In Memoriam: Fred Bedford 

Magnifying glass

The Concordia community mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus Frederick “Fred” Warren Bedford, L BA 45, S BSc 57, on March 21 after a lengthy battle with emphysema.

The Avonmore, Ont. resident was a popular student at Loyola, where he remained as a teacher after graduation when his classmates left to pursue careers elsewhere. He was active in the Canadian Officers’ Training Corps with rank of qualified Major from 1939 to 1947, Intelligence Corps until 1952 and then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Bedford taught all levels of mathematics for 20 years at Loyola College, Sir George Williams University and eventually at Concordia until his retirement in 1981. He had attained the rank of associate professor in 1965 and by 1970, he was director of the Master in the Teaching of Mathematics program, which was the first of its kind in the country.

Bedford knew the value of giving back: throughout his lifetime, he coached junior football for two years, he was volunteer president of the Canadian Cancer Society, and he was a founding member of the Ontario Senior Games. He was business manager of Loyola College and briefly of the Athletic department at Loyola High School. He was also an artist, from his early theatre days in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, to his woodworking and painting in his later years.

He is survived by children Judith and David, his wife Rene and her four children, his brother Russell, numerous nieces, nephews, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his first wife Norma Bell and his brother David.

Two guest books are available online: tinyurl.com/FredBedford (until April 23) and here: tinyurl.com/FredBedford2.

 

Concordia University