NNSL (Jan 17/97) - Northern lawyer, arts lover and world traveller Gerald David McLaren died suddenly in his Yellowknife home on Jan. 10. He was 47.

Born in Kamloops, B.C. in 1949, McLaren spent much of his childhood in Vancouver. He completed his formal education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he graduated with a law degree in 1981.

McLaren loved to travel and read. One memorable trip began as a hitch-hiking adventure in Vancouver, ended in Peru, and resulted in what his brother Don said was a "humbling appreciation of mankind as individuals."

His travels took him all over the world -- including one of his favorite destinations, Bali -- where he met people in their own environment, not simply as a tourist.

Friend and co-worker Jack Williams said McLaren was so well travelled and well read that he could inject himself into and contribute to just about any conversation.

McLaren's love affair with the North began while on a summer job with a survey company that landed him in the Yukon.

He permanently moved to Yellowknife in the mid-80's to join the law firm of Boyd Denroche.

"For him, this was where it was at. He loved the North, and he would often get away on weekends just to go camping. He always liked to be moving and thinking," said close friend and former room-mate Kate Serre de St. Jean.

A few years after moving here he joined the GNWT's legal division where he spent nearly three years working with the Human Rights Commission drafting international standards on the rights of children.

He left the government, and after a trip around the world, rejoined the government and then the law firm of Bayly Williams.

Although McLaren worked some civil and criminal cases, Williams said he liked administrative law best. He handled a lot of cases that involved the Coroner's office, the office of the Language Commissioner, and the Workers Compensation Board.

McLaren was an avid patron of the arts in Yellowknife, a vocal supporter of music, crafts, and theatre. He served on the Northern Arts and Culture Centre's board of directors in the mid-80s.

"And Gerry was one of the biggest Folk on the Rocks supporters in the city," said Serre de St. Jean.

He was an avid art and book collector and was also working on assembling a world class collection of masks from countries and cultures around the globe.

Always up for adventure, McLaren travelled to the barren lands last fall for a law firm retreat that included a caribou hunt.

"No, he didn't get one, but we saw quite a few off in the distance," said Williams.

Since his passing, friends and acquaintances from across the North and across the country have been calling Bayly Williams to offer condolences.

McLaren is survived by his parents Bill and Zelma McLaren of Delta, B.C.; three brothers Don, also of Delta, Barry of Langley, B.C., and Alan of Toronto; sister Anne Storey of Richmond B.C., and numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and dear friends.

A memorial service for McLaren is being held today (Friday) in Vancouver for family and friends at St. Mary's Anglican Church.

A second service will be held in Yellowknife for family and friends in July.