Hubert Guindon, 1929-2002

His friends and colleagues were saddened to learn of the death on Oct. 18 of Hubert Guindon, at the age of 73, after a battle with cancer.

He taught at Concordia for more than 40 years, and was one of the founders of Concordia University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He was the president of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (1970-71), a member of the executive committee of the International Sociology Association (1970-74) and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Born in Bourget, Ont., Guindon studied philosophy at the University of Ottawa and sociology at the University of Chicago. He taught at the Université de Montréal from 1954 to 1962, then came to Sir George Williams University. He was named a full professor in 1968, and retired from Concordia in 1995.

He wrote Quebec Society: Tradition, Modernity and Nationhood (1988), which made the list of best university books in America. He published many articles, and collaborated on several works, including La société canadienne-française (1971) and Modernisation and the Canadian State (1978). He was also a admirer of the 20th-century philosopher Hannah Arendt, and his biography of her will be published soon.

The Hon. Roch Bolduc, a friend since 1952, addressed his fellow Senators on Oct. 22 about Dr. Guindon’s death. One of the first to notice the social and political transformation of Quebec we know as the Quiet Revolution, “Hubert Guindon was skeptical about the future impact of these new adventures, as he always took with a grain of salt the moralizing statements made by the leaders of various social movements and groups with corporatist tendencies. He had harsh views on such institutions as the Church, the universities, Parliament and political parties, professions and unions.

“Hubert was also a man of great charity who provided supportive care to dying AIDS patients until the end. He lived in the inner city of St. Henri, and all loved him. He was a modern-day St. Francis of Assisi from whom a battered Church, with which he had made peace, sought advice from time to time.”

Retired professor John Jackson said in an e-mail, “Hubert gave a great deal of himself to students and to new faculty members in the department. To liberals he was a conservative; to conservatives he was a liberal; to federalists he was a sovereigntist; and to sovereigntists he was a federalist. Though not a populist, Hubert identified with the people, with the disadvantaged and the downtrodden. He was the ideal marginal man.”

He was also a music-lover, who played the piano and the harpsichord.

David McDougall

Retired professor David McDougall died at the age of 82 on Oct. 15. He was a founding member of the Geology Department at Loyola College and Concordia University.

After earning his PhD in geology from McGill University, Dr. McDougall worked for several years as a mining consultant. He began teaching geology in Loyola College’s engineering department in 1955 and served as chairman of the department from 1959 to 1962. In 1967, almost entirely as a result of his efforts, the department of Geotechnical Science broke away from engineering to join the Faculty of Science. He retired from Concordia in 1990.

Dr. McDougall was involved in university administration, including serving as Associate Vice-Rector, Academic, prior to the 1974 merger. However, he will be best remembered as an easygoing and dedicated scientist to his colleagues, and as a mentor to his many students, said Dr. John Jenkins.

Former student Dr. John Percival, a research geologist at the Geological Survey of Canada, recalls the unique atmosphere of McDougall’s Geology of Canada lectures.

“David would often recollect his own experiences in widespread parts of Canada, weaving in elements of history, frontier culture and wilderness life,” he said.

McDougall’s main research interest was thermaluminescence and its applications to geology. In his later years, he became interested in Quebec’s iron industry, whaling, fishing and his family’s genealogy.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Doris Ascah, and his second wife, Dagmar Jack Brodie, who was an employee of Concordia. Our sympathies are extended to his family, including his stepson Christopher Brodie, also an employee. Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.