Dr. Lorin Donald Card

Dr. Lorin Donald Card passed away at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary, AB, in the early hours of July 26, 2026, at the age of 66. He is survived by us, his 5 children: Laura (Korey), Carmen, Allison, Brandon (Trina), and Ryan (Carly); his 3 grandchildren: Emrie, Easton, and Eian; and his 4 siblings: Doreen, Nolan, Bruce, and Mark. His remains are interred next to his parents, Donald and Rhea Card, in Cardston, AB.

Dad served his mission for the LDS church in southern France and fell in love with the language and culture. He went on to earn a PhD in French to English Literary Translation from Queen’s University, an achievement he was always and rightly proud of. Throughout his career, Dad taught French at many well-respected universities across Canada and was often a favourite professor of his students because of his genuine engagement, expertise, and humour. Despite his struggles with significant physical and mental illnesses in his later decades, Dad remained a passionate, enthusiastic man of exceptional intelligence, with an incorrigible sense of humour. A father, a grandfather, and a friend.

The last gift Dad gave us was the chance to be together and support each other through this difficult time. The last gift we gave to him was to provide him with some dignity and peace in his final days. We’re especially grateful to the team at the Foothills ICU for their outstanding professionalism and compassion. We also want to extend a particular thanks to our dear family friend, Denis “Denny” Thibodeau and his wife Vanessa; words cannot express our gratitude for their kindness and friendship shown to our dad and to us over the many years we’ve known them.

In lieu of a formal service in his honour, we recommend grabbing a Pepsi slurpee, some peanut M&Ms, and watching a Dad movie (this is a movie that you made fun of your dad for watching but once you were old enough, you realised it was actually really good but you’ll never admit that to him. e.g. The Rock, The Count of Monte Cristo, Wayne’s World, etc.). Other memorial activities could include singing along to James Taylor, Warren Zevon, and other classic rock that makes you play air guitar on the steering wheel (you absolutely do not need to know the words; Dad always made them up anyway). We’re partial to Werewolves of London: an iconic song that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but sure is catchy and always makes us laugh, just like Dad.