Guy Gervais left us for other skies on April 9th.
 
Guy was originally from a small town in Montérégie, St-Hugues de Johnson, the youngest of a family of eight.
 
Initially a priest with the Montfortains, his superiors sent him for training to take on the role of bush pilot in Papua New Guinea in 1960. In 1967, he joined Wings of Hope as a Cessna pilot based in Iquitos, Peru. There he met Ruth Luna. He requested and was granted the privilege to leave the priesthood to start a family in 1973, which grew to include three children, Paul, Gabriel, and Claudia.
 
With Wings of Hope, Guy worked in Suriname, Guatemala, and served as a pilot for the expeditioner Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
 
In the early 1980s, Prodeva (the former name of Terre Sans Frontières) decided to set up and equip an airbase to serve an isolated region in the heart of the African continent. Brother Robert Gonneville contacted Wings of Hope to send a plane to the Congo to carry out the mission to develop the region of Dungu in Haut-Uele. It was Guy Gervais who was tasked with promoting Avions Sans Frontières, selecting, and preparing the first pilots in 1984.
 
From 1986, Guy felt the urge to jump in the cockpit once more. From 1986 until the mid-2000s, he repeatedly provided air service from Dungu, sometimes as an interim pilot while waiting to find or train pilots, and other times for longer stays.
 
Subsequently, traveling less frequently to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guy remained involved voluntarily with TSF in pilot selections and the shipment of parts for the Avions Sans Frontières Cessna 206.

Guy helped save lives by transporting people from bush airstrips to Dungu where a hospital could receive them.
 
He contributed to transporting experts from the TSF-Dungu development office to the hinterlands, where TSF supported drinking water wells, medical evacuations and school construction projects. He transported vaccines, giving children better chances of survival.
 
In 2015, Guy was honored by the Government of Quebec with its highest distinction, the title of Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, for his life’s work and his exemplary dedication to humanitarian service.
 
You have taken flight to unknown skies, Guy. We will not forget you.