Celebrating the Life of Jim Gehrels of Lifewater Canada

The Lifewater International team is grieved to announce the passing of Jim Gehrels, Founder and President of Lifewater Canada.

Although Lifewater Canada is it’s own water charity apart from Lifewater International, Jim and Lifewater International Founder Bill Ashe were great friends and inspirations to one another. Both men were driven to serve others with safe water and life-saving health improvements. In July of this year, Jim went to be with the Lord.

Beginning in the mid-1990’s, Jim dedicated his life to bringing clean water to countries in need—principally Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya and Haiti.

Jim operated Lifewater Canada with the core belief that every person on earth deserves access to safe drinking water. The organization helps communities adopt healthy habits to prevent disease and constructs safe water sources built to last.

“Jim was really important to a whole lot of us at Lifewater,” Pat Klever, Lifewater International Board Member said. “He was Canadian, had the most hilarious sense of humor and always inspired the rest of us with his innovations in Liberia.”

Lifewater Canada served in Liberia before and after the civil war that ravaged the country, working within communities who had recently experienced devastating loss.

“Jim was extremely intelligent… He could make everything work,” Cheryl Hertan, Board Chair at Lifewater Canada said, remember Jim. “But, he was a big teddy bear, and he loved to laugh more than anybody I know.”

Jim’s skill as a hydrogeologist and heart for those in need brought hope to entire communities over the course of his lifetime.

He will be remembered as a man with great faith in God, a person loved by many all over the world, and someone who dedicated his life to ending the global water crisis one community at a time. He is survived by his wife, Lynda, and their three children, Jesse, Ben, and Hannah.

We pray for Jim’s family and extended family at Lifewater Canada. May God’s comfort, mercy, grace, and unfailing love surround them during this time.