Darryl Gidyk Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

I must start with Darryl’s own words from his Post-Doctoral Thesis, a dedication that he wrote to his daughters, Lily and Daisy. I think that Darryl would have wanted his friends and his family to reflect on these words and forever hold them to heart. “My beloved daughters, Let this thesis stand as a permanent reminder that life is effort-based. I hope my struggles and dedication inspire you in times of self-doubt. I want you to know that to achieve rare things in life you must go all-in. Discover yourself. Be who you truly are. Know your worth. Ask yourself and others the difficult questions. Do not fear failure and constantly re-evaluate. Evolve. Most importantly, be relentless in your most cherished endeavors and have fun. Understand that your achievements come from within and you must never leave your happiness to chance, or the will of another. Do, or do not – there is no try (that’s for your Mom). I hope one day you will understand this achievement came from within me, but only because of you. Lily and Daisy, you are my sources of strength. When you need it, I will help you find yours. Never forget that we earned this together. I won’t. Thank you. Love always, Daddy, Ph.D.” Dr. Darryl C. Gidyk leaves behind his mother and father, Walt and Marg Gidyk of Edmonton, Alberta, and his brother Allan Gidyk and his wife Suzy Haghighi. Also left to mourn are Darryl’s wife Thea and their daughters Lily and Daisy-Valentine. It comforts me to know that there are so many others out there thinking of and mourning this great man, who was a loving and devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He was brilliant and funny, passionate, and altogether amazing, and probably one of the most tattooed, metal, swearingest Doctors of Neuroscience. Darryl was a good man, a man who even remembered to thank the sacrifice of his Long-Evans hooded rats. “You’re my favorite strain. No hippocampus? No big deal”. This was the man that Darryl Gidyk was. He will be dearly missed. You all helped to write Darryl’s story, the thesis of his life and I know that he was forever grateful to all of you. He is gone but your memories remain. Always. https://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/participants/darryl-gidyk https://opus.uleth.ca/bitstream/handle/10133/5423/Gidyk_Darryl_PhD_2019.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Darryl Gidyk

April 20, 2021