August 6, 1958 – November 8, 2019
It is with great sadness that the family announces the sudden and unexpected passing of our brother Trevor on Friday, November 8, 2019.
Born the fifth child of Harold and Maisie Shirtliff, he is survived by his seven siblings, their children and grand children: Daryl and his wife Marianne of Edmonton, Nancy and here husband Stuart Averill of Ottawa, Penny and her husband Richard Blouw of Winnipeg, Tanis and her husband Grant Kendall of Starbuck, Mary Anne and her husband Dave Weselak of Winnipeg, Collin and wife Tamara of Starbuck, and Nadene and husband Brian Newall of Kelowna.
Trevor grew up on the family farm in the Starbuck, Manitoba area and attended school in Elie, Manitoba. As a youngster he was always out doors, involved in the usual activities of farm life. He was very active in sports, especially hockey and enjoyed playing pick up games with cousins and neighbours. The games would commence once the gang cleared the ice from the LaSalle River. Our farm neighbour, Oliver Broten, taught Trevor to ride and that led to his life long love of horses.
After he graduated from high school Trevor obtained his pilot’s license, studied mechanical drafting at RRCC and then joined the Navy. He was based in Halifax and served on the HMCS Huron as a Radar Technician. The following years saw Trevor begin his career in marketing and sales, he started his own photography business and later a printing business. In 2008 he launched Market Zone Productions, which grew to become a successful publisher of magazines and periodicals. Trevor always had his eye on the future, with big plans for expansion and development. He had a wonderful and creative group of people around him at Market Zone, with Donna keeping his feet on the ground and his head focused on the more mundane but essential tasks in a hectic business office.
Trevor was very devout in his Christian faith and very active in his church community. He devoted a great deal of time working with the youth groups in his church and especially liked to spend time with those at risk or troubled. His involvement with the young people often focused on getting outdoors, enjoying nature, camping, hiking and horseback riding. He was often as well the bus driver for these adventures.
Trevor was dedicated to staying in touch with family. He regularly visited cousins, aunts and uncles and was sincere in maintaining family connections. He spent every holiday event with his sisters and their families. He loved the visits, catching up with family news, and getting acquainted with the growing number of grand nieces and grand nephews. He especially loved the huge dinners, and happily went home with abundant left overs, saying it always tasted even better the following day.
Trevor had suffered from cardiac health issues and diabetes for the last twelve years. He was working at being more active, spending his free hours walking, biking, roller-blading, and cross-country skiing. He loved the outdoors and spent many hours on horseback finding great solace in nature.
The family will gather together informally on Sunday, November 17 with their relatives and community neighbours at Bridges Golf Course from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., to share memories and reminisce.
6 thoughts on “Trevor Harold Shirtliff”
R I P Trevor ????
I was so sorry to hear of Trevor’s passing. Since he was a few years younger than me, I didn’t spend much time with him when he was a child, but I was glad to have had the opportunity to see him a number of times in the past few years. And I am very happy that he came to Ottawa in May of this year, and that I, along with other relatives, had a chance to visit with him then. As he was the first cousin to pass away in the last 50 years, it is a sobering reminder that we are all getting older and our time here is finite. Sending much love to all who knew and will miss him.
Tanis and Grant,
So sorry to hear about your loss. Hope that the memories you have of Trevor , help ease your pain.
My thoughts and prayers are with you!
Doreen Duval
We offer our sincere condolences on Trevor’s passing. Trevor was in contact with us about two months ago and due to family commitments we could not connect. However, we had a great chat and he said he would return since he had business in our area ( Brockville,Ontario) in the future. He was always so engaging and interesting to talk to. We are cousins and his mother Maisie was my godmother. We will miss him. Wayne and Huguette Burns Winchester Ontario.
My deepest sympayhies to the family , I was fortunate enough to hang out with Trevor once in a while in our teens .
So sorry to hear of Trevor’s passing. We were in Basic Training and our early Navy training together. He came to my parents house with me during a break between Basic and trades training. My younger sister was smitten and google eyed the entire week. To say we had a lot of fun together would be an understatement.
We last saw each other when he was in Ottawa to attend a family gathering. Despite the thirty five years since we had seen each other, it was like we had seen each other only the day before. He was still the same easy going, level headed guy I admired in 1978 to 1980 until he got out to follow his next adventure. We shared our news and celebrated our successes and clinked glasses over things that didn’t pan out the way we thought they might. It was a great afternoon that I will now cherish.
I was stunned to hear of his passing today and celebrated his life with a long walk in the woods. I am happy I still have a few photos of Trevor from our training days. He was so young then, but was a leader amongst us. We all respected him and took everything he said as gospel.
I will miss you old pal and will regularly toast you over a glass of port. Fair winds and following seas.