Remembering
Dr. Charles Scriver
(1930-2023)
Dear fellow members of the Garrod Association - dear colleagues, dear friends,It is with a heavy heart that I pass on to you this sad news, and share the tribute below which was written by two of his longstanding colleagues and friends in the U.S. Charles was known as 'the father of biochemical genetics in Canada' and he was a founding member of the Garrod Association. Many of us were privileged to know him personally and to receive his teaching, mentorship, inspiration and encouragement. All of us in the field of inborn errors of metabolism across Canada have benefitted immensely from his legacy. We will miss him deeply. Paula
Dear colleagues:It is with profound sadness that we share the news of Dr. Charles Robert Scriver’s (CM, CC, GOQ, FRS, FRSC), death on Friday April 7th, 2023. Charles passed in Montreal with his loving family at his bedside. His wife Zipper, his four children Do-Ellen, Peter, Julie and Paul, and several of his grandchildren had come home from all corners of the earth to be with him. He died in the city he loved, in a McGill hospital, at the top of Mount Royal, overlooking his beloved McGill University. He was home. For those of us who knew him well, the loss will remain ever immeasurable. For the many others whose lives he touched through his work and humanity, he will be remembered as an extraordinary clinician and scientist whose life was dedicated to making his very extensive research and that of others meaningful for patients. He was the epitome of the physician scientist. Charles, who studied at the Dent Lab in London in the early 1960's, brought the techniques he learned to the US and Canada, establishing in North America the study of inborn errors of metabolism. His contributions have had a seminal influence on biochemical genetics. Charles was a truly warm and caring individual; a renaissance person, deeply knowledgeable not only in science but in the arts - music, poetry, literature, and language. Those of us who heard his beautifully delivered lectures and/or have read his equally beautifully written papers have indeed been fortunate. A Celebration of Life will take place on Thursday, April 20th at 3:00 pm at the Loyola Chapel, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, H4B 1R6, CANADA. All are welcome.For those who cannot attend, the link for the live stream is - https://youtube.com/live/GNDkqZXxWX4 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Scriver Family Prize in Genetics at McGill or the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, Genetics.Christineh Sarkissian and Harvey Levy