CLAUDE PIERRE de FOREST
28 August 1931 – 30 December 2013
Claude Pierre de Forest, surrounded by
family, passed away peacefully on 30 December 2013 at Lions Manor Personal Care
Centre in Winnipeg, MB.
He is survived by his beloved wife
Yoshiko of 53 years and their children Kevin, Leah (Donald) and Maya; and his
brother Felix (Marie) and their children Anne-Lisa and Kristoffer.
Claude was born in 1931 in Basel,
Switzerland to George and Esther De Forest. Immigrating to Canada in 1949, the
De Forest family landed in Montreal before settling in Winnipeg in the early
fifties. Claude's natural drawing abilities and long family line of architects
led him to pursue a BArch from the University of Manitoba in 1955 followed by a
Masters in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon
graduation, Claude was hired as a junior designer with the prestigious Eero
Saarinen and Associates office outside of Detroit. In 1958, he took an
architectural pilgrimage through Asia and it was during this trip that he met
his future wife Yoshiko in Kyoto, Japan. They were married in 1960 and returned
to Winnipeg where he had begun teaching in the Faculty of Architecture at the
University of Manitoba under the Deanship of John A. Russell. In 1994, he
retired as Full Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies.
Known for his energetic and
imaginative teaching style, Claude was also prescient in his teachings of
alternative energy sources and ecological awareness. A committed activist and
believer in social justice, he was dedicated to disability issues and socially
responsible design and was a leading force in the establishment of the
Universal Design Institute at the University of Manitoba. Claude taught
Environmental Studies at the inner city based Winnipeg Education Centre and
served as Executive Director for the Canadian Institute for Barrier Free
Design. He was also Chair of the Education Committee for the Canadian Centre on
Disability Studies and received the Lifetime Achievement Winnipeg Accessibility
Award for community leadership in Universal Design from the City of Winnipeg in
2007.
Claude's connection to Japan led him
to organize the Shimizu-Manitoba Architect Exchange Fellowship which hosted Japanese
architects for 18 years and sent young Canadian architects to Japan. He also
spent two sabbaticals studying and living in Kyoto with Yoshiko where they
enjoyed seeing the many sites and visiting with family and friends.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease 6 years ago, Claude's creative mind, quirky humor and eclectic
interests took a new direction through the rediscovery of his cartooning skills
and love for images. His sketchbooks and wall to wall collages in the family
home and later, on the walls of his room at Lions Manor impressed all who saw
them. During the four years he lived there, Claude maintained his sense of
humour, laughter, and love for people and music, always an enthusiastic
audience member of live music performances at Lions.
Originally published on www.dignitymemorial.com
Originally published on www.dignitymemorial.com
