Julian Alexander Cameron Bélanger
Son, husband, father, loyal friend. Born on March 15, 1971, in Chatham, Ont.; died on Sept. 8, 2014, in Chatham, Ont., by suicide, aged 43.
Julian, known to family and friends as "Goon," was the baby in a family of four boys and one girl. Always a curious child, he would pepper us with questions about everything he saw while riding in the car. His inquisitive nature stayed with him, spurring a wide range of interests and friends.
When Julian was first introduced to skating at age 3, he stepped tentatively on the ice, afraid of falling. Then, during a local figure-skating carnival, he took off like a rocket on skates and never looked back. He became a pretty good defenceman, proud to be drafted by the Kitchener Rangers Major Junior A hockey team, and was a member of the 1986-1987 All-Ontario Chatham Bantam AA Hockey Team inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame. He was also a rabid fan of the Montreal Canadiens, had the opportunity to participate in the world-famous Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament, and was thrilled to play a game in Quebec City's old Colisée.
Along with hockey, he loved music, cooking and politics. His eclectic collection of more than 3,000 CDs ran the gamut from progressive rock to jazz and classical. Julian graduated with a degree in radio broadcasting, which led to becoming a volunteer host on several radio shows. Since 2008, he was the host of two progressive rock programs (The Purple Room and Space Truckin') on the University of Windsor's CJAM, driving an hour each way to host the Sunday-night shows, which had a loyal following.
Julian's love of reading was just as varied as his musical taste, ranging from cookbooks to Canadian politics. His erudite observations about the political scene made for very interesting conversations, particularly during an election campaign. Bilingual, and a Conservative since his teen years (he was a great admirer of John Diefenbaker), Julian was also a very effective and well-liked constituency assistant for our area's Conservative MP, David Van Kesteren.
Tall, good looking and well dressed, Julian became a good friend, and almost a second son, to the owner of a well-known Chatham men's wear store, who kept him outfitted in sartorial splendour (around the house, he wore sweats). Cooking was his favourite form of relaxation and he prepared most of the family meals. He enjoyed preparing Indian dishes (butter chicken a specialty) and French-Canadian recipes, especially those of the famed Madame Jehane Benoît.
But most of all he loved his three children, Zara, Quincy and Daphne; and his canine mutt, Blackmore. During the last months of his life, he lived with his parents in their family home after the breakup of his marriage. Julian entered a downward spiral into the pit of depression, from which he was unable to recover. While being such a help to so many people in so many ways, he was, in the end, unable to help himself. As a result, he decided he could no longer be the father he once was and left us on a beautiful September day. We will love and miss him forever, our beautiful boy.
Pat Bélanger is Julian's mother.