Tearful goodbyes for one of Loyalist’s own

by Renée Rodgers

(Belleville, Ont. Nov. 17, 2011) Dean of Media Studies at Loyalist College Jane Harrison and Dave Taylor read messages and letters posted to a Facebook page for Sansom. Photo by Jennifer Bowman

They came prepared to cry.

The box of tissues was passed around before Kevin Sansom’s Loyalist College memorial service. The tears, the crowd knew, would be inevitable as they celebrated the life of the teacher who had an impact on so many lives.

Close to 700 students, former students, colleagues and friends filled the school’s gymnasium Nov. 17 to celebrate the life of the popular Television and New Media professor. Another 500 tuned in to the live web streaming of the event.

Eric Howard, a Television and New Media professor, led the ceremony.

“Kevin’s gift was giving,” Howard told the crowd. “He made all of us feel special, that we mattered. Every person he helped, every class he taught, every hard-drive he formatted, every joke he told, every email he answered, every project he marked mattered.”

Sansom, who was known to students and faculty for being a dedicated teacher, died of a staph infection Nov. 9. He was 41.

A video filled with pictures, memories and faculty members’ reactions to Sansom’s death punctuated the service. Media professors also took turns reading the outpouring of reactions posted to Sansom’s Facebook memorial page after his passing.

Several of the reactions came from former students, many of them crediting Sansom with their success in the media industry.

“(He) never made you feel stupid or complained once,” wrote David Doel, one of Sansom’s students. “His type of positivity is rare in this world. Everyone he taught loved him and that isn’t just the mark of a great teacher, but also a great human being.”

“He went above and beyond on countless occasions,” wrote another student, Billy Dennis. “He gave me software to be able to work on projects from home – and then answered my cries for help late at night on MSN Messenger the day before a project was due, helping me fix Photoshop, Final Cut or whatever else was crashing.”

Many of the reactions also mentioned Sansom’s energy and sense of humour. Howard joked with the crowd that the vivacious teacher would have loved his “Madonna-mic”, a hands-free microphone he wore throughout the service.

Sansom’s family members, including his parents, sat in the front row at the ceremony.

“Kevin loved to be here,” said his mother Myrtha Sansom in an interview after the service. “He loved his job and his students. He kept talking about it all the time. This place was his life.”

A memorial endowment fund that will provide financial assistance to Loyalist students has been set up in Sansom’s memory. Go to www.givetoloyalist.com for more information.