October 25, 1937 - June 12, 2019
George Heywood - charming, gregarious and intelligent - always lived life large. At age 10 he took to the seas on the Queen Elizabeth II, which carried him and his family from Haslingden in Northern England to Canada to settle in Toronto.
In his early years, George honed his Canadian sportsmanship and negotiation skills when he deftly handled playground bullies who teased him about his short pants and suspenders. These skills served him well later in life. He was top in his class, captain of the football team at Ryerson and eventually won the hand of his love, Nancy Anne Darroch Heywood, despite having selected her twin sister, Wendy, over her for the cheerleading squad.
George also managed to win over Nancy's father, Herbert Cecil Darroch, and land a prominent position in sales and marketing at Moffats appliances. Robert Scott (Scott) arrived in 1963 and Patricia Elizabeth (Trish) in 1967. Soon, George's sense of wanderlust had the family packing the car and driving across Canada to West Vancouver for two wonderful years until Hollywood beckoned. In Los Angeles during the 1970's, George fit right in, leading a company that pioneered computer graphics for the era's leading movies and TV shows (Star Wars, Logan's Run, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Battle of the Network Stars), top music videos and those crazy K-Tel commercials. His interactions with Alice Cooper, Todd Rungren, and Muppets creator, Jim Henson, solidified George's position as a "very cool dad".
Next stop was NYC, where George dabbled in the stereo equipment business (Boom Boxes were the rage), before returning to computer graphics, which lead him back to Toronto before declaring semiretirement in Whistler BC in 1988. George and Nancy spent 15 happy years in Whistler skiing, embracing small town life, and holding up the bar at Tapley's pub. They eventually retired in beautiful Qualicum Beach where George golfed and found his inner thespian, taking lead roles with the Echo Players and helping build set designs. George had a strong thirst for knowledge. He read 3 books at a time, always won at Trivial Pursuits and strove to win Jeopardy from the TV room couch.
George and Nancy built wonderful friendships and memories along their journey together, including extensive travels all around the world. George lost Nancy in 2011, just 5 months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary. On June 12th, 2019, he answered his last curtain call and reunited with his bride.