Gordon Petrie: Obituary

1969 - March 1, 2022

A man who reconnected with his Prince George sister after more than 20 years apart lost his battle to ALS and died on March. 1.

Born in 1969, Petrie left Prince George with his mother when he was in his teens and his sister, Kris Zemlak, rarely saw him after that and then lost touch for 22 years, according to a story in The B.C. Catholic.

Zemlak had been looking for her brother for more than 10 years when she learned a Ukrainian Catholic church in Surrey had taken him in after discovering the homeless Petrie was mowing the lawn and taking care of the grounds while living in a shed on the property during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020.

Church parishioners Bruce and Kathryn Hitchen worked to find Petrie stable housing, stayed in close contact and helped reconnect the siblings.

“He was a generous soul, even though he had very little, he would find some money to buy cat food for a stray cat and not eat himself,” his Citizen obituary reads. “He was a great story teller and could talk for hours! His life stories make one appreciate the blessings and love life brings.”