Monday, June 5, 2017
It is with sadness I learned that Dr Geoffrey Parslow passed away suddenly last Tuesday,
I count Geoff as both former colleague and friend. I will therefore, write a little about Geoff.
Geoff was the fifth member of the Department, but perhaps the fourth full-time member (Don would know) to join the Dept. I believe he took over as Dept. Head when Dr Tony Gordon stepped down.
Geoff was an Economic Geologist/Geochemist who specialized in Uranium Exploration, and Geoff was instrumental in creating a busy wet-geochemistry laboratory in the basement of College West, complete with Leco analyzers, AA and Spectrophotometers, and of course the XRF. Perhaps some of you recall all the fume hoods and the remnants of a wet lab in the western section of the basement complex.
By the time I arrived, in 1990 the wet lab was only used by one or two grad students, but I heard from former grads. (who herald from the 1970’s & 1980’s) that it was a very busy place back then, conducting both contract work and contract research for the GSC, Sask Geol. Survey, the IEA-AEA and various exploration companies, doing soil surveys, core analysis etc.
Geoff would give talks at conferences in Europe, USA, Australia, South Africa and Canada. Consequently, he was well known to the IEA-Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and by 1989/1990 was conducting and administering a training courses for the IEA-AEA. The training course was administered and conducted within the Department of Geology here in Regina, and the ‘Trainees’ were working professionals from around the world. The training course was interesting, complex and sadly a model that the Dept. was never able to replicate. Not only did it consist of a taught component here in Regina, but also involved a field component and guest geoscientists from the GSC and IEA. When Geoff. resigned in 1999, the U of R lost that contract.
My office was next door to Geoff and as the ‘newbie’ I would naturally chat to Geoff about various things. Phyllis and I also had many memorable social evenings with Geoff and Eliane, and like Phyllis, Geoff was a straight-shooting straight-talking guy and so naturally he and Phyllis got on extremely well.
I learned lots of little things from Geoff, that make a difference as a Prof. We both taught Geology 100 back then, and in those days we would have around 275 to 325 students per semester, taught in two sections (on the same day) to keep classes manageable; because Scantron did not exist back then and did we use multiple choice exams either.
He maintained fairness to students. Asking questions in an exam upon material not taught was something Geoff would never do and he had little respect for those that did. He was pretty lenient in the 100-level class, but less so in the 300- and 400-level classes. He expected more from geology majors. However, he would always make time for students and students found Geoff approachable.
Yes, there are colourful stories of Geoff, and we can leave some of those for another time. But in many ways they reflect a person with a relaxed attitude and a real sense of humour. It was Geoff who collected me from the airport when I first arrived back in February 1990 and his car made an instant impression upon me. It was a big black Cadillac with the license plate 'FIFI'…!
Only a man truly confident in himself would call his car 'Fifi' being the diminutive form of Josephine, and cliché for a dogs name in France. That was Geoff Parslow.
Be at peace Geoff.
Eliane you have our love and deepest sympathy.
