It is with great regret that the Alexandra Palace Television Society has to announce the death, after a major stroke, of Gordon Edmund Waters, retired Chief Engineer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, passed away peacefully in his 95th year, in his newly adopted home of Halifax.

Gordon was born in Southall, Middlesex, England on January 17th, 1917, the second son of Arthur Allan and Isabella Mary (née Elliott) Waters.  He attended Southall County School (1929-32) and Southall Technical College (1933-38) where he graduated in Electrical Engineering.  He joined the British Broadcasting Corporation in their fledgling television studios at Alexandra Palace in 1938.

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Navy.  With a brief two week interlude in 1941 to marry Joan Seignior and spend a brief honeymoon in Swansea, he spent the early war years in various parts of Britain, and the final two in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) working on anti-submarine devices.  At the conclusion of hostilities, he was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

He returned to the BBC television service in 1946 and received several promotions, but, by 1952, television expansion seemed far too slow.  In November of 1952, sailing on the Empress of Scotland with his wife, Joan, and young son, Graham, Gordon emigrated to Canada, to serve as the Chief Engineer at the first cable television service in the world at Rediffusion in Montréal.

In 1953, he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Engineering Headquarters in Montréal, and was responsible for the planning, design, and installation of radio and television studios from St. John’s NL to Vancouver, BC.  He traveled to every province (except PEI) in this capacity spending considerable time in Halifax, Winnipeg, and Vancouver during the early to mid fifties as CBC television stations were first established across the country.  He retired in 1977 and he and Joan settled in Brockville, ON, where they spent a long and happy retirement, including annual winter visits to Barbados, until Joan’s passing in May of 2010.  Gordon then moved to Halifax to live near his only son, Graham, and his wife, Louise.

An ardent duplicate bridge player, Gordon belonged to 2 bridge clubs in Brockville and one in Ogdensburg, NY.  Upon his move to Halifax, he continued this passion, and earned his last 31 Master Points with Graham as his partner.

Gordon is survived by Graham and Louise. “Grandpa” will also be sorely missed by granddaughter Laura (Adrian) and great-granddaughters Amelia and Sloane (born only last week).  He is also survived by a younger brother, Victor, and several nieces and nephews, all in England.  He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Joan, his parents, brother Arthur, and sisters Joyce, and Jean.

In keeping with Gordon’s wishes, there will be no funeral service, but a private family celebration of his life will be held.  In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation will be greatly appreciated by the family.

I'm sure Gordon will be missed by many of his former colleagues in the BBC Television Service and I for one will miss his regular e-mails and anecdotes of his career at Alexandra Palace.

Gordon Edmund Waters
January 7, 1917 –April 1, 2011