Obituary of Harvey Mead, forwarded by his life-long friends, classmates Armando Rendón and Dan Tilton, on behalf of Harvey’s family.
It is with sadness that we announce the death of Harvey Mead. While he fought valiantly with his wife constantly by his side, he succumbed to a years’ long battle with cancer on January 14th, 2023 at L’Enfant Jesus Hospital.
Born in New York City on January 12, 1940, Harvey grew up in California. He met his wife of 59 years, Claire Boudreault, at a folk dancing class when he was completing his Ph.D at Laval University. They then lived in Chicago while he was completing more studies. Their two children, Veronique (David Ridinger) and Laurence (Shelley Sparrow), were both born in Chicago.
Harvey was a member of the class of 1961 at St. Mary’s College, and one of the second group of class members to complete the Integrated Curriculum Program, now called the Integral Program.
There followed an extensive career in Education, with Mead first teaching at St John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then a lengthy tenure at St. Lawrence College in Quebec City, where he taught philosophy.
His true passion, however, was nature. He was founder of Union Québécoise pour La Conservation de La Nature, President of Nature Quebec from 1981-1989, and again from 1994 – 2006, Chair of the National Round Table for the Environment from 2002-2005, Deputy Commissioner of the Environment in Quebec from 2007-2008. He travelled extensively to gain first-hand knowledge of, as he put it, the dangers that the planet faces.
He continued writing about the state of the environment until the end, with an avant-garde blog and two published books.
A celebration of life will take place on February 18th, by the shores of the St Laurence at Le Quai des Cageux, Blvd Champlain, Quebec, between 2 – 5PM. Parking is available across the street. No flowers, and at Harvey’s request no donations, simply a commitment to impact nature in a positive way.
The family would also like to thank Dr Vincent Laroche, as well as the staff from the 4th floor and the entire Palliative Care team at L’Enfant Jesus Hospital.
Harvey is also survived by his sister Cathy (Jerry Weitzner) and nephews Eric and Robert, and sister-in-law Madeleine Bergeron.
View CBC interview of Harvey: Harvey Mead, pionnier de la cause environnementale au Québec