In Memoriam - Gerry Eberle

New Vintage Theatre lost a very valued member of our arts family in January. It has been very devastating.

Gerry Eberle was more than a board member, treasurer and volunteer. He was an arts advocate throughout his career for New Vintage Theatre, Kelowna Fringe Festival, Persephone Theatre and a true fan of live performance.

He contributed his time, energy and expertise to organizations that he truly cared about, brought friends to shows and he and his wife Michelle watched all of the Fringe shows they could-sometimes as the only members of the audience.

His sense of fun and joy about life-travelling, seeing his favourite teams play, talking about his son and love, Michelle, meant that when you were with him, you were smiling.

The last time I saw him I was thanking him for a donation to our theatre school as he sat in the audience, supporting our young stars of Rudolph.

This was Gerry. It takes more than the people who perform in a play, run it from backstage, write it or direct it to make theatre happen. It takes many dedicated volunteers, donors and fans like Gerry and Michelle who watch us to make it worth doing.

Gerry - thank you! You will be missed by many. We loved you.

Condolences to Michelle, Rylan and family.

- Bonnie Gratz, Artistic Director