Gordon was born September 25, 1922 in Kamloops to Jack & Elsie Drinkwater and peacefully departed this world on September 14, 2025, just shy of his 103rd birthday.
He is survived by his brother Ron, sister Eileen, his five children; Greg (Judy), Rick (Peggy), Dave (Bonnie), Patti (Mark) and Susan. He was blessed with many amazing grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. Gord was predeceased by his wife Pat in 2014 and his brother Doug in 2018.
Gordon was a passionate drummer and always had sticks and a practice pad close at hand. On the weekends, his kids would help him get ready to go play dances. We ironed hankies, shined shoes and carried his drums to the car. Prior to the war years, he played in the RMR Military Band, Kamloops Legion, Junior and Senior Symphonies. He also played dances with the Blue Bird Orchestra under Victor Arduini and played many years with the Kamloops Big Band, Kamloops Jazz band and numerous other musical groups.
On July 8,1940, he joined the permanent World War II army as a bandsman. In 1943, he spent eight brutal months in the Aleutian Islands on the Kiska Campaign. In 1944, he went overseas with the Irish Fusiliers band and ultimately ended up in the Canadian Army Band Pool in Aldershot, UK and was posted to several bands in Holland and Belgium from 1944 – 1945. He returned to Canada in 1946.
In 1949, he met the love of his life, and in 1950, they were married. Over the next 10 years, they had five children. With skiing in the winter and a cabin at Shuswap in the summer, life was busy. Dad loved to sail, and as with the innumerable cars he had over the decades, the same went for sailboats.
He was an appraiser for the BC Land Registry and retired in 1980 after 33.5 years. Life stayed busy with world travel, skiing until the age of 82, fishing and spending time with his family whom he loved deeply. Gordon was a man of great integrity and we will be missed by many.
