Arthur (Art) Douglass Van Wart, MD

Arthur (Art) Douglass Van Wart, 88, passed away peacefully at Weatherby Pavilion in White Rock on October 1, 2026.

Art was born and grew up in Fredericton New Brunswick. He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father and became a doctor, receiving his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1964.

Art moved to Vancouver to intern at Shaughnessy Hospital where he met his wife, Isobel (nee) Clark. After time in Port Hardy and Fredericton, Art and Issie settled in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Kerrisdale, where they raised four children and Art set up a family practice. Art and Issie were active in the Kerrisdale community, including many volunteer roles at the Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church. 

Throughout his medical career, Art was focused on patient care, community service and was committed to advancing the role of family medicine in health care. Art performed house calls, long after it was a common practice. He was one of the early doctors volunteering at REACH Community Health Centre in East Vancouver and he served for many years as Chair of the Department of Family Practice at St. Paul’s Hospital. Art served on multiple committees, was an active teacher and examiner at UBC and St Paul’s (and one of the first to teach the ‘problem-based’ curriculum at UBC). In the later part of his career, he joined the UBC Department of Family Practice full-time, leading their teaching clinic. He retired in 2000. In 2007, Art received the Award of Excellence from the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons for his exceptional contribution to the practice of Medicine. 

Art and Issie married in Hawick, Scotland on November 12, 1966.  Their marriage, love and devotion to each other lasted 58 years, until Issie’s passing.  Art was never shy to praise his beautiful wife and would often share how lucky he was to have Issie in his life.

Art was a loving father and grandfather. His children and grandchildren have so many fond memories of playing games, making movies, learning magic and just enjoying his humour and silliness. His grandchildren, who called him “Punka”, were particularly important to him; he shared a special bond with each of them.      

Art was a performer and will be remembered for his skits and magic shows, as well as his epic Ode to the Haggis on Robbie Burns Day.

Art loved canoeing. He learned to canoe while fly fishing with his father on the Nepisiguit River in New Brunswick. At Crescent Beach he would take folks on Art’s Wild Kingdom Tour in his canoe and had many father and son canoe trips with friends.

Issie and Art became active with the Scottish country dancing community. In the early days Art could be found practicing the dances with cue cards in order to keep up with Issie, who grew up performing the dances. The Scottish country dancing community became a very important and fun part of their life; life-long friends were made.

In 1977, Art and Issie began spending summers at Crescent Beach and eventually moved there full-time. They soon became active in the Crescent Beach Swimming Club.  Art’s first ‘job’ was to drive up and down the local streets with a microphone and speaker and announce club events; children trailed the car on their bikes. He served in multiple roles at the Club, including president. In the early 1980s, Art and Issie, with their close friends, started the CBSC sandcastle contest. Art loved Crescent Beach, his friends, and the community that always supported him, especially after Issie’s passing.

Art is predeceased by his wife Isobel Van Wart (nee Clark), father Arthur Van Wart, mother Elsie Van Wart (nee Douglass), brother Alan Van Wart and brother-in-law David Clark. Arthur is survived by his children Louise (Ross McLaren), Helen (David Iwankow), Harriet (Sheldon Tetreault) and Jamie (Lisa Jacobs), his grandchildren, Nicholas, Riel (Laura), Isaac, Maggie, Willem, Lewis and Elsie as well as his sisters-in-law Ann Van Wart and Bel Clark.

Art’s family welcomes all to attend his memorial service at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church (2733 W. 41 Ave., Vancouver) on Friday, October 30, 2026, at 2:30 pm.

We are comforted knowing that you lived such a beautiful life. We will forever cherish the memories of our time together. Our love for you endures.