Obituary of David Cormack

July 29, 1928 – Lacombe, Alberta

November 2, 2024 - Calgary, Alberta

Son of Eric Wyld Cormack and Barbara Villy Cormack, David (Dave) Cormack was born on July 29, 1928, in Lacombe, AB, and grew up near Alix, AB.

Educated at Hickling School and Alix High School, he helped his mother and brother, Douglas, run the family farm while his father served overseas during the Second World War.

In 1946-1947, he attended the Olds School of Agriculture, a treasured experience even though he did not return to farming. Dave enrolled at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1947 and graduated with a BSc in Chemistry in 1952.

While at university, he met his future wife, Josephine Pilcher. Sharing a love of theatre, they were active in the university drama club. Jo and Dave married on December 22, 1951. They settled in Calgary where they became founding members of the Buskins, an amateur theatre company that performed dramas, comedies, and Christmas pantomimes between 1954 and 1967.

As well as acting, Dave designed, built, and painted sets, while Jo directed productions and appeared on stage. Dave worked for several years in the oil business, before returning to university to take a degree in education.

From 1962 to 1968, he taught science and drama at Western Canada High School in Calgary. In 1968, he left teaching temporarily to work at Calgary and Region Educational Television (CARET), an opportunity that fit with his creativity, his commitment to education, and his enthusiasm for technology. He had risen to become executive director by the time he left CARET in 1976 to return to the classroom at Central Memorial High School in Calgary, where he taught drama and television until 1992.

While Dave directed many student productions at Western Canada and Central Memorial High Schools, he and Jo also helped to launch another amateur theatre company, this one involving the parishioners of Saint Peter’s Anglican Church in Calgary. For more than thirty years, Saint Peter’s Players performed all manner of productions from Broadway musicals to light comedies to Shakespearean dramas, creating a welcoming, vibrant, and tightly knit community of participants.

In 2015, Dave moved out of the Calgary home that he and Jo had bought in 1957 and into the Chateau Renoir retirement home. In 2022, suffering from dementia and arthritis, he moved into the Wentworth Manor Long Term Care facility, where he died on Saturday, November 2, 2024.

A beloved and award-winning teacher and a loving and supportive husband, Dave was also a devoted father to his children; Lesley (Andrew), Bill (Penny), and Robin (Ross). Involved in all aspects of their lives and encouraging of all their aspirations, he gave them a wonderful example of parental love and responsibility.

As well as his brothers, Douglas and George, and his children, Dave is survived by his five grandchildren, Lily Nichol, Graham Ede, Meg Cormack, Fin Nichol, and Quin Ede.

Memorial Services will be held at St. Peter’s Anglican Church (903 - 75th Avenue S.W., Calgary, AB) on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made to the Jo and David Cormack Drama Prize Endowment at the University of Alberta (3-600, 10230 Jasper Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6) Telephone: (403) 252-0393, uabgive.ca/tribute or to St. Peter’s Anglican Church (903 75 Ave SW, Calgary, AB), Telephone: (403) 252-0393, donate@stpeterscalgary.ca.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Dave’s family here.

In living memory of David Cormack, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.