Bernie (Bernard) Gutsell, who taught cartography in the Department of Geography at York from 1965 until he retired in 1979, died on March 4 in Guelph, Ont. He was 96.
Prof. Gutsell received an honorary doctorate from York in 1988.
Born in Dover, England, in 1914, Prof. Gutsell received his bachelor of arts degree from King’s College, London in 1939. He served in the Royal Air Force as a squadron leader during the Second World War.
He moved to Canada in 1948 and joined the federal government’s geographical bureau.
In 1949, he wrote the first book on the geography of Newfoundland to commemorate its joining Canada. He established the journal Cartographica in 1965. In the same year, he joined the faculty of York University where he was a Fellow of Winters College. He retired in 1979 and moved to Guelph soon after.
Prof. Gutsell is survived by his wife, Barbara, three of his children, 10 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at Dublin St. United Church, 68 Suffolk St. W., Guelph, Ont., today at 11am. In lieu of flowers, his family has requested that memorial contributions be made to York University or to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.