A Celebration of Life for Craig Waddell, September 1, 2024 Semiahmoo GC

In his book Meetings with Remarkable Men, which I read during my university days, G.I Gurdjieff invites readers to reflect on the remarkable men who influenced their lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meetings_with_Remarkable_Men. Most of us start with our fathers, and an important teacher or mentor, and then key friends. In my case, J.Craig Waddell was one such remarkable man. 

We first met in 1974 when I was CMHC's assistant architect/planner and Craig headed up the Vancouver office of IBI, at the time a little known architectural firm founded by Phil Beinhaker and based back east. Craig had previously worked for Irving Grossman Architect, a highly respected Toronto firm known for its innovative housing, where I also worked upon graduation, a few years after he left. In Vancouver he worked at McCarter Nairne, one of city's most established firms that had designed the Marine Building. At McCarter Nairne, Craig led the design team for Shaughnessy Place, a terraced condominium complex overlooking VanDeusen Gardens, and still one of Vancouver's best designed and desired places to live. 

Shaughnessy Place 1, designed by Craig Waddell

IBI had been commissioned by the BC government to design the 24-unit Norman Bethune Housing Cooperative in Burnaby. Inspired by Craig's Shaughnessy Place design, it was intended to be a prorotype for future coop projects. While we argued over kitchen designs for households with children, and whether a terraced building in wood, rather than concrete, would last in Vancouver's weather, we became good friends. We got to know his first wife Linda, his two daughters Melissa and Joanna with whom we often spent family holidays, and remained friends for the next five decades. 

During this time, Craig transitioned from being an architect to a developer, where he first joined David Mooney at Narod Developments until its receivership in 1983, and subsequently in Arizona where he built several successful condominium projects and sumptious homes for himself and Coralie, his wife.

It was Craig who hired me away from CMHC in 1981 to join Narod, and who insisted I take up golf as a condition of employment so that I would fit in. Craig introduced me to a world of well-designed furniture, martinis, fine wines and rare steaks, served in expensive restaurants such as Toronto's Three Small Rooms in the Windsor Arms Hotel, across from Irving Grossman's office on Sultan Street. 

Over the years, I often worried that Craig's debauched lifestyle, which included a lot of Waddelltinis (a mix of gin and vodka, straight up, with a blue-cheese-stuffed olives would eventually do him in, but he kept going until he got Parkinson's a few years ago. He took up boxing and was fortunate to have very good care from Coralie. Eventually, he moved into some very attractive seniors' care facilities,  but he didn't give up the Waddelltinis. Sadly on May 13, he passed away, and I posted the following on Facebook. 

On September 1, Coralie organized a Celebration of Life for Craig at the Semiahmoo Golf Club. It was a fitting venue since they had lived in the Semiahmoo community for a number of years and Craig's daughters both lived nearby. It was a wonderful event, attended by friends from Scottsdale, Vancouver and Washington State. Ron Nairne, the grandson of the founder of McCarter Nairne, a friend of Craig's said a few words. After hearing that Craig had served as best man for my wedding, but also several others, he rightly observed it was a testament to his bonds and fiendships that so many asked him to be their best man. Ron Yuen, who had worked with Craig since Irving Grossman days and served as Craig's best man when he and Coralie got married was there, as was  Kelly Heed, of Colliers, with whom Craig did several deals over the years. Peter Horwood, who worked at Narod was there with Holly, reminiscing about the time they were posted in Lake Oswego Portland, where Narod had an office.

I prepared a short presentation (although had Craig been there he would have said it was much too long) offering highlights of his life, including university in Nova Scotia, time in Toronto, Vancouver and Arizona. Below are a few of the images from the presentation. 

Rest in Peace Craig. You impacted many lives as a father, husband, architect, developer and friend. You were truly a remarkable man.

Over the years there were a lot of parties, including annual Halloween parties at our home