Obituary of Ulf Svensson

People often said that this big Swede was ‘larger than life’ – and indeed he was, taking on many challenges during his 81 years. But in the end, Ulf Göran Svensson died peacefully in his sleep at 1 a.m. on Julafton (Christmas Eve), one of his favourite days of the year. Born August 15, 1938 in Norrköping Sweden, Ulf leaves behind his younger brother Björn (married to Ulla) in Växjö, Sweden and two nieces, Cecilia and Hanna (Matthias Linbladh). Ulf and Jennifer (née Hooke from Northern Ireland) were married in Copenhagen in 1962 and emigrated to Canada in 1974, settling in Brantford Ontario with their three young children, Tiffany (David Knight), Nicholas (Wendy) and Louise (John Lewis). Between 1996 and 2004, the family grew to include Siri and Hanna Svensson in Calgary and Jonathan, Benjamin and Alexander Lewis in North Carolina, five grandchildren of whom Ulf was justifiably very proud. In 1980, Ulf designed and built a log house in Lion’s Head overlooking Georgian Bay. It was there in the beauty of the natural creation, that at the age of 42, he realized that he needed to welcome God more intentionally into his life and embraced Jesus as his Saviour. While acknowledging that he did not always follow in Jesus’ footsteps, he was deeply grateful for God’s blessings and grace in his life. Ulf was an avid entrepreneurial engineer, forward thinker and early adopter of technology. In his 50’s, in the infancy of the Internet he secured the Svensson domain name and founded wireword.com and Unicode, Inc. as the first internet portal and news service for the wire and cable industry. He was fascinated by all things technical and took special delight in his grandsons’ robotics work. He was never short of opinions which he readily shared with his e-mail contacts, on-line discussion group and his Swedish lunch group at their monthly meetings. For the past 17 years, Ulf wrestled valiantly with a variety of medical issues: prostate cancer, diabetes and heart disease, so it was a special joy for him to celebrate his fourscore years with publishing his personal memoire in which he wrote, “I praise God for this good, exciting and privileged life. I am very blessed to have two daughters and a son, and five grandchildren, a heritage far more than I imagined as a boy in Sweden; they are my legacy”. Today his family gives thanks for his life. His ashes will be interred at Parkview Cemetery in Waterloo and a Celebration of Life service will be held at Lincoln Road Chapel, 145 Lincoln Ave in Waterloo at 1:00 on January 3, 2020. In lieu of flowers, donations to Ray of Hope, Kitchener or the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre (through the Grand River Hospital Foundation) would be appreciated and may be arranged by contacting the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo, www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445.