint he left behind. http://sciencelegal.blogspot.ca/ There are many people his family would like to thank for inspiring him to become the man, scholar, loving father and partner that he was: the late Deepak Bose, Wayne Giles, the late Hans and Ingeborg Mohr, Bryan Schwartz, Eduardo and Ana M. Salinas Stefanon, Jonathan Geiger, Greg Flude, Jim Chen, Don Smyth, Lorna McCallum, Dan Rosin, Ray Atkinson and the writings of Thomas Merton, the Dali Lama, Gabor Mate and his favorite author Haruki Murakami. The family of Ron Bouchard expresses tremendous gratitude for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from neighbors, family members, Auntie Julie, friends, PHAC, Care-a-lot Daycare, staff and students from Kildonan East Collegiate, Laura Secord School and Lillian Osborne School in Edmonton. The family would also like to express their gratitude to Cropo Funeral Chapel for their support, loving approach and respectful professional manner. Ron Bouchard was a man full of life. He was a spiritual and loving partner to Patricia Barker sharing his quirky sense of humor, their enjoyment of parenting, preparing meals together, discussing literature, art and music, philosophical banter, and the purpose of public service that they shared in their life together. He was a loving father to Rhael, Naomi and Zoe. Ron was overwhelmed with joy when Rhael was accepted this spring into Queens University for September 2014. He looked forward each day to walk Naomi to school, eat DQ, and watch Canada Chopped and the NFL network. During the NFL season, Ron would put on his Pittsburgh Steelers jersey to yell and cheer for his favorite team. Ron also enjoyed going to the park with Zoe and pushing her on the swing as well as chasing her around the house. He shared special relationships with each of his children and instilled in them the importance of living in an elegant manner, film, music, art, food, wine, clothes, and importance of literature. Ron loved his dog Kiva who passed away three years ago. He loved having lived in Toronto hoping to retire there with the family in ten years. Ron will be missed dearly by Patricia’s family, Allan and Rita Barker, Linda and Dwayne Heinrichs and sons Chris and Bruce, Helen Wotton and daughters Nicole and Michelle, and Diane and Richard Nored and sons Trevor and Joe. He is survived by his mother Florence Bouchard who inspired Ron to enjoy cooking and art, and his brother James with whom he spoke very fondly of as a mathematical genius. Ron was predeceased by his father, Robert (Bob) Bouchard with whom he shared his passion for football. Celebration of Life 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Sunday, July 27, 2014 2:00 PM: Speeches 96 Canora Street Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada If friends so desire, contributions may be made to the Starbuck Credit Union, Headingley Branch for an educational trust fund for Naomi and Zoe Barker-Bouchard. Ronde, Daddy ~ we love you all the way to the moon and back. xx “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.” ― Thomas Merton, Love and Living