Mr. Gerald Newlands

November 16, 1941 - May 26, 2022

Gerald Newlands of High River, Alberta passed away at the High River Hospital on May 26, 2022 at the age of 80 years. Gerald is survived by his wife Santa (Susanna) and his sister Edith Wolff of South Africa as well as several cousins in the UK and South Africa. Gerald was born in Pretoria, South Africa to parents George and Sheila Newlands. He began his scientific career working in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Pretoria. Following that, he worked at the Transvaal Museum studying arachnology and the evolution of man. Gerald then became more interested in the study of Arachnids specializing in scorpions and spiders. This sparked him to take a position as a Medical Entomologist at the South African Institute for Medical Research in Johannesburg. In 1983, Gerald returned to the University of Pretoria to teach medical students Clinical Entomology and science students Insect Physiology. In 1986 Gerald was awarded a PhD in the faculty of medicine of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, for his dissertation on necrotic arachnidism in Southern Africa. Gerald and Santa immigrated into Canada in 1992 and in 1993 he joined the archeology department at the University of Calgary where he became an Adjunct Associate Professor and shared his expertise in scientific photography and microscopy. Gerald also indulged in artistic photography and in May 1994 his photography work was showcased at the University of Calgary Art Gallery. Throughout his life, Gerald had written five books, over 50 scientific papers, and presented papers at 23 professional congresses worldwide, as well, three of his microscopy inventions had been patented. A Celebration of Gerald’s Life will be held on Friday, June 10th at 11:00 a.m. at Lyle Reeves Funerals Atrium in High River. Caring for the family is Lyle Reeves Funerals of High River (Craig Snodgrass) 403.652.4242.