The University of British Columbia’s Department of Geography was Cole’s much-loved academic home. He first joined the department as an undergraduate student beginning in the late 1950s and then, after graduate work at the University of Wisconsin and a faculty appointment at the University of Toronto, as a member of its faculty from 1971 until he retired in 2001.

In 1961, Cole’s sister Susan introduced him to her friend from the UBC choir, Muriel Watney, and two weeks at the Harris family’s property in the Slocan Valley led to a wonderful partnership over 58 years of married life. Cole died at home on September 26, 2022, at age 86, surrounded by Muriel and his children, Douglas, Colin and Rachel.

Over the course of his career as a historical geographer, which extended into the decades after retirement, Cole explored and sought to understand the places he lived, studied and visited. His scholarly work was animated by an attempt to make sense of Canada. The award-winning Historical Atlas of Canada, Vol 1, which he guided and edited, was a profound contribution to the collective understanding of place. His later work turned to British Columbia and included Making Native Space: Colonialism, Resistance, and Reserves in British Columbia.

Cole understood that to live well was to contribute. His contributions were many—to the field of historical geography, to teaching and mentoring students, to understanding the country, to the University of British Columbia, to the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, to raising a family—and he continues to influence and inspire. Formal recognition came in many honours, including the Massey Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada and in being named an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Cole shared his passion for the country with generations of students, influencing many lives and career choices. His teaching included organized and impromptu field trips, spurred by research projects and an abiding curiosity, to disparate corners of the country, including southern Ontario, the lower St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Vancouver Island and southern British Columbia. His excursions through the Fraser Canyon with family, friends, colleagues and graduate and undergraduate students, as he worked with others to understand the past and how it informed the present, remain a vivid memory for many. Cole will be remembered for spirited lectures, lively seminars, unconventional field trips, mealtime conversation, Shakespeare readings, enthusiastic singing, his support of creative activity, his rigour and his kindness.

To honour Cole’s commitment to field-based education and place-based learning and his sense of fun, the Department of Geography is establishing the Cole Harris Field Trip Fund. Prompted by former students who enjoyed and endured his excursions, the Field Trip Fund will support faculty in the Geography Department in continuing to integrate on-site training and experiential learning through field trips, excursions, field schools, site visits, building tours and more. Reflecting Cole’s deep love of Canada and British Columbia and his conviction that understanding the ecological and social past of this place mattered in the present, the fund will prioritize historical and geographical student field experiences in British Columbia.

The Department of Geography is also taking this opportunity to collect stories of Cole’s field trips. Cole, who always loved a good story, would be pleased to know that the trips were still being enjoyed in the retelling, and we invite you to share stories and photographs on this memorial page.