Mere days after learning the joyous news that they were going to be parents, Wendy Gurney and Kurt Stewart made a horrific discovery in December — Stewart, at 31 years of age, had stage four terminal gastric cancer.
Now, friends and family of the Chemainus couple are banding together to raise funds in memory of the man they say was kind, caring and an inspiration.
They have created Wendy-Aid, a fundraising campaign to assist Wendy, the self-employed mom-to-be, who spent countless hours at Kurt’s side during his illness. He passed on Jan. 28.
“Kurt was a very active individual who loved the outdoors,” said Doc Morrell, one of the founders of Wendy-Aid. “He loved everybody and was a very vibrant individual.”
Stewart was born Nov. 2, 1980, in Nanaimo and spent many of his childhood years on the West Coast.
Eventually, the family headed to Alberta, and Kurt pledged to one day return to the Island. He got that chance in 2001, when he moved to the Cowichan Valley.
Some of his time was spent volunteering as a youth pastor for several Cowichan Valley churches, said Lisa Stewart, Kurt’s older sister.
“He really held himself to a high standard … he was always really involved with youth and disadvantaged sects of people and spent a lot of time being a voice for them and helping out,” she said. “He had one of those personalities that drew people to him, really quite outgoing — people felt comfortable talking to him.”
Kurt was living in Crofton when he met Gurney in December 2010. He moved to Wendy’s Chemainus home in the summer of 2011.
“Kurt very much found a soulmate in Wendy, and he was super excited and happy about having a life together,” said Lisa.
Many Chemainus residents may recall seeing Kurt on his many hikes around town and the surrounding areas with his faithful dog, Bubba.
“Bubba and him explored the outdoors on Vancouver Island more than anybody,” Lisa said.
Kurt was a self-employed drywaller and had hopes of starting up his own tour guiding company. Shortly before his passing, he had purchased a couple of goats and was training them to pack hiking supplies.
When Kurt first got ill at the end of October, the chronic abdominal pain he was experiencing was thought to be pancreatitis. He was diagnosed with gastric cancer on Dec. 1, a few days before the couple was married. It wasn’t until Dec. 11 that the cancer was diagnosed as terminal.
“It was a bit of a shock how very quickly he got ill,” Lisa said.
Lisa said despite the trying ordeal, both Kurt and Wendy remained positive and concerned about those around them.
“Seeing the two of them together and their light together was an inspirational thing. Our family — my parents, myself and my two siblings — feel that Wendy and her baby are such a gift, and we really get joy at welcoming these two wonderful people into our lives even though we’re devastated at the loss of Kurt who meant so much to us.”
A Burger and Beer night is being held Feb. 19 from 4-7 p.m. at the Mount Brenton Golf Course in Chemainus to support Wendy-Aid. Tickets are $12, and there will be 50/50 draws and a silent auction full of goodies, says co-organizer David Hatchman.
“I’m so moved by the response this has gotten,” he said. “We’ve got some really wonderful gifts from people in the community.”
Hatchman, a website developer, created the Wendy-Aid site, where people can read Kurt and Wendy’s story and make a donation if they wish.
“We’ve all gone through personal tragedies and people say ‘is there anything I can do to help,’ and there’s really nothing you could do,” he said. “In this case, I knew that I could do [the website] … and I’ve never been more proud of what I do for a living than in doing this.”
Burger and Beer tickets are available through the Wendy-Aid website or at Doc the Barber in Chemainus. If you can’t make the burger night but would still like to donate, a fund has been set up at the CIBC, under the Kurt Stewart Memorial Account. For more information, contact doc@docthebarber.com.
