I only knew Ian briefly through the Richmond Makerslab, but he kindly donated his laptop to a Ukrainian family I was hosting and was very helpful in getting it ready and setting it up for them. It is people like Ian that make a huge difference to those who come to this country. Ian helped Mariia and Oksana to feel that they are welcome to be here and to know that to be human is to be able to share and help.

Elena.

I met Ian when I joined HUG as a fellow Director.  I always felt that Ian was an advocate from the beginning, making me feel encouraged and welcome in his approving words.  We talked about how much joy Makerlabs brought, a true passion of his that made his eyes sparkle when he spoke about the weird and wonderful projects that would come his way.  A gentleman in the truest of forms, Ian was always so humble in his pride when his tinkering came good in fixing things up and bringing heartful joy to those around him. 

We often talked about my special project, close to my heart and he encouraged me to bring this along to the Makerlabs to fix up.  A motorcycle helmet from my days of travelling from 1998 carrying lots of fond memories with a broken visor.  Ian was there, showing me the way, template after template; cutting after cutting; teaching me how the laser printer works; not satisfied until it was perfected. 

Eventually we stood back to admire the full finished project, Ian’s words “Well done, look, you did it!”  He stood corrected, “No Ian, YOU did it” and then we both settled on “We did it together”. And now it sits on my shelf, the finished product.

Old memories, brought me the new, with Ian by my side as I bid him good night on the eve that he passed. 

Sleep well Ian, as your memory lives on.

Dharbi

Try to be a rainbow in everyone’s cloud

Maya Angelou