Obituary of Gurcharan Singh Kamal

On January 28, 2017, at the age of 83, Gurcharan Singh (“Kammy”) Kamal ended this journey in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, surrounded by his entire family. Mr. Kamal is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years and four days, Harbhajan (“Jan”) Kamal, children Rajoo (Daniel Wilnoff), Kajoo (Robin Dick, Alixe [Tyler Pellerin] and Taylor), Maujoo (Navras, Shanti and Arjun Kamal), Irvine Richelhoff (Tammy, Hannah and Connor), Seema (de Winter Stewart and Satara), Asha (Colin Smith and Mason Kamal), many nieces and nephews, and all those who called him “Dad”. He was predeceased by his parents Tara Singh and Krishna Devi and his loving sister Ravinder, her husband Jagjit Singh and their son Harjinder (Paul) Pabla. Kammy began his journey in Hoshiarpur, India on May 19, 1933. He earned a Master’s Degree in Education and began a seven year career as teacher and Head Master (Principal) in Punjab. In 1960, he married Harbhajan and Rajoo was born the following year. To make a better life for his family, which was about to include Kajoo, Kammy immigrated to Canada. Arriving in September 1962 with just $7.00, Kammy embarked on a 27-year career in Kerrobert School Division #44. His first job was in Macklin, Saskatchewan where he boarded with Mary and Frank Rehman. They became his surrogate parents and helped Jan and him not just to embrace rural Saskatchewan culture, but to thrive in it. Kammy’s work then took him to Kerrobert, St. Mary’s and finally to Major where he superannuated. He began his retirement in Saskatoon in 1980, and often joked that he was retired for longer than he worked. In his early years in Canada, Kammy completed a second Master’s Degree in Special Education at the University of Toronto. Reading and writing seven languages, he also completed a thesis in Shakespeare, but was too busy caring for his growing family, which now included Maujoo, Seema and Asha, to defend his Ph.D. Unknown to many people, Kammy was a prolific writer, having published numerous pieces of poetry and short stories under the name “Asha Kamal” – the namesake of his final child. Kammy loved teaching and inspiring his students. During his career, he literally taught thousands and took great pride in the success of his students, who became leaders in Saskatchewan and throughout Canada. Recognizing the profound effect of education and the influence he had, Kammy sought to open the eyes of his students to current events and always encouraged them to look beyond the classroom. He took his grade twelve classes on many exchanges and introduced them to the Premiers and Prime Ministers of the day. Kammy also recognized the importance of sport and spent many years coaching. He lead a Provincial-winning football team, coached badminton and curling, and even tried to teach the Major kids how to play proper soccer. To his last days, Kammy’s students visited to thank him for his guidance. Kammy loved sports and was an excellent badminton, table tennis, and volleyball player, as well as an avid curler and golfer. In his later years, he channeled that love into watching professional sports 24/7, memorizing statistics and engaging in post-game analysis. During tennis tournaments, he spent hours discussing the intricacies of the matches with his good friend, Mr. Sharma. Every phone call with Seema over the past 17 years included a mandatory sports discussion. Among Kammy’s great loves was music. As a young child in India, his family could not afford a radio, so he would stand in the back alleys of the village markets to hear the latest songs. Music was always playing in the Kamal home and as his children grew into teenagers, he and Jan continued their evening family dance parties. Right up until the last day that he could drive, Kammy had music blaring, and you could hear him coming a mile away. During his retirement, Kammy enjoyed his second “job” at Klassique Designs. He had near perfect attendance for 30 years. He enjoyed his daily rounds to the bank, his chats with Harley Greening, going for coffee and those infamous afternoon adult card games. Friday night or “Flyday” was always reserved for his best buddies at Eli’s garage and Wednesdays meant “ladies free” Indian card sharks. Among Kammy’s best attributes was his philanthropy. He believed in supporting his community and assisting all those in need, even when it was not popular. It was not until one instance when Kammy had an extended hospitalization that his family discovered he had been quietly buying groceries and medication for people in need. He was a shining example of kindness and charity for his children, inspiring contributions over the years to the Hospital Foundations and a scholarship at the University of Saskatchewan. Above all else, Kammy cherished his beloved Jan and loved his family. His final request of each of his children was to promise to take care of each other. As we all know, Kammy firmly believed that when family rallied together, anything was possible.