Obituary of David Lawrence Greenslade

Greenslade, David Lawrence

Of London, Ontario passed away peacefully at home, April 22, 2019, in his 52nd year.  Oldest son of Lawrence and Sheila (Miller) and predeceased by his younger brother John.  Beloved husband for 5 years and 7 months to Norma-Jean (nee Cayen). Proud Step-Father to David and Patrick (Bovingdon). A celebration of life will take place May 11, 2019 at 2:00 pm at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  In leu of flowers David requested that donations be made to the Organ Recital Series at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Cremation has taken place.

David Greenslade was raised near Strathroy, Ontario, where he received his early musical training.   Over his life of music, David was a member of the Strathroy Pipe and Drum Band, Strolling Minstrels of No Fixed Address, Arcady, Fanshawe Chorus and The Gerald Fagan Singers. He enjoyed the numerous trips abroad with many friends sharing his love of music and had the privilege to play many fine European organs.

David graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Hon. B.A, Mus and later pursed Graduate Studies at The University of Western Ontario, where his teachers included Dr. Larry Cortner and Prof. Hugh MacLean.   David taught privately in London Ont. since 1992, including teaching appointments at both the former Western Ontario Conservatory of Music (later Conservatory Canada) and The Victoria Academy of Music.   In 2008, he operated a thriving home-based studio, where he taught piano, music theory and music history, along with some voice coaching.   David was Director of Music at The Church of the Epiphany (Woodstock) from 1994-2015, where he led one of the larger Music Ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Huron.   David examined nationally for Conservatory Canada starting in 1996 and was increasingly in demand as a festival adjudicator around Ontario.   David also sang with The Gerald Fagan Singers (London) and toured extensively in Europe with this ensemble, serving as organ accompanist with this group in tours of France, Monaco, Spain, The Czech Republic and Germany.  He was also a harpsichord basso continuo player with the Ontario based Arcady early music ensemble and performed extensively around Ontario with this organization for the several years.  In 2013, David sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral (London Ont.) as it partnered with the cathedral choir of St. Paul’s (Buffalo NY) in singing a week of services at each of Chichester and Winchester Cathedrals in the United Kingdom.  In 2015, David became a professional chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where he enjoyed participating in one of the finest Music Ministries in Ontario, and occasionally supplied on the organ for cathedral worship services.  In the fall of 2017, Mr. Greenslade served as interim Director of Music at Knox Presbyterian Church in St. Thomas Ontario.  In the fall of 2018, David was appointed the Music Minister of Trivitt Memorial Anglican Church in Exeter Ontario where he finished his career in March of 2019.

Why do bad thing happen to good people, or do they? by Norma Jean Greenslade

People often blame God when something bad happens, whether it’s a job loss, a marriage break, an illness and even death.

God is not the one who has done this.  It was predetermined by our own sin.  The original sin, when Satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.  Satan may have said that we will not die (Genesis 3:4) but really that was the first time we all died.  We lost our intimate connection with God, being able to walk with Him in the Garden and experience His love first hand, truly that was a death. 

God, in His great wisdom, knew that man would struggle outside the Garden and needed to come back to Him.  He foretold it many times through many prophets.  Throughout the Old Testaments God prepared his people for the coming Messiah, Jesus, His Son.  God was trying to show how much He loved us. How much He was willing to give up so that we could be saved and enter heaven.

God’s love for us is so strong that He sent His Son to redeem us from Original Sin.  Through Jesus’ teachings we can learn to be better people to ourselves and to each other.  My favourite passage is in Matthew 6:31-34

[31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 
[32] For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 
[33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. 
[34]"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

These words have seen me through tough times and I reminded David of them often.  It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t seek out information or prepare for tomorrow, it means that God will put in our path what we need and help us in our journey of life.

David and I were put together at a time that God knew we would need each other.  Our lives intertwined for many years before we became a couple but when the time was right, and God knew that it was time, our lives merged into one.

Don’t blame God for what happens in life.  That has happened because of sin.  Praise God for the gifts He sends us. The sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ so we can have a path to heaven, the gift of people who cross our paths for a moment or stay with us till we go home.   Remember these are the Gifts from God and it will help you to get through the tough times.

David and I met in 1998 when I moved to Woodstock and joined Church of the Epiphany where he was the Choir Director. At that time, I was married with two young boys, David (5) and Patrick (3).  Within a month I was in David’s choir and enjoying the community of the choir and church.  Over the next year both boys started taking piano lessons from David and I could see the knowledge and gentle firm way he taught.  It made the boys bloom with confidence to have someone to spend time with them and teach them something new.  My son David, ever the perfectionist, learned that a mistake is how you learn, Patrick, he was a cut up and brought a smile and a roll of the eyes to David’s face while teaching him. 

                About a year later my marriage broke up and David was the first person I told.  God knew that David would be a support for me. He was sympathetic and listened to my woes more than once, becoming a wonderful friend.  Over the years we went on many year end school celebration trips with the boys, I always invited David to come because I was scared to drive the 401 and didn’t know where I was going.  He happily joined us on trips to Canada’s Wonderland, Marine Land, where he braved the Cork Screw roller coaster with my oldest 5 times in a row while Patrick and I sat out and watched, we were not roller coaters fans and the Toronto Zoo.  All this time David and I never imagined that we would be more than just friends, he had his circle of friends in London and I lived in Woodstock and took care of my boys.

                Over the years our friendship with each other grew as did our music connections and experiences.  For the longest time either he or I were in a relationship and never thought of crossing that line of becoming more than friends.  We went and saw our first movie together called “Sicko” by Michael Moore, it was interesting to see the medical care in different countries.  It explained about how in France you get all kinds of days off for events in your life, including marriage and we both jokingly said if we weren’t married to anyone in ten years we should find jobs in France, move and get married to each other, so we could have the holidays they gave newlyweds.  Little did we know that God had plans for us.

                Watching the boys grow up and sharing in our family life was special for the boys and myself.  Dinner between Christmas Eve services made the holidays less lonely for us, watching 2 hours of Coronation Street on Sunday afternoons after church became our routine.  Celebrating milestones such as birthdays and graduations of both David and Patrick over the years of their academic careers and being as proud of them as if they were his own children really solidified how important David was to all of us.

                How does this all tie in with the Matthew reading?  God put us together in the right way over the years. A time when I needed emotional support raising two boys on my own and then sharing our lives together at a time when God knew that a storm was coming for David and He knew David couldn’t face it alone.

                We were married on July 6, 2013 and enjoyed our honeymoon in Scotland, Paris and England. We enjoyed sharing our love of music in the choirs we were with.  In 2015 David decided to retire from Church of the Epiphany and we both joined the Choir at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Moving into 2016 David started to have health concerns that culminated in surgery for a brain tumor.  At the same time on the same day his Dad, Lawrence was having surgery in Toronto.  David’s mother, Sheila and I were texting back and forth checking on each other and our patients. Surely God put us together, so no one would be alone.

                After chemo and radiation, the outlook was hopeful, and David was doing well.  With MRI’s every three months to make sure of that, unfortunately strange things started to show up last August and culminated into finding this new illness. No one can answer the questions of why, but we can thank God for the MRI’s otherwise we wouldn’t have known.

Truly God has been walking the path with us along the way.  When you reflect on your life journey and the people and experiences you have had, that is when you can see where God had His hand there guiding you along the path or where God was guiding you into someone else’s path.