Philip Garel-Jones

Philip Garel-Jones was a wonderful father, husband, and friend, with an amused view of life. Despite all of his success, he always remained delightfully unaffected by his achievements.

Phil passed away suddenly in his home in Ottawa on January 1st, 2022, at the age of 75. He spent his last days surrounded by his family, feeling happy and healthy. He is survived by his wife Beata, and three children: Caroline, James, and Nicholas. He was predeceased by his parents Helen and Raymond Garel-Jones, as well as his sister Linda (whom he never had the opportunity to meet).

Phil was born in London, England in 1946. He attended The King’s School, Canterbury and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Surrey. While at university, Phil involved himself in unusual extra-curricular activities such as the University Scuba Society and the University Caving Club (which inspired him to combine the two passions into one ultra-dangerous pastime, “cave diving”).

After finishing his degree in 1968, Phil travelled to Ottawa to meet friends and begin a three month greyhound bus tour across North America. While on this tour he worked on a Hunt’s tomato farm in Davis, California, where he dug up weeds “but wasn’t very good.” Luckily he was transferred to the cannery. Phil had planned to return to England at the end of his tour, but was offered a job working as a technical assistant for a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, so he decided to stay. While at Carleton, Phil and some friends started a Tiddlywinks Team, which led to “madcap” journeys to international tournaments with prestigious opponents such as MIT and Cornell University.

Phil began working for Bell-Northern Research in 1970 where, among other things, he worked on some of the first ever LEDs (light emitting diodes). Having seen the technology in its infancy, he was always slightly more impressed than bothered by the blinding brightness of modern LED headlights. Phil spent the 1970s living in Wakefield in a cottage he built himself. Living in Wakefield was “fantastic” as he loved the countryside and close friends he had there, many of whom were also British. When he began to outgrow his small cottage, he simply borrowed a few farmer’s jacks and slowly raised up the building single-handedly while placing cinder blocks underneath, creating a new basement area. Phil continued applying his ingenuity later in life by constantly inventing contraptions such as squirrel-proof bird feeders and dangerously fast toboggans made with old cross-country skis.

In 1981, Phil became one of the founders of JDS Optics Inc. (which eventually became JDS Uniphase). JDS was instrumental in developing fibre-optic technologies during the telecommunications boom, which were critical for the rapid growth and widespread use of the Internet. Phil met his wife Beata when she started working at JDS. Phil is remembered by his colleagues as being exceedingly intelligent and an excellent mentor; patient, kind, quiet, unassuming, and always eager to help. Phil and the other founders worked incredibly hard, although he would always insist he was just “in the right place, at the right time.”

Through his remarkable success, Phil was able to leave his family with a lifetime supply of hot sauces and gin. In spite of his achievements, he always remained humble and down to earth. He spent the last 15 years of his life driving the same rundown green Prius, and going to Costco and Princess Auto far too frequently “because you never know what they’re going to have.” He was very lucky to be able to retire at a relatively young age, at which point he devoted all of his time and energy to caring for his three children. He was a wonderful father who knew how to have fun with kids and loved teaching them about the world. He was incredibly wise, understanding, and supportive. His humour was as dry as his martinis (“just wave the vermouth at it”) and he seemed content to make jokes just for himself as often no one would realize something was a joke until minutes later, and he never bothered explaining. Phil remained sharp and witty until the end, which was one of his defining characteristics.

Phil loved to travel and managed to visit all seven continents, including Antarctica (twice). Some highlights include: trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp with Sir Edmund Hillary, living in a shack on the active Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica conducting research for the Smithsonian, and chasing solar eclipses around the world.

Phil loved nature and all creatures, especially birds, and in retirement he enjoyed spending much of his time in his garden observing wildlife. He liked to live off the land as much as possible, brewing cider with apples from his apple tree, making maple syrup with sap from his maple trees, and growing tons of produce in his garden (including peppers that were far too hot to eat). He believed that all life was precious, and didn’t mind sharing his space with field mice or spiders (“well he spent all this time making this beautiful web...”). He perfected the humane catch and release of house flies, and over the years personally cared for many helpless animals he encountered. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre.

A private funeral service was attended by the immediate family. Those wishing to pay their respects may visit Philip at Beechwood Cemetery. A celebration of life will be held later in the spring or summer of 2022. If you would like to share a memory of Philip with his family, or attend the celebration of life, please send an email to gareljonesfamily@gmail.com.