Nick Newbery, BA, Dip-Ed, MA (died 19 February 2020, aged 75)
Obituary available in full from https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/obituary-nick-newbery-1944-2020/
Born and educated in England, Nick Newbery graduated with a degree in Modern Languages in 1967, followed by a Diploma in Education in 1969, both from Queen’s. He emigrated to Canada in 1970, moving to the Canadian North in 1976. Here, Nick made his home for 30 years, teaching in Taloyoak (Spence Bay), Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq before moving to Iqaluit to run a cross-cultural program for Inuit youth. In Taloyoak he met his wife Terry, an outpost nurse and midwife.
In 1985 he earned a bursary to complete his MA in Northern and Native studies at Carleton University. The following year, he and Terry moved to Iqaluit, where for 17 years Nick developed and ran the Terry Fox Program for at-risk Inuit teenagers.
In 2005, he and Terry retired to Nova Scotia where he taught courses on the North at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax from 2006 to 2019. There, he raised funds for scholarships for students interested in teaching in Nunavut to get on-the-ground northern orientation.
Nunavut and its people captured Nick’s soul. He said that every day of the 30 years he spent in the Arctic was an adventure and that he felt privileged to have lived and worked there, including his love of photography which led to a book being published. He found the opportunity to use his initiative in northern education both refreshing and rewarding. He was captivated by the Inuit culture and by the kindness of the people he encountered, and was always proud to say that he was from Nunavut.
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