It is with profound sadness that the Gill family has announced the demise of Doctor Gurdev Singh Gill in Chandigarh, Punjab, India, on December 17, 2023. He was husband of Jasinder, father to Sanjiv (Mala) and Jasmine, Simran (Drish) and Tina (Jagat), grandfather to Imran (Chelsey), Rahul, Javed (Veer) and Iqroop. He was the proud great-grandfather of Arjan.
Dr. Gill was predeceased by his first wife Narinder, parents Dilbag and Gurbachan, and his siblings Parlad, Darshan, and Bhagwant.
Dr. Gill was a special person whose impact in the lives of people in both Canada and India goes far beyond what anyone can read or see today. Born in the village of Kharoudi, Punjab, in November 1931, he came from humble beginnings and bravely left for Canada via boat in 1949.
He worked in a mill in Duncan, finished grade 12 and went on to graduate from UBC in 1957 with his medical degree, He was the first Canadian of Indian origin to practice medicine in Canada, for 40 years at an office in New Westminster, B.C. where he lived and raised his family.
When Dr. Gill arrived here it was at a time when South Asians were not treated as equal members of society. He became a Canadian Citizen in 1954, and continued to experience and witness human rights issues faced by other immigrants or new Canadians of colour. Watching these things happen in his new home country, he started an organization that helped new immigrants as they landed in Canada from India.
During the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s he co-founded the East Indian Welfare Society, and traveled to Ottawa to lobby the Canadian Government (meeting with then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker) for improved conditions for our community.
He was instrumental in family reunification so women in India could come to Canada and join their families. As immigration increased, when people arrived he helped them integrate into society. He also lobbied to ensure those with education and skills from foreign jurisdictions were recognized and could get a job in their chosen profession in Canada.
Throughout his life Dr Gill was a very active pioneer within the Sikh community, serving as the President of the Khalsa Diwan Society beginning at the Second Avenue Temple in Vancouver. His instrumental leadership role spanned raising funds for the building of the Ross Street Gurdwara in 1970, through to and including a major role in establishing the No. 5 Road Temple in Richmond (India Cultural Centre of Canada – Gurdwara Nanak Niwas)
Remarkably, all this was done on top of his day job as a physician where he treated so many in the community and saved many lives. His office was more than a traditional Doctor’s office. It was a community hall. Indo-Canadians across Metro Vancouver came to Dr. Gill’s office for more than treatment. They came for guidance, advice and help.
Dr. Gill retired from practicing medicine in 1995, but his work was only beginning. Through the Indo-Canadian Friendship Society, which he founded in 1974, he enhanced the lives of millions through village improvement projects in Punjab. Through this work he directly supported 27 villages by providing greater access to drinking water, providing local schools with computers and technology, and assisting in the construction of waste-water treatment plants, sewage disposal systems, paved concrete roads, solar street lighting and the empowerment of women.
In recognition of his life’s work, Dr. Gill has received significant recognition throughout the years. This includes: being the first Canadian of Indian origin to receive the Order of BC (1990); named among the ‘Vancouver Sun 100’ most influential Indo-Canadians in British Columbia; additionally receiving an honorary doctoral degree in 1996 from his alma mater UBC (D.Sc. (Hons.)], the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), UBC’s Global Citizenship Alumni Achievement Award (2013) and the MAA Wallace Wilson Leadership Award (2018) also from UBC.
He touched the lives of so many in Canada and India.
It is often said that a rising tide lifts all boats. For so many people in both Canada and India, Gurdev Singh Gill was that rising tide. May he rest in peace.
(Contributed by Indo-Canadian Friendship Society of BC. For further information contact: Hon. Herb Dhaliwal, President, I.C.F.S.B.C, [email protected])
