DR. WILLIAM FOUAD

(1932–2026)

Dr. William Fouad, a man of unwavering principle, subtle humour, curiosity, and unlimited cheer, has completed his earthly residency. He passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 27, leaving behind a legacy of love, tolerance, family and adventure. A life that spanned from the confluence of the Blue and White Nile to the rugged wilderness of Northern Manitoba—a life lived fully.

Born in Khartoum, Sudan, to ex-pat Egyptian parents, William was the product of a home that valued the pillars of family, learning, devotion and loyalty. His character was forged early by a father who believed that “order costs nothing” and a mother whose warmth provided the emotional compass and discipline for the family of seven children. These early years instilled in him a foundational self-reliance and responsibility as the eldest of the brood. As the eldest, he carried the promise of the family to forge a professional path and thrive. When faced with the systemic obstacles of the era and place, he did not complain; he simply adjusted his course, never rushed, always balanced. His life was a masterclass in pragmatism—understanding early that a man’s mettle is measured by his skill, service, discretion and who he surrounds himself with. Merit, not origin, was not a principle held in Sudan at the time, but one that was embraced by the progressive patriarch of his family, in all respects, his maternal grandfather, Yanni Magar. Known now as Willy, he mimicked the old man’s quiet tenacity and formality which would become his hallmark; he was the type of man who, when told there was no room for him, would simply bring his own seat to the table, with the fortitude and confidence that he belonged.

In 1965, he began his most enduring partnership, with his wife, Laura Saba. Together, they embarked on a journey that would take them from the familiar heat of North Africa to the damp chill of Scotland, for a medical residency, and finally to the vast, windswept landscapes of Northern Canada. William’s professional journey was never about seeking the easy path. He was drawn to the periphery, where the need was greatest and the challenges most acute.

His arrival in the Canadian North in 1971 was the definitive expression of what would become his life’s axiom: experience and adventure. Where others saw isolation and sub-zero temperatures, William saw a place he didn’t know and that translated to discovery. William became a fixture of the North, a healer who bridged cultural divides not through grand gestures, but through the quiet effort of house calls to treat elders and learning their Cree dialect, and the steady presence of a man who viewed every patient as an equal. He travelled routinely to remote nursing stations from his clinic in The Pas, often by float plane or driving on the ice of a frozen lake, possessed a rare, adaptive brilliance, moving seamlessly from the clinical demands of a busy practice to the administrative complexities of northern healthcare where scarcity and isolation generated innovation in the moment. Always with a well-pressed shirt, necktie with a perfect Windsor, William projected a calm, reassuring bedside manner.

To know William was to understand that for him, "leisure" was often synonymous with DIY, which was synonymous with learning something. Coming from a place where labour is cheap and abundant, he’d never handled hardware, held a hammer or pliers before arriving in the north. He fell in love with the lakes in The Pas, where Clearwater and Rocky Lake were 30 minutes door to door, and he became enamored with the cabins requiring repair and upkeep. He approached these new tasks with the zeal of discovering new music or sport. He was a man of specific, high-minded tastes who believed that if a job was worth doing, it was worth doing with a Pharaonic sense of scale and precision. He took immense pleasure in the physical order of his surroundings—the rhythmic precision of a rake on the grass, the perfect tension of a boat ramp cable, or the seasonal ritual of being the first to cut through the lake’s morning glass on water skis. These were not just chores; they were his way of anchoring himself to the land he had chosen.

His sense of humour was a subtle, sophisticated companion. He was a man who preferred the dry wit of a well-timed observation over the boisterousness of a joke but also the slapstick physical comedy of the films he grew up with and BBC satire. His laughter was intense, often silent to start—a characteristic heaving of the shoulders, doubling over to take in breath, followed by a soprano exhalation that signaled his deep appreciation for the absurdities presented. He was a formal man by nature, often the most sharply dressed person in any room, yet he possessed a fundamental humility. He was a listener by trade and a diplomat by instinct, a man who would hold a handshake just a moment longer to ensure a genuine connection was made.

William’s life was also a symphony of sorts. He found great joy in the communal act of singing and music appreciation, lending his voice to church choirs and family gatherings with equal fervor. He was a lover of live theatre, Opera, and art. His record collection bulged with a variety of genres from West End musicals, classics, country and every opera performed. A tireless correspondent, maintaining a global web of relationships through letters and calls, he ensured that no matter how far he traveled from his roots, the bonds of family and friendship remained unbroken.

He leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Laura; his children, Amira (Nader), Paul (Tina), and David (Ashley); and his grandchildren, Luke and Erin Fouad, Alexandra and Carina Shenouda, and Annika and Teddy Fouad—a family that served as his greatest pride and most successful undertaking. He taught them, by example, that a life of consequence is built through a thousand small acts of discipline, a steadfast commitment to one’s community, and the courage to roll the dice when opportunity calls.

William viewed life as a grand game - one requiring a mix of calculated strategy and a graceful acceptance of the luck of the draw followed by swift and intuitive adaptation. He played his hand with extraordinary skill, maintained his dignity through every season, and finally, with his ledgers balanced and his adventure complete, he has found his rest.

Where he is now, he will have already located the cooks, lyricists, musicians and historians, and leading them all into a warm chamber for duplicitous, sporting debate and locating common ground. We will remember him whenever the northern lights dance over the lakes he loved, whenever a story is told with a twinkle of mischief and a heart full of grace, when a spinnaker fills with the breath of summer breeze and a fish tickles a lure.

Rest in peace, father.

Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 2255 Grant Avenue, with viewing half hour prior to service (12:30 p.m.).  Family interment will follow at Sage Creek Cemetery, 884 Symington Road, South of Navin Road, St. Mark’s Orthodox Section.

Church Link: CLICK HERE