Obituary of Gordon Malcolm Armstrong Vail

Vail, Gordon Malcolm Armstrong (March 1, 1932 – November 26, 2023)

Passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family at the Saint John Regional Hospital. He was born in Saint John to Helen and Gordon Vail and was a lifelong resident of Saint John. Malcolm (Mac) graduated from Saint John High School in 1949, later working for a number of years in management roles with Zellers followed by the Insurance industry. In 1958, Mac returned to university and attended UNB Fredericton. This decision would profoundly change his life as he left with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and his beautiful wife Melvina (MacKinnon), who worked at UNB. Mac went on to work at TS Simms for a short time designing machinery before taking on the role as the Vice Principal of Technology at NBCC. Prior to retiring, he became the founding Director of the NBCC Cooperative Education program. Mac loved spending time with family and friends on the St. John River at Water’s Landing, and his retirement years with Mel living on the Kennebecasis River. He had a deep passion for sailing and took up downhill skiing again at the age of 62. A faithful and devoted Christian, his love for family was only surpassed by his love for the Lord.

Mac is survived by his devoted wife of 62 years Melvina, children Elizabeth, Gordon (Shelley), and Stephanie (Michael Levesque), and his cherished grandchildren Matthew, Benjamin, and Sarah. Mac’s family would later grow through the marriage of his children to include more grandchildren in Shona, Danielle, Allie, Morgan, Thomas and Abby, and great grandchildren with the arrival of Grayson, Parker and Rylie. He is also survived by his brother William (Carolyn) and many brothers and sisters in law from Mel’s MacKinnon family. He was predeceased by his parents Gordon and Helen, sister Florence, son-in-law Gordon Neilson and nephew Geoffrey Vail.

Visitation will be Friday, December 1, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Brenan’s Funeral Home, Paradise Row. If you can't attend the funeral service in person, please join via livestream. For those attending by livestream; it will begin at 11:00 AM AST on Facebook and Youtube using this link: https://www.smsbchurch.com/ 

Funeral will take place at St. Mary’s & St. Bartholomew Church, Saturday December 2, 2023, at 11:00 am.

Donations in memory of Mac would be greatly appreciated to Outflow, Romero House, Inner City Youth Ministry, SMSB Mission Centre, or Stone Church Restoration Fund.