Allan was the beloved soulmate and husband of Joyce Dunston, and the cherished son of Scottish immigrants Lt Cdr (E) Allan Reddoch and Mary Love Harvey. The family arrived in Ottawa in 1942 following his father’s Second World War posting there. Allan was an award-winning graduate of Lisgar Collegiate and then of Queen’s University (B.Sc. 1953, Engineering Chemistry; M.Sc. 1955). Following his studies in chemical physics at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1960), he returned to Ottawa as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Research Council of Canada. He subsequently became a Research Officer there until his retirement in 1991. His work involved the application of electron spin resonance spectroscopy to a variety of studies in physical chemistry and solid state physics.
Allan’s interests were widespread and included astronomy, physics, history, woodworking, and eastern art and architecture. His memberships in Sigma Xi, The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club (of which he and Joyce were made Honorary Members), The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and similar organizations covered many decades.
Allan and Joyce’s long-term population studies of the native orchids of the Ottawa area spanned half a century and resulted in many publications, including their classic 1997 monograph “The Orchids in the Ottawa District: floristics, phytogeography, population studies and historical review”.
Allan and an Australian cousin traced their rather uncommon surname back to Glasgow and then to Linlithgow, Scotland, where their ancestors lived at least as far back as 1600, when the parish records began. Many of their ancestors were tailors. The Linlithgow Reddoch Family Tree can be found on Ancestry.com.
Kind, considerate and quiet to the end, Allan is survived by Joyce and by Reddoch first cousins Joan and Doreen, and by Harvey first cousin Fay, as well as more distant kin.
Many thanks to our friends for their condolences and offers of help. We appreciate greatly the professional and caring support of the Montfort Hospital and of the Elizabeth Bruyère Geriatric Day Hospital.
Allan’s ashes have joined those of his parents in the Reddoch-Dunston plot at Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa. Those who wish may make a donation in Allan’s memory to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
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Digital Guestbook
Nigel Brereton
Danielle and Mike Appleton
Allan was a neighbour and friend. Greatly accomplished, he also had a wonderful wry sense of humour. He will be sorely missed. Joyce, our thoughts are with you.
Fenja and Irwin Brodo
Dear Joyce,
Our sincere condolences on your loss. You and Allan were a great team and together accomplished a lot. The Monograph on the Orchids of the Ottawa Region being just one of many things that you did together. Allan was indeed a gentleman as others have acknowledged and we too were privileged to have known him. We hope that the memory of all that you shared together will help you through these sad times .
Joyce,
I was very sad to hear of Allan's passing. Iwell remember how both of you provided me with information on the various habitats that surround
Ottawa.