The first days of the First World War saw hundreds of Vancouver men sign up to fight what was supposed to be a short war, (aren’t they all?!) Included were then Rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Cecil Owen and his son Harold (also known as Herbert).

Cecil was Chaplain to the British Columbia Regiment, and was eventually a Major, Harold, a young Lieutenant. On January 30 th 1916, (108 years ago today as I write), while protecting his men retreating across no man’s land near Flanders, Harold was killed. His father rode through the mud for 3 hours to attend his son’s funeral. Cecil sent a telegram home from Belgium which read; “Harold is promoted to service with God. OWEN.”

Upon his return, Cecil served as Rector of Christ Church (still not a Cathedral) for some months but soon felt a call to what was Shaughnessy Military Hospital. That building was torn down some years ago, but the site was on the campus of what we know as Women and Children’s Hospital. Cecil served there as chaplain there for decades. He and his wife Alice adopted another son, Luder, who was an Armenian orphaned by the genocide of the Armenians by the Turks. Luder joined the RCAF in 1938 and in 1944, was shot down and killed trying to destroy a V1 rocket bomb site.

Harold is remembered by a window on the East side of the Cathedral by the ramp leading to the alcove with the regimental colours. Luder is remembered by a window at St. George’s by Vancouver General Hospital.

Cecil died Christmas Eve 1954, 70 years ago this coming Christmas. The crowd was so large at his funeral, the police closed Georgia and Burrard, and thousands stood outside to pay their respects.

In the midst of the current wars, we remember the destruction and trauma that it causes and how a life of service and love is our collective and individual calling.