President – Andy Bond
Chapter Development – Eileen Bond
Eileen and Andy Bond are co-founders and past leaders of the Ottawa Chapter of The Compassionate Friends of Canada. Their 20-year old son Kevin died suddenly in 1994 from “cardiac arrhythmia” leaving their two surviving children – Jennifer (b. 1972) and Michael (b. 1982).
Eileen and Andy initially made contact with TCF in Winnipeg and found the phone calls and newsletters to be a lifeline during those terrible initial weeks and months. They founded the Ottawa Chapter after attending a TCF Conference in Kelowna BC in 1998.
While raising their family, Eileen held several part time jobs and volunteer positions in the community and also ran a successful home-based bookkeeping business. She is now retired, after 12 years as Office Manager in a long-term care facility. She spends time with her grandsons and still volunteers with The Council on Ageing and TCF.
Andy retired in December 2015 following a career in program management and business development in the aerospace and defense sector and 14 years as a career and retirement lifestyle coach. He is still active with local business groups and on various TCF projects.
In 2012, Eileen and Andy were honored to receive Queen Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medals in recognition of their work with TCF Ottawa. They joined the current TCF Canada National Board in 2015 and look forward to helping TCF Canada thrive as a national organization and making peer support as widely available as possible.