Into your hands, O merciful Saviour, we commend your servant.
We give thanks for the life of Peter Armour Niblock, Priest, and are grateful for his ministry in the Diocese of New Westminster and in the Anglican Church of Canada.
Peter died on Friday, November 3 in Vancouver.
Peter is survived by his wife Pamela, children; Douglas, Ruth and Bradwin, 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter Dorothy and grandson Ian.
Born in Toronto, Peter grew up in the Parish of St. Timothy, North Toronto.
Peter graduated with an Honours BA in Maths and Physics from University of Toronto. He then obtained a Bachelor of Divinity from Wycliffe College, and his elementary and secondary teaching certificates from the Ontario College of Education.
While at university, Peter worked summers for Frontier College as a labourer-teacher on CN railroad gangs where he taught English to fellow workers recently arrived in Canada as displaced persons from post-war Europe. He also worked on construction at the Chalk River atomic energy facility.
Peter’s work for the railway was inspired by his family’s involvement in the construction of the original CPR line across Canada. Peter’s great-grandfather was Western Superintendent of the CPR at that time and is recognized by a mountain named for him next to Lake Louise. Peter climbed that mountain twice, the second time with his sons at age 75.
Peter taught mathematics at Espanola High School in Espanola, Ontario, and subsequently Resident Master at Crescent School, Toronto.
Prior to ordination, Peter was commissioned a Lay Reader in the Diocese of Algoma by Archbishop Wright. Later, he was also in charge of the Pincher Creek parish in the Diocese of Calgary in the communities of Cowley, Lundbreck, Beaver Mines and Livingstone Valley and part of an evangelism team of seminarians in that diocese.
Ordained to the diaconate on January 25, 1958, by the Bishop of Toronto (for the Archbishop of Rupert’s Land), Peter was then ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1958, by the Archbishop of Rupert’s Land. He and Pamela were married December 27, 1958.
Peter served many parishes in his over 65 years of ordained ministry. He served his curacy at St. George, Crescentwood, Winnipeg and was then Rector at St. George, Transcona, Winnipeg and later Rector, at St. Mark, Calgary. This was followed by a time as Teacher-Priest at St. John’s School of Alberta, Edmonton. While there, he served the Company of the Cross, the Anglican lay religious order that operated the school. During this time, Peter accompanied a number of young people on canoe trips, snowshoeing treks, and other wilderness adventures. While in Alberta, Peter was the President of the Sunday School Teachers’ Association and Chair of the New Curriculum Committee in Rupert’s Land. In Calgary he was a member of the board of the Calgary Pastoral Institute and the Calgary Interfaith Committee for Community Action.
In 1970, Peter travelled to England. While there, he visited a number of churches searching for records of his ancestors. Thus began Peter’s interest in genealogy that was to culminate in later years in a complete family tree going back more than five centuries.
Peter transferred from the Diocese of Calgary to the Diocese of New Westminster on September 1, 1973.
In this diocese, Peter served at St. Mary, Kerrisdale; St. Mark/Ascension, Ocean Park; St. Helen, West Point Grey; St. Columba, Pitt Meadows and St. Edward, Richmond. He was also Regional Dean of Granville and Regional Dean of South Fraser.
An avid runner, Peter ran three times in the Vancouver Marathon. In August 1954, in order to witness the British Empire Games record-breaking event when Roger Bannister and John Landy both ran the mile in under four minutes, he slept overnight in a cranny under the old Empire Stadium in order to be present.
In 2015, Peter calculated that he had preached in 121 places of worship: 54 in BC, 30 in Alberta, 18 in Manitoba, 13 in Ontario, 3 in Ireland, 2 in Australia, and 1 in England.
Peter also wrote hymns and poems which he regularly revised. Here is the final verse of his 2004 hymn, “Called by Name”:
Eyes beholding, faces gleaming,
Christ, our Saviour, leads us on.
Love, her glory ever streaming,
Threads our dark with blaze of dawn.
Called by name, our Lord sustains us
Day by day his course to run.
Peter’s memorial service will be held at St. Mary, Kerrisdale on Monday, November 13 at 1:30pm.
Please remember the reverend Peter Niblock and his family in your prayers.
Photo: Margaret Marquardt 2015