I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Graham Symonds in your article in the Dec. 18th issue.
Like Graham was, I am also a volunteer at the Christine Morrison Hospice in Mission.
Graham was close to the same age as my father and, like Graham, my father also served in the Navy during the Second World War and as a volunteer firefighter.
I grew up not far from the Surrey home where Graham and his wife raised their two daughters but we did not meet until decades later during our mutual association with the hospice.
Graham was a wonderful friend, a great family man, and very generous with his time serving his community of Mission.
During his long tenure as a firefighter in Surrey, he pulled countless numbers of people out of fires to safety and he also assisted at many car crash sites.
Sometimes, Graham was the last person a car crash victim would see before succumbing to their injuries and sometimes Graham was the first person on the scene to ensure that person “lived to tell the tale.”
Graham was a hero to me and to countless numbers of people. I will never forget him and I hope the community of Mission does not either. We have lost a great man.
Karen Gardner
Mission
