Obituary of Gedun DORJEE

Gedun Dorjee passed away peacefully on December 30, 2015 surrounded by his loving family, at the age of 80 years. Gedun Dorjee was born in Kham Minyak, Tibet in 1936. As a child, he joined the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa. After the Chinese invasions of Tibet, he fled to India in 1959 where he spent time in Dalhousie as a part of a small group of monks that were working on re-establishing the monastery. In 1971, Gedun was selected to be a part of the 228 Tibetan refugees who came to Canada. His first years in Canada were spent working on a farm in Taber, AB. In 1974 he moved to Calgary and worked for the CP Rail with great pride as a Carman until his retirement in 2000. In 1981, he married Dechen and with her two sons established his family in Calgary. His daughter Dekyi was born shortly after. Gedun loved and was greatly loved by his grandchildren Tenchoe, Tenyang, Tenzin Dohthoen and Tenzin Thupte. Family was a very important part of Gedun’s life and this was shown when, in 1997, after 40 years separation due to Chinese occupation of Tibet, he was finally reunited with his mother. She lived with him for the last 18 years of her life in Calgary. Gedun was a founding member of the Tibetan Association of Alberta and served as the President. He proudly served the community as the Tibetan teacher and the spiritual lead for the Tibetan community in Calgary. Saturday afternoon prayers were often interrupted for watching the Stampede Wrestling on TV. He also served on the Alberta Heritage Council in the late 1970’s. Through out his life Gedun was committed to ensuring the Tibetan monastic traditions carried on. He was a regular donor to his monastery, Minyak Khamtsen at Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India. Gedun Dorjee is survived by his loving wife, Dechen; his sons, Nima (Tsering) and Lobsang (Rinzin); his daughter, Dekyi; his grandchildren, Tenchoe, Tenyang, Tenzin Dohthoen and Tenzin Thupten. He will be remembered and greatly missed by all. Many will miss his carefree attitude and boyish smile. Gedun was predeceased by his mother in 2014 at the age of 99 years. A Tibetan Buddhist Funeral Services will be held at CALGARY CREMATORIUM CHAPEL, 3219 – 4th Street N.W., (within the valley of Queen’s Park Cemetery) on Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made directly to www.machik.org The family would like to thank all the medical staff at Foothills Medical Centre, Special Services Unit 36, Doctor Dunne and Doctor Mintz for their support and compassion through this hard time.