Cleric. The Right Reverand John Reginald Sperry, C.M., C.D., D.D. ... He was the son of an English shoe manufacturer and went to Melbourne Road School, before joining the Co-Op as a counter assistant and delivery boy. At 16 he became an evangelical Christian. In 1943 he joined the Royal Navy and served as an Asdic operator on the destroyer Verdun, on coastal patrols and Atlantic convoys, then in the minesweeper Hare in the Far East. His convoy duty ended in 1946. When peace returned he studied at Emmanuel Bible College in Birkenhead, England. He was interested in missionary work and in 1950 he immigrated to Canada. He received further education at King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1951 he was ordained as an Anglican priest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and began his career at Saint Andrew's Mission at Coppermine in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Towering over his flock at 6ft 4in and aided by his sense of fun, he made himself not only much loved but also admired for his self-reliance and willingness to learn. About this time, he married Betty Maclaren, a state registered nurse whom he had met at Emmanuel College. The couple had 3 children, one of whom died at 10 days old. Later he was a Canon at All Saints' Cathedral, Aklavik and then Archdeacon of Coppermine now Kugluktuk. In all, he spent 19 years at Coppermine, NWT, Canada (now known as Kugluktuk). From 1969 to 1973 he was Rector of Saint John's in Fort Smith when he was elevated to the Episcopate. From 1974 to 1990 he served as the third Bishop of the Arctic for the Anglican Church of Canada. His missionary diocese spread over millions of square kilometres. He was based in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada and its cathedral, Saint Jude's (which takes the shape of an igloo) was 1,400 miles away at Frobisher Bay. The appointment brought him some novel experiences such as driving a car and gardening. In 1982 he was the National Chairman of the Anglican Appeal, a fund raising program. In 2001 he published the book "Igloo Dwellers Were My Church", a memoir of his time in the North, where he learned Innuinaqtun and Inuit language skills. On 1 May 2002 he was awarded the Order of Canada and he was invested on November 30, 2002. He was dedicated to the people of Canada's North for more than 50 years. Working throughout the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and northern Quebec, he was especially sensitive to the needs of the Inuit population. Respecting their culture and way of life, he learned their language, translated their prayer books and lived as they did, often travelling by dog sled. As a linguist he was involved in translating the Bible into Innuinaqtun for the people of the Western Arctic. He also translated scores of hymns that are still sung today. He also welcomed the technological advances that meant he could travel by snowmobile instead of with dog teams. The northern population increase also brought the arrival of representative government, but he was a critic of the social liberalism that seeped up from southern Canada. On retiring to Yellowknife, NWT he became chaplain to a local hospital, to the Canadian Rangers (who keep watch on the country's northern frontier) and to the Royal Canadian Legion. He was also Chaplain of the Canadian Forces, Northern Region. Every July he visited the Bathurst Lodge in Bathurst Inlet (see photo). He was in delicate health having suffered a couple of heart attacks in the fall and winter. A week before his death, he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. After a funeral service in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada on February 18, 2012, he was buried next to his wife.