Ivor Burrows

For The Love of Music: saying goodbye and thank you to Ivor Burrows, December 10, 1921 - January 29, 2011

Born in Vancouver, Ivor Burrows grew up on Beach Drive listening to the CBC and reading. His parents had a cottage in Sechelt, where he spent summers on the ocean in his dugout canoe fostering a life-long love for the ocean and for the west coast of British Columbia. Ivor's chosen career was in Forestry, where he earned the respect of his colleagues and worked to uphold best practices in forestry management.

When Ivor Burrows was a young boy, he went to a Vancouver Symphony concert and fell in love with classical music. His appetite for learning, his passion for symphonies, chamber music and both little and well-known operas fueled his desire to seek out both rare and famous recordings culminating in a collection of over 8000 classical long play records. He was also a voracious reader of classics and ultimately collected over 5000 books, which were shelved alongside his LPs in his personal music room and library. In 2003, Ivor gave his complete classical music collection to the University of Victoria's Music Library.

Ivor was a good friend to the University, providing vision and leadership through his involvement on the first Alumni Board of Directors before the first graduating class was capped. His ongoing commitment to the University and its programs is demonstrated through the significant gift he gave to music students and faculty.

We are indebted to Ivor for his commitment to the University during his life. We are also grateful to his wife, Doreen, who continues to take interest in the music collection Ivor donated. Doreen, herself, is a great friend of the University as she is the founder of the UVic Centre on Aging friends program and is responsible for setting up the centre's Valued Elder Recognition Awards program to salute older volunteers.

Thank you both for your commitment to the University, its mission and its people.