Gervais (Jude Thomas) Goveas

GERVAIS (JUDE THOMAS) GOVEAS

October 17, 1966 - September 4, 2022

Gervais passed away at the age of 55 at St Vincent Hospital, Ottawa, 11 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

He was born in Karachi, Pakistan to John and Lena Goveas. He was the second youngest of 7 children. He spent his early years in Manama, Bahrain. He and his family moved to Canada in 1973, when he was 6 years old.

Gervais lived in many places in Canada throughout his life, including Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, but he called Toronto his home and the Habs his home team.

He made frequent trips to visit family members. Despite living away from them and sometimes being in infrequent contact, he always succeeded in matching the perfect gift to each family member, demonstrating an attentiveness to each person that few people have. Those gifts were often books, especially to his nieces and nephews, because he was a voracious reader of fiction and non-fiction, and he knew how to select which books would best match their interest or curiosity. He also had a knack for casually saying out loud what others were thinking, contributing irreverence and laughter to family get-togethers.

Gervais loved good food, cheap cigarettes and travel.

He worked in restaurants as a cook, chef and kitchen manager until the age of 50, when he left the industry to study Architectural Sciences and pursue his other passion of creating structures. Sharing a love of good food and interesting places would always remain important to him.

He dreamed of travelling the world and spent time in India and England when he was younger. He also spent a few months journeying through Morocco and Europe before the pandemic cut his trip short. He fell in love with Morocco and smiled every time he talked about it, especially the camel ride. He was a big believer in seeing the world by walking through it. And he walked everywhere he could. He took great pleasure in seeing the details and experiencing the moments that others miss.

Predeceased by his father, John, Gervais is survived by his mother, Lena. He leaves behind his six siblings: Marcia Ransom Marinier (Claude), Janice, Jonathan, Jason (Leanne Holt), Leonard, and Lyndon (Lynda Manser). He will be remembered as the loving uncle of his two nieces: Elisabeth Henderson (Kelvin) and Sarita Servatius; and his five nephews: Phil Marinier (Tiyanan Sutthinon), Jarryd Servatius (Emma Downie), Arun Servatius, Ioyan Manser-Goveas, and Jasper Goveas. He was also the proud great uncle to James and Levi Henderson.

Donations in memory of Gervais may be made to the Bruyère Hospital https://www.bruyere.org/en/bruyere-foundation