Click on one of the photos in the box below to scroll through a full-size gallery of photos depicting Corey’s life.

Corey had a history of volunteering. He believed in helping others.

While in high school, he helped to establish his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance Club, one of the school board’s earliest such clubs. In addition, he gave presentations to high school staffs about the issues faced by gay students. His work was recognized by the local board of health. Corey identified and came out as a transgender man in his early Guelph university years.

Soon after arriving in Vancouver, Corey became a volunteer for the VanDusen Gardens and the Vancouver Aquarium, among other locations. He volunteered in an alternative education classroom at a local high school and helped with hikes for the Take a Hike Foundation for youths. He volunteered as a mentor to several students at the UBC school of nursing and was praised for spending several summers acting as camp nurse for Camp Moomba, a camp for youth affected by HIV.

He played a major role in the creation of the All Bodies Swim, an evening swim time in a community pool for members of diverse body types. He became a life guard to provide a sense of comfort for participants. He also received awards from the Vancouver Pride Society for his volunteer work. He last volunteered at a food bank.

Corey was a strong advocate for the LGBTQ2S+ community. While at the UBC School of Nursing, he helped bring about social, educational, and even infrastructural changes to enable inclusion for members of this community. In the few years before his passing, he was not hesitant to initiate Human Rights Commission challenges, and other actions to specifically further the acceptance and inclusion of the trans community. He made a difference.

Corey also had a solid sense of civil rights for all. He belonged to a number of civil rights groups, and participated in conferences as well as gatherings to bring attention to a variety of civil rights issues.

Corey loved the outdoors as the photographs will confirm. His first involvement in nature occurred in Ontario on family hikes as well as holidays at the family cottage and provincial parks across the country. In the summer after high school, he was an Ontario Ranger which gave him a wide range of experiences. At the University of Guelph, he enjoyed his co-op placements at Sheldon outdoor education centre and farm and at Grundy Provincial Park where he excelled as a naturalist.

He loved being in the mountains or on the beaches around Vancouver with dear friends, particularly his first cousin. He found calmness and tranquility on top of Mount Seymour and on Jericho Beach. He was active outdoors during all seasons, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, or skimming. He hiked the length of the gruelling West Coast Trail with its deep mud puddles, and the Sunshine Coast Trail. The photos show his enthusiasm for the outdoors and the range of areas where he roamed.

He was an avid cyclist. It was his major mode of transportation in the Vancouver area. Moreover, he enjoyed cycling impressive distances with his beloved first cousin, dear friends, members of the B.C. Randonneurs or by himself. He cycled the Sunshine Coast alone on several occasions and made a solo trip for 69 days on Vancouver Island. In 2018, he solo cycled across Canada from Prince Rupert to St. John’s, Nfld.

He was also involved in a range of other activities. While in Ontario, he was active in cross-country running and won a number of events. He was co-captain of his high school’s rugby team’s tour of Wales. His leadership capabilities were recognized with a medal at army cadet camp, which he attended for two years. During the second year he joined the bagpipe band.

He made beautiful and creative pottery when he first arrived in Vancouver. The Vancouver Circus School gave him a different indoor experience during which he performed intriguing movements on climbing silks. He was a member of an excellent Vancouver choir, Out in Harmony, of which he was very fond and spoke about often. His continued study of French helped him during a trip to France in 2020. He loved gardening and developed a thriving garden replete with 5 -foot-tall tomato plants outside his apartment.

He enjoyed his visits to his Aunt Vicky and Uncle Vic in Victoria, his Aunt Barbara and Uncle Dan in Orillia, his first cousins Heather, Blake and Adam as well as his Uncle Ed and Aunt Becky in Texas.

His life was truly enriched by precious friends whose names and photos cannot be provided because we do not have their permission. Thus, his first cousin is the only discernable person of his age in the following photos. It was heartening to become aware of the wonderful statements of admiration and affection by his dear friends.

His major employment was first with Mountain Equipment Coop for five years which enriched him. He participated in many of their outreach activities and received a fine reference when he left MEC to enter the UBC School of Nursing.

He was thrilled to be a nursing student which motivated him to achieve marks in the high 90’s. Such marks were impressive considering that he had several part time jobs during the program. He wrote that he felt privileged to be a nurse and that it was an honor to be one. With obvious pride, he wrote of how he had helped others during his day.

Unfortunately, as a nurse, he found encounters with abusive patients very troubling. He was deeply disturbed by the death of an elderly patient as he held her, closely followed by the death of both his grandparents. Initially, he worked in a hospital, then moved to a clinic for young addicts, then to a health clinic in Vancouver’s east end.

Sadly, Corey became increasingly disturbed both emotionally and mentally. Eventually he became paranoid, believing that he was being stalked. It is believed that the genesis of this paranoia was from the persecution he received in a small Saskatchewan town. As a university co-op student, he was asked to leave his housing by his landlady when his transgender status was revealed. This was followed by hounding by members of the town. He was so hurt by this treatment that he dropped out of university and became homeless for a while in Vancouver. At that time, he was robbed of all his money and identification. Evidence exists to suggest that he developed PTSD and anxiety issues afterwards because of this event which were later exacerbated by other experiences and concerns.

To his credit, he established a healthy existence after his short period of homelessness, becoming employed as a bicycle mechanic, and eventually acquiring the remaining credits to receive his university degrees in science at the University of Guelph and then nursing at U.B.C.

One of his characteristics was to feel very deep pain when he was misgendered, either verbally or in writing. His response to this was to initiate Human Rights Commission challenges in an effort towards preventing this from happening to others in the future.

Increasingly, over time, Corey developed greater delusions and paranoia leading to an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. He believed he had lost numerous birth children and spent a lot of time unsuccessfully seeking them. He lived in fear of unknown stalkers related to his experience in Saskatchewan, as well as other fears. As a result of some of these developments, he was unable to work. The restrictions imposed by Covid-19 added to his sense of isolation. He tried numerous medications and therapies, without success.

There were high hopes for Corey’s improved mental health when he was sectioned under BC’s mental health act to the psychiatric ward at Vancouver General Hospital’s Segal Centre. Tragically he died there.

He is deeply missed by his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as the friends he made over the years.

May you be at peace Corey. You were loved.

The oceans, forests, mountains, prairies, streams, and mud puddles of Canada all pay tribute to your memory.

Readers are encouraged to post tributes and include photos. You are welcome to return later to this obituary to read additional comments and see more photos.

Please consider making a charitable contribution in Corey’s name to QMUNITY. Vancouver’s Qmunity Resource Centre helped Corey as it does other 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. You can click on the word "QMUNITY" or the "Donate" box below the picture box below.