Tribute to Peter Rezansoff (1939–2021)

People’s Builder and Cultural Mover

Peter P. Rezansoff, age 81, Vancouver, British Columbia, died May 16th, 2021. He is survived by his wife Elsie, his three daughters with spouces, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many friends across Canada and the world.

Click picture to ENLARGE.

As a biographer of interesting Doukhobors around the world, I have found Peter Resansoff to be one of the most memorable. We first met in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1959 during a farewell visit with zealots, when some of them stopped at our place for the night. Peter told me that he was impressed by the Doukhobor university students who organized the Saskatoon Doukhobor student group, published The Inquirer, yet maintained an active interest in their ancestry.

At that time Peter had only seven grades of schooling which he received in the Hilliers, BC experimental community. However, when he decided to become a builder, he did a crash course in getting his high school certificate before going to the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) where within two years he completed the Construction Management Program and became a skilled carpenter. Peter was known for his outstanding memory, for being a perfectionist, for ‘thinking outside the box’, and for being ‘a people person’. At BCIT, he was so liked and so knowledgeable that he taught Saturday classes in carpentry.

He was hired in 1971 as a Superintendent of the first company he pursued, Stanzl Construction. In 1981 he moved to Narod Construction where he was recognized for his business skills and promoted to Vice-President. When the company went bankrupt during Canada’s recession, Peter and a colleague Tony McGill formed their own construction company Intertech Construction Group (later rebranded as Intertech Construction: ITC) and became one of the 50 best managed companies in Canada building high rise residential buildings in Western Canada.

(Left to right) Gordon and Vi Bonderoff, and Peter Rezansoff,
USCC Union of Youth Festival 2013, Brilliant Cultural Centre.

For me as for many others, Peter Rezansoff was larger than life. In spite of his humble beginnings, he was not only successful in business, but he found time to sing, to play the accordion, to nurture his Doukhobor roots, and to support his family. He was truly a bridge-builder for understanding across cultures in his philanthropic work with Whatshan Lake Retreat, the Doukhobor Friends of Tolstoy Bakery Café project at Yasnaya Polyana in Russia, in supporting the Mir Centre for Peace in Selkirk College, the Lower Mainland Doukhobor Benevolent Society, and the USCC Community Doukhobors.

In response to one of the stories about outstanding work by his company, on Feb. 15, 2010 Peter replied in an email:

Thank you Koozma in finding interest in the Vancouver Sun Story and for including this article on your Web Site. I am pleased to have received most positive comments from many friends and associates and you are one of these friends. Just as you, I am proud of my Doukhobor heritage and humble upbringing and am not the least ashamed to share this with everyone I meet. Many in the business community refer to me as ‘The Doukhobor Builder’, ‘one must appreciate his past in order to be able to recognize the future.’

One friend wrote me: ‘I lost a great confident and friend. The world lost a true Doukhobor.’ I fully agree! Peter Rezansoff was an honest exemplary Renaissance man plus, and an outstanding example for others. He will be missed.

More About Peter Rezansoff

• Verigin, Elmer. ‘How I Knew Peter Rezansoff, remarks at funeral in Krestova, BC, May 22, 2021.
• 'Passing of Peter Rezansoff, co-founder of ITC Construction Group', Denna Homes, Real Estate, Seylynn Village, West Vancouver, The Sentinal, Facebook, May 18, 2021.
• Obituary in Iskra, No. 2163, June 2021, pages 34-37. Peter Rezansoff (Sept. 5, 1939 - May 16, 2021).
• Obituary in Vancouver Sun and The Province, May 29, 2021. Peter Rezansoff.
• Obituary in Castlegar News, and Grand Forks Gazette, May 16, 2021. Peter Rezansonff.
• Notice of Passing, Mir Centre for Peace, Selkirk College, June 2, 2021. — With sadness, we share the news of Peter Rezansoff's passing. Peter was born in Krestova and lived a life based on traditional Doukhobor principles. He and his wife, Elsie, were great supporters of the Mir Centre for Peace, and generously seeded the endowment fund that supports the Mir Lecture Series. Read more about Peter here. We are very grateful for donations made in his memory to the Mir Centre. Learn more…
• Rezansoff Construction Now Top of Class, Spirit-Wrestlers Blog, October 5, 2011.
• Some Changes at ITC Construction, Micheal Geller's Blog, October 13, 2011.
• Parry, Malcolm, ‘Builder proud that partnership produced affordable rent in Downtown Eastside’, Vancouver Sun, February 4, 2010.
• Peter Rezansoff in Vancouver Sun news, Hodge-Podge, Spirit-Wrestlers.com, February 4, 2010.
• JJ Verigin Supports MIR Lecture Series, Mir Centre for Peace, Selkirk College, November 12, 2009. — [Photo] Peter Rezansoff MIR Lecture Series Campaign Chair accepts a cheque from JJ Verigin ...
• Tolstoy and the Doukhobors. 2005. Video narrated by Peter P. Rezansoff.
• Official Opening of the Yasnaya Polyana Bakery/Café Communication Center, Friends of Tolstoy Bakery/Café, Yasnaya Polyana, Update October 17, 2005, by Peter P. Rezansoff, on Doukhobor Message Board, 19 Oct 2005.
• Intertech Construction Group: Intertech Construction Group selected as one of Canada’s 50 best managed companies for 2003, Iskra, No. 1953, February 4, 2004, page 9.
• ITC , Sponsor, Friends of Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana Bakery Café, Tula, Russian Federation.  
• Supporters - Patrons $25,000+, Mir Centre for Peace, Selkirk College.
• Peter and Elsie : Proud Sponsors of the USCC Doukhobor Website.
• Tarasoff, Koozma J. Peter P. Rezansoff — People’s Builder and Cultural Mover. In Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers’ Strategies for Living , 2002, pages 203-205.