Obituary for Derek Roy Copperthwaite
COPPERTHWAITE, Derek, Roy
March 21, 1934 – August 29, 2021
“Believe it or Not”, Derek (Dad, Granddad, Great-Granddad) – a man in his 88th year, who never liked change, made his final change on Sunday, August 29, 2021 and now rests in peace in his eternal home.
Jill, Derek’s deeply devoted and loving wife of almost 64 years (October 3, 1957), is now able to move the furniture around and not have to worry about putting it back before he comes home.
When asked by the Funeral Director, “What did Derek do for a living?” his four children all stared blankly at each other and had no idea what to say. There was just no simple answer to that question.
So, this is Not a simple, straightforward obituary, but one that is as unique, complex, and creative as Derek himself was.
Derek, born in York, England, was the first child of Stanley William and Eva (nee Elmer) Copperthwaite, and from an early age was a very talented and gifted artist. At twelve years old, surrounded by onlookers, he was photographed by a local newspaper drawing caricatures of his schoolmates. He much preferred drawing to math and science and the everyday routines and studies of schoolwork.
He further enhanced his passion for drawing by combining it with his love of theatre and theatrics, and trained for set design and scene painting.
In 1953, Derek (at the age of 19) was looking to expand his horizons, and emigrated to Port Credit, Canada along with his Mum, Dad and two brothers, Brian and Terry (all predeceased). There, Derek pursued a freelance career as a commercial artist. He formed the company Deroy Displays, and specialized in design, exhibition, window display and consulting. He did window dressings and managed displays for a Canadian “ladies wear” chain, Mark’s and Spenser’s, Allen’s Department store in Toronto, and A.B. Collin’s Department store in Peterborough. Derek frequently lectured on the subject of display and wrote monthly articles on “Principals of Good Display” for Maclean Hunter trade magazine for two years running. He worked with every type of merchandise display, from yard goods to shoes. He was also a designer and consultant for companies including Conklin Shows, Treasure Salvos, Mel Fisher Floating Galleon Museum, Souvenir Photos Inc., Niagara Parks Commission, the Crown Jewels Collection, and Christus Biblical Gardens in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
In 1958, Derek designed and installed North America’s first post-war wax museum — Louis Tussard’s Wax Museum — in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which started the museum phenomena that swept through the ’60s and ’70s.
In 1962, Derek designed and implemented this new entertainment concept for “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” tourist attractions, and over the next 20 years became the leading authority on this unique walk-through type of attraction. He went on to design and install similar attractions across Canada, USA, Japan, Australia and Denmark.
In 1971, Derek joined Ripley International as Senior Vice-President. He was specifically involved with Research & Development. He was responsible for exhibit research, exhibit purchasing, storing of artifacts and exhibits, shipping, cataloguing, maintenance and insurance. He also developed and installed all the new projects, overseeing architects, contractors, tradespeople, personnel training, advertising and marketing. He also researched and wrote the museum guidebooks. Derek also participated in numerous radio shows, newspaper interviews and television shows (most notably “To Tell the Truth” and “The Amazing Kreskin”). He was listed in the 1973 Financial Post’s “Who’s Who of Canadian Directors”.
In 1977, Derek went back to freelance status and continued in the museum industry as he developed and designed the Guinness Book of World Records museums in Niagara Falls, Ontario and San Francisco, California.
Extended travel was inevitable for Derek, especially during the construction and installation phase of a new museum. The Grand Opening day was set, staff was hired and advertising was published long before the project itself was completed. So, it became what Derek referred to as “Crunch Time”. He worked long hours that sometimes went through the night into the morning, and Derek often said, “The doors of the museum were opening with tourists pouring in the front, as we were sweeping our way out the back doors!” Whenever possible, and when they were able to organize babysitters for their four children, Jill joined Derek for the museum openings and a much-needed mini holiday. They had some wonderful travel times together.
Family was Derek’s foundation. It was of the upmost importance to him, as it also was for his father, mother, and brothers, Brian and Terry. He had many happy times and memories with his sisters and brothers-in-law, Ann (nee White), Bert, Cathy, John (predeceased), Rita and Pat and an extensive array of cousins, nieces and nephews, both home and abroad.
However, for many years, Derek’s very active and diverse career life kept him either extremely busy or away from his beloved wife and family. Times together as a family were very precious and mostly in the summer months, during the tourist season when the museums were open to the public. So, when they did have quality time together, usually from June through to September, Derek and family spent it around their backyard, swimming in the in-ground pool, enjoying BBQs and tent-camping trips to various provincial parks.
Later, in the 1980s and 1990s, Derek returned to his other love and passion of research, writing, editing, and publishing. Working with some family members, he started up a trade journal for Electrologist and skin care specialists and later took over an existing classical music magazine. He travelled around Canada and the States for various conventions, but this time mostly with his wife, Jill, who was running her own electrologist and skin care business, and his stepmother-in-law, Anne Wilson (nee White, predeceased), who was also an Electrologist, skin care specialist and Cosmetician.
Derek and Jill became “snowbirds”, escaping the cold Canadian winters and stayed in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida from January through March, for many years. They spent their time soaking up the sunshine, picking oranges and grapefruits from the trees, sitting on the beach, reading, or taking long walks along the beach.
Derek loved books and found great pleasure in scouring bookstores and book shows around home and especially, down south. He came back with loads of books every year, which were added to his already extensive collection. One of his excuses for being such an avid book collector was that he planned to write a book when he “retired”. However, he never liked the word, or the thought of retiring, and always said, “If you can make a living doing one of the hobbies that you love, then you’ve really got it made.” And, he did!
Derek, the Artist, Author, Publisher, Editor, Designer, Curator, Researcher, Public Speaker, Contractor and Project Manager had many other interests outside the realm of his thriving career. However, above all this, Derek was a very kind, gentle and wise man with wonderful, smiling blue eyes. We also knew Derek as a very patient man, who always thought about words and their meanings, and he rarely spoke without first thinking carefully about what he was going to say.
Derek loved gardening and being out in the garden, “puttering” as he called it. He also enjoyed his farm property and enjoyed working with Jill doing pickling, canning, and freezing of all the produce they grew and apples they picked. He loved reading and going to the movie theatre, especially so he would be up on things when watching the Oscars. He loved drying his own herbs, making his own salad dressings, and cooking up a Chinese food dinner, followed by blasting his favourite music over the speakers in the front room, or having a quiet game of Solo or Sequence around the kitchen table.
There were many fantastic Sunday family dinners, with Derek carving the Roast at the dining table. Most often it was his coveted Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. These meals were followed by the “boys” enjoying a cigar and brandy at the dining table, while having a good ol’ fashion debate about the latest topics.
Whatever family times were missed in his early years, Derek made up for them during the later years, into his retirement, and right up to the end. He and Jill loved spending time with their family, including their wonderful children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Derek spent his last 19 months with Jill and their cat, Martini, in a Retirement Home in Port Credit. He was fussed, pampered and wonderfully cared for by the PSW’s of Livewell Pathway (Doreen and Abigail), and also by the great staff members of Chartwell Regency and by their great PSW’s and nurses, (Rose, Elaine, Jessie, Marivic, Charlotte, Susan, Lilybeth, Sara, Audrey, Monica, Lilya and Aylene). He also had some kind and caring staff from Acclaim Health, attending to his needs daily. His comments to them all were, “What are you doing, what are you doing”? On the good days, he danced a jig with them, while going down the hallways to and from the dining room.
Derek created a special legacy for himself that will live on through Jill, their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all the extended family members and friends. Everyone has so very many, many, special memories and moments of their times spent with Derek, and all these memories will be re-iterated over and over again, either together, or within all our own minds, for the rest of our days. Therefore, Derek is not gone; He will forever remain with us, in our minds and in our hearts.
And now, without any further editing, this must, as Derek would say, “Go to Print”.
Derek is survived by his wife, Jill (nee White), Children: Anthony (Wendy), Alice (Michael), David, and Timothy (Cindy). Grandchildren: Lindsey, Frances (Rob), Jason, (Karen), Natalie (Louis), Stephanie, Andrea (Jamie), Jeffrey (Jordyn), Hayley (Alex), Shaina (Connor), Chandler (Delaney), Nicole, Kendall, Brooke. Great-grandchildren: Dominick, Emma, Rylie, Royce, Henry, Coralie, Jaxon, Derek, Brock, Kashton, Aliyah, Tyson, Griffin, Arya, and numerous other cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
March 21, 1934 – August 29, 2021
“Believe it or Not”, Derek (Dad, Granddad, Great-Granddad) – a man in his 88th year, who never liked change, made his final change on Sunday, August 29, 2021 and now rests in peace in his eternal home.
Jill, Derek’s deeply devoted and loving wife of almost 64 years (October 3, 1957), is now able to move the furniture around and not have to worry about putting it back before he comes home.
When asked by the Funeral Director, “What did Derek do for a living?” his four children all stared blankly at each other and had no idea what to say. There was just no simple answer to that question.
So, this is Not a simple, straightforward obituary, but one that is as unique, complex, and creative as Derek himself was.
Derek, born in York, England, was the first child of Stanley William and Eva (nee Elmer) Copperthwaite, and from an early age was a very talented and gifted artist. At twelve years old, surrounded by onlookers, he was photographed by a local newspaper drawing caricatures of his schoolmates. He much preferred drawing to math and science and the everyday routines and studies of schoolwork.
He further enhanced his passion for drawing by combining it with his love of theatre and theatrics, and trained for set design and scene painting.
In 1953, Derek (at the age of 19) was looking to expand his horizons, and emigrated to Port Credit, Canada along with his Mum, Dad and two brothers, Brian and Terry (all predeceased). There, Derek pursued a freelance career as a commercial artist. He formed the company Deroy Displays, and specialized in design, exhibition, window display and consulting. He did window dressings and managed displays for a Canadian “ladies wear” chain, Mark’s and Spenser’s, Allen’s Department store in Toronto, and A.B. Collin’s Department store in Peterborough. Derek frequently lectured on the subject of display and wrote monthly articles on “Principals of Good Display” for Maclean Hunter trade magazine for two years running. He worked with every type of merchandise display, from yard goods to shoes. He was also a designer and consultant for companies including Conklin Shows, Treasure Salvos, Mel Fisher Floating Galleon Museum, Souvenir Photos Inc., Niagara Parks Commission, the Crown Jewels Collection, and Christus Biblical Gardens in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
In 1958, Derek designed and installed North America’s first post-war wax museum — Louis Tussard’s Wax Museum — in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which started the museum phenomena that swept through the ’60s and ’70s.
In 1962, Derek designed and implemented this new entertainment concept for “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” tourist attractions, and over the next 20 years became the leading authority on this unique walk-through type of attraction. He went on to design and install similar attractions across Canada, USA, Japan, Australia and Denmark.
In 1971, Derek joined Ripley International as Senior Vice-President. He was specifically involved with Research & Development. He was responsible for exhibit research, exhibit purchasing, storing of artifacts and exhibits, shipping, cataloguing, maintenance and insurance. He also developed and installed all the new projects, overseeing architects, contractors, tradespeople, personnel training, advertising and marketing. He also researched and wrote the museum guidebooks. Derek also participated in numerous radio shows, newspaper interviews and television shows (most notably “To Tell the Truth” and “The Amazing Kreskin”). He was listed in the 1973 Financial Post’s “Who’s Who of Canadian Directors”.
In 1977, Derek went back to freelance status and continued in the museum industry as he developed and designed the Guinness Book of World Records museums in Niagara Falls, Ontario and San Francisco, California.
Extended travel was inevitable for Derek, especially during the construction and installation phase of a new museum. The Grand Opening day was set, staff was hired and advertising was published long before the project itself was completed. So, it became what Derek referred to as “Crunch Time”. He worked long hours that sometimes went through the night into the morning, and Derek often said, “The doors of the museum were opening with tourists pouring in the front, as we were sweeping our way out the back doors!” Whenever possible, and when they were able to organize babysitters for their four children, Jill joined Derek for the museum openings and a much-needed mini holiday. They had some wonderful travel times together.
Family was Derek’s foundation. It was of the upmost importance to him, as it also was for his father, mother, and brothers, Brian and Terry. He had many happy times and memories with his sisters and brothers-in-law, Ann (nee White), Bert, Cathy, John (predeceased), Rita and Pat and an extensive array of cousins, nieces and nephews, both home and abroad.
However, for many years, Derek’s very active and diverse career life kept him either extremely busy or away from his beloved wife and family. Times together as a family were very precious and mostly in the summer months, during the tourist season when the museums were open to the public. So, when they did have quality time together, usually from June through to September, Derek and family spent it around their backyard, swimming in the in-ground pool, enjoying BBQs and tent-camping trips to various provincial parks.
Later, in the 1980s and 1990s, Derek returned to his other love and passion of research, writing, editing, and publishing. Working with some family members, he started up a trade journal for Electrologist and skin care specialists and later took over an existing classical music magazine. He travelled around Canada and the States for various conventions, but this time mostly with his wife, Jill, who was running her own electrologist and skin care business, and his stepmother-in-law, Anne Wilson (nee White, predeceased), who was also an Electrologist, skin care specialist and Cosmetician.
Derek and Jill became “snowbirds”, escaping the cold Canadian winters and stayed in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida from January through March, for many years. They spent their time soaking up the sunshine, picking oranges and grapefruits from the trees, sitting on the beach, reading, or taking long walks along the beach.
Derek loved books and found great pleasure in scouring bookstores and book shows around home and especially, down south. He came back with loads of books every year, which were added to his already extensive collection. One of his excuses for being such an avid book collector was that he planned to write a book when he “retired”. However, he never liked the word, or the thought of retiring, and always said, “If you can make a living doing one of the hobbies that you love, then you’ve really got it made.” And, he did!
Derek, the Artist, Author, Publisher, Editor, Designer, Curator, Researcher, Public Speaker, Contractor and Project Manager had many other interests outside the realm of his thriving career. However, above all this, Derek was a very kind, gentle and wise man with wonderful, smiling blue eyes. We also knew Derek as a very patient man, who always thought about words and their meanings, and he rarely spoke without first thinking carefully about what he was going to say.
Derek loved gardening and being out in the garden, “puttering” as he called it. He also enjoyed his farm property and enjoyed working with Jill doing pickling, canning, and freezing of all the produce they grew and apples they picked. He loved reading and going to the movie theatre, especially so he would be up on things when watching the Oscars. He loved drying his own herbs, making his own salad dressings, and cooking up a Chinese food dinner, followed by blasting his favourite music over the speakers in the front room, or having a quiet game of Solo or Sequence around the kitchen table.
There were many fantastic Sunday family dinners, with Derek carving the Roast at the dining table. Most often it was his coveted Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. These meals were followed by the “boys” enjoying a cigar and brandy at the dining table, while having a good ol’ fashion debate about the latest topics.
Whatever family times were missed in his early years, Derek made up for them during the later years, into his retirement, and right up to the end. He and Jill loved spending time with their family, including their wonderful children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Derek spent his last 19 months with Jill and their cat, Martini, in a Retirement Home in Port Credit. He was fussed, pampered and wonderfully cared for by the PSW’s of Livewell Pathway (Doreen and Abigail), and also by the great staff members of Chartwell Regency and by their great PSW’s and nurses, (Rose, Elaine, Jessie, Marivic, Charlotte, Susan, Lilybeth, Sara, Audrey, Monica, Lilya and Aylene). He also had some kind and caring staff from Acclaim Health, attending to his needs daily. His comments to them all were, “What are you doing, what are you doing”? On the good days, he danced a jig with them, while going down the hallways to and from the dining room.
Derek created a special legacy for himself that will live on through Jill, their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all the extended family members and friends. Everyone has so very many, many, special memories and moments of their times spent with Derek, and all these memories will be re-iterated over and over again, either together, or within all our own minds, for the rest of our days. Therefore, Derek is not gone; He will forever remain with us, in our minds and in our hearts.
And now, without any further editing, this must, as Derek would say, “Go to Print”.
Derek is survived by his wife, Jill (nee White), Children: Anthony (Wendy), Alice (Michael), David, and Timothy (Cindy). Grandchildren: Lindsey, Frances (Rob), Jason, (Karen), Natalie (Louis), Stephanie, Andrea (Jamie), Jeffrey (Jordyn), Hayley (Alex), Shaina (Connor), Chandler (Delaney), Nicole, Kendall, Brooke. Great-grandchildren: Dominick, Emma, Rylie, Royce, Henry, Coralie, Jaxon, Derek, Brock, Kashton, Aliyah, Tyson, Griffin, Arya, and numerous other cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.