SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Old-Town fixture Greg Loftus died in Edmonton on Monday evening, and his friends say they're going to have to pull out all the stops to celebrate his life. He was 59.
Friends say they are glad Greg Loftus, pictured here in Yellowknife with one of his favourite dogs, received visits from a therapy dog before he died on Monday in Edmonton. - photo courtesy of Amanda Mallon |
"Over the years he had also taken it upon himself to take care of all of our friends, who had died before their time," said his long-time friend Amanda Mallon.
Loftus, or Cominco as he was known, died around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, while waiting for a lung transplant.
"All evening I kept thinking of the raucous welcoming party he was probably having on the other side," said Mallon.
She said it might be October before the community can commemorate him in the style he deserves. "Holy mackerel, we've got to do it well because he'll tell us off if we don't," joked Mallon.
Loftus lived in Old Town since the early 1970s. After a double kidney transplant in 1997, he started The Paddlers for Parts Association, a non-profit group that promotes organ and tissue donation.
"Old Town was definitely his family," said neighbour Fran Hurcomb. "It was just where he felt comfortable."
She said she has known him since she first arrived in Yellowknife, around 40 years ago. His community was one of the hallmarks of his life, and what his friends say kept him going, even as his health deteriorated.
"He didn't let that stop him at all. I think it gave him a better appreciation of his life and he just wasn't going to waste a minute," said Hurcomb. "He'll be missed by hundreds of people. He was a really independent character, he loved to have fun, he loved the outdoors, he loved to travel, he was very determined. He was an all around interesting character."
Mallon said he was suffering from an idiopathic disease, or a condition that arises spontaneously for which there is no known cause. But even as he knew his health was failing and it became clear he would need a lung transplant, he kept going.
"One of the things that kept him going as long as it did was he was absolutely religious about walking. He walked up that hill every day with his walking poles, almost any temperature he'd walk up to the swimming pool and back," said Hurcomb. "He'd barely make it, he wouldn't let anyone pick him up. He was just determined to keep going. He was just stubborn about it."
After spending May and June in Yellowknife, he travelled to the University of Alberta to await a lung donor. Mallon said just a few weeks before he died, a donor had been found but unfortunately the transplant timed out.
"Which was heartbreaking for us all," she said.
While at the university, he kept working out in the gym, trying to be as healthy as possible Mallon said, right until the end. She told Yellowknifer she takes comfort in the fact that Loftus, a renowned dog lover, was able to spend time with therapy dogs before he died.
She said she's concerned some of his community initiatives might fizzle out without him at the helm. "Honestly he was doing it single-handedly," she said.
"Whatever we do to honour him we have to include the organ donation part. That was so important to him and we need to honour his life by doing that."
His friends say he will be missed.
"Cominco lived his life to the fullest. Everything he did he embraced fully. He travelled the world, he paddled, he embraced all kinds of causes. He was gruff, he was difficult to argue with, he was always right, he had a huge heart. He loved animals," said Mallon.
"In the challenge of waiting for new lungs and all that he went through, he provided his friends with an incredible example of courage. I really feel that he died a hero's death."
