PASSING – TRU’s vice president Christopher Seguin dies in hospital

Thompson Rivers University Vice President of Advancement Christopher Seguin has died.

The shocking news came this evening (Friday, Sept. 22, 2017) after it was announced earlier today that he was critically ill in a Victoria hospital and not expected to survive.

The cause of death has not been released. Seguin arrived in Victoria Sept. 11 on TRU business, falling ill soon after. He was 39.

“Christopher has been an inspiring presence at TRU, and I am sure this news comes as a shock to many of you. Please give the family privacy as they try to deal with this,” TRU president Alan Saver wrote in an email to the TRU community.

“On behalf of the TRU community I extend our deepest sympathies to Christopher’s family as they endure this ordeal.”

Seguin had been vice president of advancement since coming to TRU from Simon Fraser University, where he coordinated major athletics fundraising projects, in 2007. It was a return home, as he had graduated from Kamloops High School.

One of his main responsibilities at TRU was fundraising for the university. Outgoing and articulate, he was also an able spokesperson for administration on public issues involving the university.

He was a former president of the Rotary Club of Kamloops and was on the organizing committee for the Kamloops marathon.

Seguin was one of the main organizers of TRU’s wildfire evacuation response this past summer, especially when the evacuation centre was located for a time on campus.

His Linked In profile lists as his favourite “causes,” children, education, human rights, politics, poverty alleviation and science and technology.

He and his wife Melissa have two young children.