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George C Vilim
June 20, 1925 - January 16, 2012
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<div itemprop="description"> <p> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b> Obituary </b> </p> <p> <b> George C. Vilim </b> , born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on June 20, 1925 - died in Prague, Czech Republic on January 16th, 2012. He was an only child ~ a man of great courage, vision and ability, with an enormous capacity for love of family, friends &amp; countries. </p> <p> </p> <p> He studied Law at Charles University in Prague and then Intl Law in Geneva, Switzerland prior to immigrating to Montreal, Canada in 1948 where he built a life in the financial community. He began with Nesbitt Thompson (1952) quickly creating opportunity for himself to open new markets in post war Europe. Next, he became a partner with Morgan, Ostiguy &amp; Hudon (1960). In 1968, be became the founder of the investment firm Canavest House Ltd. in the budding city of Toronto. </p> <p> In post Velvet Revolution Prague (1989), George largely contributed to the building of financial &amp; industrial forums and played a unique role in the Czech Republic's transition to capitalism as described in his book &quot; <u> Two Worlds </u> &quot;, which he completed just a few weeks before his death. </p> <p> </p> <p> George served as Governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange &amp; several committees within the TSE. He was a long-time member of numerous professional associations including the IDA and the National Club. He belonged to many social &amp; sports clubs including The Hermitage in Magog, The Atwater Club in Montreal, Badminton &amp; Racquet Club of Toronto , Royal Canadian Yacht Club &amp; the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. </p> <p> </p> <p> George was a distinguished gentleman, an optimist &amp; a respected mentor. His thirst for knowledge was never ending. He challenged &amp; inspired learning from ambitious &amp; curious minds. George always encouraged education. A favourite motto was &quot;Knowledge is Power&quot;. His dynamic &amp; passionate energy was boundless. His greatest motivation was to always enjoy the adventure of the journey.&nbsp; Great loves in life included his family, nature, outdoor sports &amp; his work. He was always excited about the future, &amp; embraced it. </p> <p> </p> <p> George was preceded in death by his daughter, Natalie Alexandra in 1987, &amp; is survived by his wife Marica in Prague, with whom he was married since 1991, also, by his first wife &amp; mother of their four daughters, Sylvia in Toronto. Carrying on are his daughters and sons in law;&nbsp; Carol (John Paul Brozyna), Christine (Jean-Paul Jumonville) living in Santa Monica,&nbsp; Francine (Christophe Chanel) living in Toronto, &amp; his grandchildren Maxwell &amp; Felix Vilim-Brozyna &amp; Sebastien &amp; Julien Pierre Chanel ~ along with extended family in Europe; Judita , Pavel and Richard Nevsimal (Prague) Paul, Yvonne&nbsp; &amp; Laura Zeltvay (Munich).&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p> George lived an extraordinary life. We are privileged to have had such loving relationships with him, &amp; we&rsquo;ll miss his wisdom &amp; infectious smile. </p> <p> </p> <p> A &ldquo;Celebration of Life&rdquo; gathering will be held at Mt. Pleasant Visitation Center for family &amp; friends on February 19th @ 2:00 PM (375 Mt. Pleasant Road) 416.485.5572 ~ Please use the East gate entrance.&nbsp; Online condolences can be left&nbsp;on the Guestbook tab or directly with family, via private e-mail.&nbsp; </p> <p> As per requests for donations &ndash; with gratitude, we direct you to: The George C. Vilim Scholarship in Effective Management / Rotman School of Management, U of T. &nbsp;https://donate.utoronto.ca/give/show/2&nbsp; - see link on Donations tab.&nbsp; </p> </div>