William Hoar

Who was William Hoar?

William S. Hoar, OC FRSC was an eminent professor and head of department of zoology at the University of British Columbia. He received an Order of Canada award on June 26, 1974. He also had several other degrees and diplomas, some of which were honorary, and others of which were earned the old-fashioned hard-work way. He was, first and foremost, a grandfather, husband and father. A patient man who was very involved with his family, he was also very well known in the zoology world, and has a series of lectures named after him, that are given every year at UBC.

Bill, as he was known, is survived by 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. His 4th biological child died before he died. His surviving children are Stewart George, David Innes, and Melanie Frances.

Dr. Hoar married on August 13, 1941. His wife was Margaret MacRae MacKenzie from Scotland. Bill and Myra jointly wrote "A Hebridean Heritage" on Myra's family ancestry. Prior to that, Bill had already written other books on his family history, including "By Way of New England" and "Steeves and Colpitts: Pioneers of the Upper Petitcodiac". His passion was for genealogy when he retired, but having had prior success as a well published zoology professor, he knew his way around book writing and editing. His "baby" from the zoology years was General and Comparative Physiology. His later family history books were written on his own company's press, called "Tangled Roots Press".