Sep 22, 1932 - Jan 22, 2018
Des Bevis was born in Weymouth, England to Charles and Dorothy Bevis, both of whom were active members of St. John's Anglican Church. After completing elementary grades, Des boarded the train each morning and traveled to Dorchester where he attended Hardy's School (Thomas Hardy). From an early age, Des demonstrated his gift for art and after graduation, he studied at the West of England College of Art,
specializing in Calligraphy and Illumination.
After completing his National Service, mainly in Malta, Des gained his teaching qualifications from the University of Bristol. Two years later he married Joanne (Mathews) and they were blessed with three sons, Paul (Thailand), Martin (deceased) and Rick (Nanaimo). The family lived in Bristol where Des was Educational Liaison for the Art College. They emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1 966. After teaching at St. John's Ravenscourt School, Des joined the administrative staff at the University of Manitoba and after a few years was appointed Director of Admissions.
He was both respected and liked by faculty and staff, and served on several boards, national and international. On retirement, Des became an Honorary Member of the Association of Registrars for Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARRUCC).
After retirement, Des and Joanne moved to Nanaimo. Through the years, Des' calligraphic work had been presented to two members of the Royal Family and he completed many prestigious commissions in England, Canada and the USA. In Nanaimo Des turned his attention to non-representational paintings in acrylic and mixed media complementing his work in calligraphy. His works are found in personal collections in Canada, England, USA and Australia.
Des was an active member of St. Paul's Anglican Church, a wonderful husband for 59 years (less a few months) and a loving father and grandfather for grandchildren Justin and Tahli (Australia), Alexa (Spain) and Isaac (Nanaimo).
Due to travel arrangements, a Celebration of Life Service and Reception will be held in late March at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Nanaimo.