RIP Dr. Alex (“Dooley”) Goumeniouk (Nov 2, 1957 – June 11, 2019)
“Dooley will always have a place in our hearts for his love of this island, his brilliant contributions to medicine, his grand sense of style and, of course, his larger-than-life presence,” said his Bowen neighbours and friends.
After an epic final evening of outrageous tales and Elton John tunes with his family and old friends, Bowen Island’s Dooley Goumeniouk passed peacefully at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.
His enthusiasm for life was legendary and he’d packed a lot into his 61 years. Living on Bowen since 1989, he was hard to miss in his colourful attire, shoes, eyewear, and watches. He was a charter member of the golf club, and often used to sail with his mother Vi and stepfather Fred Davies, also of Bowen. On what he called his own 25 acres of paradise on Mount Gardner Road, he planned and built beautiful gardens and fruit orchards. He also liked to launch rockets and obtained accreditation to help Bowen firemen handle pyrotechnics on special days.
Professionally, Dr. Goumeniouk had recently been the director of psychiatry services at Bowen’s own Orchard Recovery Centre and helped establish other several residential treatment centres for eating disorders and drug or alcohol addiction. Said one patient, “Words can’t express the gratitude I feel for his kindness, humour, understanding and, most importantly, the confidence he helped restore in me when I was at the lowest point in my life.”
As a physician-scientist, he served as a consultant to global pharmaceutical companies and lectured all over the world. He also spent 25 years both as a clinical psychiatrist and professor of pharmacology before retiring from the Huntington’s Disease Clinic and UBC as a clinical professor emeritus. He was often recognized for his gift for teaching and received international teaching and fellowship awards. He loved to share his broad knowledge and passions with students, patients and the community, including Bowen’s Seniors Keeping Young.
As a visionary physician-entrepreneur, he held two U.S. patents for innovative bio diagnostic testing and delivery. HIs great passion for business started with Response BioMed; he later set up CINEDOCs Consulting Corporation, Aequus Pharmaceuticals, Plan B Pharmaceuticals and Medex Technologies Corp. Lise, his love and partner of 42 years, managed all of his companies and also recently started her own local artisanal treats business, bowen bites.
This spring, Lise and Dooley proudly celebrated the graduations of their two children: Natasha, from Queen’s University medicine, and Peter, from Western University engineering science. Peter works at Copperleaf in Vancouver on engineering software solutions for the energy sector, and Natasha is about to begin her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Calgary.
Dooley’s family and many friends from all walks of life are gathering on Sunday, June 30 between 3 and 5 p.m. at his beloved Red Barn to celebrate memories of his eclectic life.
Joan Dixon is a member of Dr. Goumeniouk's family.
