The Crossroads of Friendship, Community, and Peace
Conrad Grebel University College was buzzing with music and conversation on November 29, 2025, as friends and family of Dr. Tom Lee joined together toward a shared purpose of celebrating Tom while also fundraising for the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement.
Faced with terminal cancer, Tom has been exploring and engaging in a broad range of life-affirming activities, like art, poetry, and volunteering. “The cure for cancer is a life well lived,” he explained. As part of his commitment to living meaningfully, Tom and his family initiated “Crossroads: A Celebration of Friendship, Community, and Peace,” as an afternoon at Grebel where family, friends, and acquaintances gathered to exchange thoughts and goodwill. More than one hundred guests from different chapters of Tom’s life listened to speeches, shared memories, enjoyed good food, and sang together. Tom described this event as “an aggregation of the curation of the many blessings that I have experienced in life.”
As stories were shared and memories exchanged, it was evident that Tom is a beloved and genuine friend and colleague. He was described as a person who has contributed many ideas, thoughts, words of support and wisdom, and encouragement to everyone in his wide sphere. The afternoon wove together music, poetry, and reflections from engineers, artists, civic leaders, and UWaterloo alumni, with several pieces sung by Grebel’s Chamber Choir, reflecting the diversity of Tom’s own multidisciplinary life and wide-ranging interests.
Tom is a retired engineering faculty member and past endowed chair holder at McMaster University, and the recipient of numerous distinguished honours and professional recognitions. Prior to his appointment, he enjoyed a three-decade career in the commercialization of advanced engineering technologies where he built a global reputation for developing transformational multidisciplinary initiatives in engineering education and research. He is also the author of The House that Hans Built: A Love Affair Between a Cancer Patient and an Off-Grid House in the Wood.
The Lee family’s connection to Grebel is multifaceted. Tom’s wife Sharon – whose family, like Grebel, had Mennonite roots – grew up close to the College and would often walk to school along the Grebel path.
Tom’s ties to Grebel began with his most influential mentor and MASc supervisor, Prof. Barry Wills, who was both a Systems Design Engineering professor and an accomplished musician. “He waxed frequently about how much he enjoyed engaging with Grebel on one thing or another,” remembered Tom. “He was very active in promoting connections between engineering and peace-oriented initiatives.” Although Tom had long imagined getting involved with Grebel, the opportunity didn’t materialize until decades later.
In 2024, Tom met Dr. Paul Heidebrecht, Director of the Centre for Peace Advancement. In the past they had both been involved in the global Peace Engineering Consortium, and a mutual colleague connected the two for a “conversation on topics of mutual interest.” This finally gave Tom an opportunity to engage with the College and with the Centre.
“I consider Grebel to be a precious member of the University of Waterloo community,” explained Tom. “The University of Waterloo is celebrated for its entrepreneurial and technological miracles, but Grebel is a bit of an oasis where, for a moment, the grit and drive of entrepreneurship takes a back seat to this sentiment of friendship, community, and peace.” In that spirit, all donations from Crossroads were directed to Grebel’s Centre for Peace Advancement. Close to Tom’s heart, the Centre promotes initiatives that blend technology and the arts in the interest of peace advancement.
The Centre for Peace Advancement is a dynamic community of peace researchers, entrepreneurs, activists, and artists. “It’s my privilege to provide support to help catalyze collaboration among them,” described Paul. He went on to share about the peace and engineering course he teaches regularly. “The course is built on the conviction that Peace and Conflict Studies has something important to offer to the practice of engineering, that engineers can become better engineers as a result. And just as importantly, that the engineering mindset and skill set and sensibility has something important to contribute to efforts to advance peace in our world.” He explained, “One of the most important learning outcomes in this course is that students identify opportunities to apply their expertise and their passions toward making a meaningful social impact.”
“For our family, the event was a wonderful opportunity to connect with family and friends to celebrate and reflect on how important it is to embrace life,” noted Sharon. “Grebel was a perfect location for people to enjoy an afternoon of art, music, community, and good conversation and food.
“I'm thrilled at the results of the fundraising which far exceeded anything I could have imagined,” Tom said. This extraordinary gathering raised more than $36,000 for the Centre for Peace Advancement. Reflecting back on the Crossroads afternoon, Tom explained how “This event was conceived to continue the Lee Family's efforts to make every day our very best day. The whole essence of this gathering was to ensure that we celebrate the moments in the moment that we have.”
That spirit was felt throughout the day. Many thanks to the Lee family – Tom and Sharon, Eric, and Madeleine – for creating a day that radiated community, friendship, peace, and generosity.
