Obituary of PHILLIP GEORGE GUY

Celebrating the life of: Phillip George Guy (January 30, 1949-January 16, 2015) On January 16, 2015 Phillip George Guy went home to be with the Lord at the age of 65 years. Phillip will be deeply missed by his fiancée Rosella Dyck (Angela, Amos, David, Rebecca), cousin Janet Hohm (Garry), cousin Kathy Krasowski (Willie), cousins Ken and Elaine Fox, brother Eric Guy (Valerie), and many other relatives and friends. He was predeceased by his beloved mother Helen Barbara Fuchs Guy Gould on January 19, 2009. His special cat Orpheus passed on to pet heaven on April 28, 2013. His mother’s cat Merlin still survives. Phillip enjoyed his work as a Commissionaire with the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires MB and N Ontario in the city of Winnipeg for more than 20 years before his retirement in 2009. He enjoyed the people he met along the way, stopping to speak with children and adults alike. He was always on the lookout for stray cats and for unusual incidents. His educational skills jumped to the fore in training new commissionaires to the intricacies and nuances of balancing a position of authority with humanity and grace. Phillip cherished life to the full. He purposely walked many miles a day and enjoyed many hours at the Centennial library, especially during his retirement years. Phillip is a person of depth and spirituality, with a capacity for deep commitment. He is intellectually and verbally astute, thoughtful and insightful, both philosophical and down to earth, an avid conversationalist and a wordsmith. His secret desire of many years was to become a Professor of Language Arts. His greatest joy in life was being with his cats. Phillip loved collecting interesting items such as model trains, aircraft, collector plates, historical memorabilia, gaming equipment, and masses of books. He enjoyed both classical and rock music, dramatic arts, classical literature, historical volumes and science fiction. Phillip was an artist and Cousin Elaine recalls how Oma was always showing his pictures to everyone. Prior to joining the Reserves Phillip worked in a popular shop designing and applying decals for T-shirts. Elaine recalls that Phillip was always so good to her and would play with her even when the other boys wouldn’t. Janet recalls that Phillip was always a really nice fellow and that his greatest joy in life was being with his cats. She recalls how happy Phillip was to be with Rosella and that they were to marry in August 2013. Phillip was adopted and loved very quickly by Rosella’s family after they met in 2012. Rebecca recalls that Phillip frequently told her and David that he loves them very much and that they are special. David recalls happy hours working with Phillip on Hero Factory and other projects. Phillip often spoke about his 2 birthdays: On his first birthday January 30,1949 he was introduced into this world with his family. On January 15, 1984 Phillip met his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and a whole new family who meant the world to him. He was subsequently baptized on confession of his faith. Now Phillip has experienced his 3rd birthday when on January 16th he was ushered into the presence of the Lord – welcomed joyfully with such powerful grace by the Lord Himself into a whole new world, a world filled with love, joy, peace, understanding, health and wellbeing. Phillip was in the process of writing a book on soul mate relationships when, on April 30, 2013, he unexpectedly suffered an extensive stroke which left him with many deficits. He valiantly struggled ahead and shattered all expectations of the medical profession regarding his ability to regain physical and mental capacities. Despite the residual fluent expressive aphasia, visual issues, persistent hemiplegia and painful contractures which developed while still in hospital, Phillip was determined to be as independent as possible, to overcome his deficits as much as possible, and he left the medical and health professionals struggling to adapt! Rather than lay in bed as a vegetable, dependent on mechanical lifts and stationary wheelchairs, Phillip gradually over several months regained the ability to feed himself, to provide significant self-care, to propel his own wheelchair with his left hand, to transfer with a transfer pole, and even to walk short distances with a quad cane and assistance. His mind always active, he found ways to communicate his wishes, feelings, desires, even when the right words would not come. Not wishing to become dependent on pain medication, he practiced his “mind over matter” techniques. This often demanded a greater degree of concentration than his deficits could accommodate, as his pain had increased tremendously over time. Whether due to his aphasia or due to his desire to manage his own pain independently, he often told medical professionals that he had no pain when in actuality he had tremendous pain. Thankfully with the involvement of the Palliative Care Team, the spasticity clinic, and ongoing education of caregivers, a greater understanding developed and more caregivers learned to read between the lines of his aphasic responses and to consider other valuable indicators of severe pain. Nonetheless, Phillip’s pain quotient again increased exponentially in his last few months and perhaps finally became too much for him. We will greatly miss Phillip, but we are very thankful that he is now pain-free. Today Phillip is in the arms of Jesus. The often excruciating pain of the past 21 months is gone forever. The mobility issues are resolved. The aphasia is past. Phillip is walking and running with joy, exploring his new eternal home, chatting with interest and vigour with whomever he meets with all his mental faculties once more intact, seeking out pets, especially kittens and cats, enjoying love, peace, joy, understanding and contentment in his Father’s encompassing arms of love. As per Phillip’s wishes, cremation has taken place with an ash interment to be arranged at a future date. A memorial service will be held for Phillip on January 24, 2015 at 11:00 AM at Crosspoint Community Church 554 Marsden at Munroe. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Darcy’s Arc or other no-kill pet shelters. We miss you very much Phillip but we are so happy for you. Your pain is over. You are in the best of hands. We will meet you in the morning at that bright riverside, on the streets of that city of gold where we all can be together and can be happy for aye while the years and the ages shall roll!