Lieutenant Christopher West Royal Navy

WEST Christopher (Chris)— 87, Halifax, died March 28, 2010 at Glades Lodge Nursing Home surrounded by his family and dog Sally. He was born in Margate, Kent, third son of Dr. Henry O. and Annie (Finchett) West. His life was dominated by a lifelong passion for ships and the sea, and love of his family and his faith. He attended Epsom College 1936-41 and entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as a Special Entry Cadet in 1941. During WWII Chris served in the Mediterranean aboard the battleship Queen Elizabeth, ex-whale catchers Klo and Falk, destroyer Beaufort and cruiser Orion. Transferring to the Submarine Service, he ended the war on patrol in the Far East aboard Sleuth, during which time he was mentioned in dispatches. In 1945, he was invalided out of the Royal Navy for deafness. He graduated from Durham University with honors in Naval Architecture in 1950, thus beginning a 50-year career in which he was responsible for the construction and/or design of more than 35 vessels. He ran Sungei Nyok shipyard in Malaya from 1952-1958, then emigrated to Canada to work for Canadian Vickers in Montreal (1958-65). In 1965 he joined Scott’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock, Scotland, returning to Canada in 1968 to become general manager of Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. In the 1970s he ran a naval architectural consultancy in England, and in 1979 became general manager of the Marystown Shipyard in Newfoundland. In 1982 he joined the Halifax Shipyard, from which he retired in 1994. He then volunteered for Canadian Executive Services Overseas (CESO), advising shipyards in Columbia, Ecuador, Trinidad, Sri Lanka and Romania, before retiring for the second time at age 80. He was a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects for 57 years. Chris was a very private person, who was much loved for his sense of humour by those lucky enough to get to know him. He was a lifelong communicant of the Anglican Church and a parishioner of Saint George’s Round Church from 1986. He was an active participant in and a generous supporter of the 1990s restoration of the church. Chris is survived by brothers Michael and Philip, wife of 44 years Anne (Gross), sons Peter (Barbara Hayward) Saint John, Michael (Jennifer King) Halifax, and Anthony (Sara Ryan) Ottawa, and grandchildren Madeleine, Evan, Bridget, Margot and Simon. Grateful thanks to the many friends and caregivers who made it possible to keep Chris at home for so long, to the CDHA In-Home Palliative Care Program, and to the staff of Glades Lodge for their sensitive care at the close of Chris’s long struggle with Parkinsonism. Funeral at Saint George’s Round Church on Thursday, April 1 at 2 p.m., The Rev’d George Westhaver officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Parkinson Society of Canada or the Preservation Fund for Saint George’s Round Church.