Obituary of Arvydas Krausas

September 7, 1937 - September 17, 2021 

We have lost a most wonderful man, Arvydas (Harvey) Krausas at the age of 84 years. Arvydas was born in Lithuania. His parents fled the approaching Communist troops and spent most of WWII in Germany in Displaced Persons camps. In 1949 the Krausas family immigrated to Australia and settled in Melbourne where he grew up and eventually graduated from the Melbourne Institute of Technology.  In 1961 he married Elvyra. In 1967, with their baby daughter Veronika, the trio immigrated to Calgary, Canada. Arvydas worked in the Engineering Department at the University of Calgary and obtained his Masters in Electrical Engineering (1978). At the university he was an avid squash player. 

After a few years in the oil industry Arvydas taught Calculus at SAIT for 25 years. He loved teaching and his students voted him one of the most desired instructors. He was active in the Lithuanian community in both Australia and Calgary and was a staunch supporter for Lithuania’s efforts for independence and the maintenance of Lithuanian language and culture.

An avid reader, amateur pianist and music lover, Arvydas never tired of listening to Beethoven, Brahms and Rachmaninoff and always listened to his daughter’s performances when he couldn’t attend in person. Music was common in the household and the family’s dachshund would ‘sing along’ when he improvised at the piano. He was a passionate lifelong student of mathematics and continued to work on mathematical equations to the end. He also ventured into the art realm with his drawings of whimsical stylized animals. A conscientious daily crossword puzzler, Arvydas was an enthusiastic member of the Word Freaks group in Calgary.

After retiring he voyaged to the Galapagos with his wife and daughter. Other travel included trips to the Arctic Circle, Thailand, Ecuador, Australia, and Europe. Arvydas was an enormous animal lover. It was a joy for him to see the seals, blue-footed boobies, land iguanas and the dawn dance of the albatross in the Galapagos, polar bears in northern Canada, grizzly bears and the salmon run in BC, and the regal storks in Lithuania. He especially loved the wild birds in his backyard for whom he built a bird bath and fed every morning.  A local white rabbit ‘adopted’ Arvydas and for years would visit daily for petting and carrots. 

Arvydas was a gentle, poetic, and beautiful soul who touched many and will be very missed. He is survived by his loving wife Elvyra, beloved daughter Veronika, sister Rūta and his nieces. He was predeceased by his parents, baby daughter Julie and sister Danguole.

The family would like to thank the medical teams at Foothills Hospital for their care and kindness.

A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, if friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to The Calgary Humane Society, www.calgaryhumane.ca, or the Mustard Seed www.theseed.ca. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Arvydas’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.  
 

Photo by Franz Dinnendahl