Brian Frederick Souter

June 21, 1940 - January 8, 2026

Brian Frederick Souter was born in Winnipeg on June 21, 1940 to Connie and George Souter, the second of three children.  His brother, Bruce, was 3 years older, and his sister Barbara would come 10 years later.  Brian grew up and was educated in St. James.

While the boys were still quite young, their parents decided that a spiritual education would be good for them.  They asked grandma (Mary Tippen) to study with their boys.  At the time the parents were not yet Jehovah’s Witnesses, but grandmother Tippen was.  As their Bible studies progressed, grandmother foresaw the time when evolution would be taught in their class and prepared them to address it.  They took her teaching to heart.  Brian later spoke of an event at school.  He told his teacher that he didn’t believe in evolution, so how could he indicate that in test questions.  His teacher said, “you don’t have to believe it, you just have to understand it.”  Brian’s solution during the test——“according to the theory of evolution” —— and his answer was accepted. 

Brian was an avid reader and had knowledge on a wide variety of topics, some general, others specific, and if he learned something he enjoyed, we all heard about it.  He was a born storyteller. Aviation was one of his favourite topics, and with his analytical, safety- conscious mind, he would critically follow airplane accidents… What caused them?  How might they have been avoided? But he especially enjoyed science where it related to evidence of a Creator.

After his baptism in May of 1957, Brian answered the call to serve as a pioneer (or full time ministry worker) in Quebec, where he would spend the next 22 years.  Serving in Quebec meant functioning in the French language, not an easy task for “an English kid from the prairies,” and not like what he had studied in school textbooks.  He also learned that it would take about 6 months to function reasonably well. But arriving in a French congregation that welcomed him was a good start. A good sense of humour and expecting to make a lot of mistakes was good advice.  It worked, and with time and patience, he was able to become bilingual.

As Brian’s language skills progressed, he was given more responsibilities, and eventually he was able to have assignments in the congregation, circuit and at conventions.  In 1967 he was assigned to serve as a servant in a congregation in Quebec City. 

It was here at a convention during lunch time that Brian saw his friend Ollie and asked her to go for a walk on The Plains of Abraham, which led to a favourite comment of his, “I met my Waterloo on The Plains of Abraham.” They got married Dec. 15, 1967.  From here on Brian’s story included me. 

By this time the Witnesses were no longer being arrested and jailed. Maurice Duplessis had lost his case against the Witnesses, and in fact he was already dead.  People were curious about Witnesses and wanted to know more about their story. We noticed this was especially true amongst the younger generation.  Requests came in for Jehovah’s Witness’s to visit schools, colleges and even occasionally TV and radio.  This gave Brian the opportunity to be part of some very interesting experiences, which he particularly enjoyed.  I recall one of Brian’s experiences of a young journalist student who asked if he could interview him about our work.  The student later called Brian to thank him for the good mark he got on his assignment.

This was also the time of the FLQ crisis, later to be known as the October crisis.  We saw the military occupying places in Quebec.  Of course, this had nothing to do with us but, we always remembered the advice we were given, to keep absolutely neutral in all political events, and to speak only French when on the street, which we were already doing.  About this time in the 70’s Brian got an idea that worked well for us.  There was a big need for English instructors in industries.  Brian said “Couldn’t we be instructors? After all, we know what it is like to learn another language and we’ve been taught how to teach and have good communication skills.” So, he answered an ad for work at an oil refinery, Ultramar Canada. He was immediately hired and told them that his wife had the same training and so I was hired as well.  The location was across the river from Quebec City in Levis, Quebec.  This gave us part time work so we could pioneer there for the next 8 years. 

In 1976 we took our only overseas trip to London where Brian’s sister Barbara and Ken lived. Definitely a memory making trip!  We went to the British museum. Barbara arranged a week-long trip on a houseboat for the 4 of us to enjoy, travelling down one of Britain’s canals. Brian and I also took a trip through Scotland. On this trip, Brian discovered the “Peter Powell Stunter Kites” in England, which became his hobby for years in Quebec and later in Manitoba. 

We returned to Winnipeg in 1982, leaving behind dear friends and a culture that we had enjoyed and adopted.   Brian soon found work with Canadian Employment Insurance, where he worked until 1995.  Brian was soon involved with our local congregation, Assiniboine congregation, as an elder, making new friends. He was also later assigned to serve in Woodlands, Charleswood and then lastly Crestview.

As his health and memory faded, he never forgot the words of Jesus’ promise, found in John 5:28,29: “Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out…” which he would want everyone to read.

My sincerest thanks to all of you who have been a huge support to both of us… our Crestview congregation; our kind and caring next door neighbours, Lori and Brent; also the workers at the Convalescent Home for their excellent compassionate care of Brian.

With appreciation, Ollie Souter.

Cremation has taken place, and at his request there will be no formal service. Interment will take place at the Pine Ridge Cemetery.

Branch & Pyre Cremation Care