OBIT: Bill Sarjeant has died (8 July 2002) Canada

Subject: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: Leeder
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 01:51 PM

Bill Sarjeant passed away Monday, July 8, of liver cancer, in Saskatoon. If I find an obituary, I'll post it. These are my own thoughts, extemporaneously.

Bill was a former president of the Canadian Folk Music Society and was an active worker in many other capacities for that organization (now called the Canadian Society for Traditional Music). He was a founding member of The Prairie Higglers, a longtime folk group in Saskatoon. He was a big Yorkshireman with a big singing voice and brusque manner. He was a geologist by profession, teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a foremost authority on dinosaur footprints and coproliths. He was a man of parts, with many interests and avocations. Among others, he wrote fantasy novels under the pen name "Anthony Swythen". He was an authority on Sherlock Holmes, and wrote and lectured on the topic. He was a bibliophile and collector, and has donated thousands of books to university collections. I knew him mostly through his music and CFMS/CSTM, though.

I learned of Bill's diagnosis barely over a month ago, and it comes as a shock that he has succombed so quickly. I'll miss him, and I know many others will.

Subject: RE: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 02:07 PM

Very sorry to hear, Leeder.

Subject: RE: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 02:36 PM

Rika and I hope to be at the funeral (Monday in Saskatoon). Peggy (Bill's wife) sent me the following obit:

SARJEANT - William Antony Swithin, D.Sc., F.R.S.C.

Family and friends mourn the passing on 8th July 2002 of William "Bill" Antony Swithin Sarjeant, geologist, paleontologist, avid book collector, fantasy writer, folksinger, Sherlockian scholar, and heritage advocate.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Margaret "Peggy"; his devoted daughters, Nicola (Peter Ryan), Rachel (Neil Sarjeant-Jenkins) and Juliet (Michael McKague); his grandsons Tristan and Rowan Sarjeant-Jenkins; his aunt, Winifred Llewellyn, and cousins, Cynthia and Trevor, of England; and long-time friend David Spalding of Pender Island. He was predeceased by his parents, Harold and Margaret (née Cantrell) Sarjeant, and his uncle, Reginald Llewellyn.

Bill was born on 15th July 1935 in Sheffield, England and married Peggy in April 1966. Following a career as an academic geologist at Nottingham University, he and his family immigrated to Canada in April 1972, where he took up a position as Professor of Geology at the University of Saskatchewan, a position he held until his passing. His research work focused on the study of marine microfossils and on the history of the earth sciences, fields in which he was widely published and professionally recognized. In later years he expanded his field of studies to include that of fossil footprints. In 1995 he was proud to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada. Bill was devoted to his students and supported them at every opportunity.

Non-academic writing was also a big part of Bill's life. His interest in detective fiction and Sherlockian studies led to the publication of numerous articles in that field and to the co-authorship with Alan Bradley of Ms Holmes of Baker Street. Under the name of Antony Swithin, he wrote a fantasy quartet entitled The Perilous Quest for Lyonesse; he continued to write other novels in the series up to the time of his death.

Traditional folk music was a passion. Bill performed with the local folk group, "The Prairie Higglers", and sang from his repertoire of British folk songs with great gusto.

Bill will be remembered in the larger Saskatoon community for his work in heritage preservation. Through his tireless advocacy the City set up its Special Committee for the Identification and Listing of Historic Buildings in 1974, which he chaired from 1974-1979. He co-authored, with Bill Delainey and John Duerkop, Saskatoon: a Century in Pictures in 1982. His major contribution to the preservation of Saskatoon's history, however, has been in the editorship of the Saskatoon Heritage Society's annual journal, Saskatoon History Review, from 1989 to 2002.

His other contributions to the community include serving on the boards of the Saskatoon Environmental Society, the Saskatoon Nature Society, Nature Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Archives Board, SaskCulture, the Saskatchewan Heritage Advisory Board and the Canadian Folk Music Society.

The family would like to thank Bill's physicians, the Palliative Care Team and the nursing staff at the 5000 ward at the Royal University Hospital for their compassionate care.

The funeral service will be held at St. John's Anglican Cathedral, Saskatoon, on Monday, July 15th at 1:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made to the William A.S. Sarjeant Memorial Fund, University Advancement, 223 – 117 Science Place, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5C8. Arrangements have been entrusted to Saskatoon Funeral Home (244-5577)

Subject: RE: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 03:34 PM

Sounds like a sad, sad loss. My condolences.

Subject: RE: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 04:01 PM

A sad day indeed. RIP.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: C-flat
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 04:07 PM

He sounds like a man who "made a difference". Something we should all aspire to.
Certainly not a life wasted.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Bill Sarjeant has died
From: Leeder
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 06:08 PM

Paddy Tutty passed on this article from the Saskatoon Paper:

City loses champion of heritage U of S professor led fight to protect historical sites

Gerry Klein The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Bill Sarjeant, a renowned geologist, paleontologist, historian, folk musician, fantasy and academic author, community activist, Renaissance man and the only human to walk the magic fictional land of Rockall, died of cancer on Monday.

He was 66.

Sarjeant came to Saskatoon in 1972 to join the geology faculty at the University of Saskatchewan.

But it was his work on the preservation of heritage properties in his adopted community that drew the attention of most Saskatoon residents. Sarjeant assembled a list of historical sites even before the Capital Theatre in downtown Saskatoon was destroyed, causing a furore that eventually led to provincial legislation to protect such properties.

His work earned him, among other awards, an honourary life membership of the Saskatoon Heritage Society, the 1990 Heritage Award for Volunteer Public Service and a Century of Citizens scroll and medal by the City of Saskatoon, and a scroll by the province of Saskatchewan for activities in heritage preservation.

"Bill was one of those guys that was a century out of his time," said Jim Basinger, head of the geology department and a friend. "He was a man who embodied the wide range of interests of a 19th century naturalist. He was definitely a rare breed."

A list of Sarjeant's publications stretches on for pages on his university curriculum vitae and earned him international acclaim as an expert on geological science, marine paleontology, extinction events and dinosaurs. He was given awards by geological societies in Great Britain, the United States, Latin America and Canada based on his research.

He also penned a multi-volume set of books chronicling the history of geology.

But it was another set of books -- this written under his pen name Antony Swithin and based on the fictional island continent of Rockall -- that earned him attention as a fantasy writer. Sarjeant created the island from his imagination and a small rock outcrop west of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean.

The series of at least nine books details the Perilous Quest for Lyonesse, an English boy's attempt to find relatives that landed on the island.

Creating the fantasy allowed Sarjeant to explore environmental and political issues (it has an eight-house parliament, which would be "a model for study by political scientists") as well as to describe in detail the geological, natural and political history of the land.

Sarjeant is a primary example of the richness the U of S brings to Saskatoon, said Coun. Kate Waygood, another family friend.

"The first time I met him, I went over to talk to him and by the time I left my head was spinning from listening to him speak -- so knowledgeably, eloquently and fast -- about heritage issues in Saskatoon," she said.

The best words to describe him would be as a true Renaissance man, she added.

Funeral arrangements were still being made Tuesday.

© Copyright 2002 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)