UPDATE – May 27, 2026
Hello everyone,
We will be holding a memorial Mass for Br. Bassett on June 2 at 11am here at STMC. This event will be for the community including students, staff, and faculty. While we recognize that this is a disruption to regularly scheduled classes, this is an important event for our community that needs to take precedence over anything else at this time.
We wanted to ensure that our immediate school community had a chance to be involved in remembering and honouring Br. Bassett who for more than six decades, devoted his life to the STMC community.
For anyone who would like to attend, Bro’s Funeral will be held on Saturday June 6th at St. Peter’s Church in New Westminster at 10:30am with reception to follow at STMC. More details about that event to follow.
Thank you all for your understanding and attention to this important event for our immediate school community.
Sincerely,
St. Thomas More Collegiate
Dear STMC Family,
With profound sorrow and the hope of Resurrection, we share the heartbreaking news that Brother Ted Bassett went to his eternal rest early Friday morning, May 22.
For more than six decades, Brother Bassett devoted his life to the STMC community. Brother Bassett was the heart of our community. Generations of students, families, staff, and alumni have been shaped by his unwavering faith, his quiet wisdom, his joyful spirit, and his steadfast commitment to serving STMC and the Christian Brothers. Through his vocation, Brother Bassett embodied Christ’s call to love generously, to serve humbly, and to walk faithfully alongside others.
Brother Bassett possessed the rare gift of making each person feel known, valued, seen, and loved. Whether offering words of encouragement in moments of struggle, celebrating the successes of others, standing faithfully in prayer, or simply greeting students with warmth and kindness, Brother Bassett reminded us daily of God’s presence within us and among us.
He devoted his life to our shared STMC community. Brother Bassett’s legacy is the countless lives he transformed, hearts that he inspired, and faith that he strengthened. The halls of our school, our traditions, and our shared story bear the indelible imprint of Brother Basset’s life and love.
Today our community grieves deeply. We grieve the loss of a beloved Brother, colleague, mentor, and friend. Yet as Catholics, we grieve with hope. We entrust Brother Bassett into the loving embrace of our Lord, trusting in Christ’s promise: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” (John 11:25)
Information pertaining to Brother Bassett’s funeral mass and prayer services will be shared in the coming days.
St. Thomas More, pray for us.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live, Jesus, In Our Hearts, Forever!
If you have a story, memory, or prayer you’d like to share in honour of Br. Bassett, we invite you to leave it in the comment section below.
Rest in peace, Brother Bassett. Thanks for opening the gym on Saturdays so my friends and I could play ball.
Brother Bassett, you were my homeroom teacher senior year in 1986 and I always found your calm demeanour comforting. Our batch had a 3 day retreat, and it was the last day and I happened to sit with you during lunch. You listened while I gave you my thoughts on a few issues. For me, it was uplifting. After 40 years, your kindness still resonates in me. Thank you, and may you rest in peace and love.
Bro Bassett is a great memory from the ’70s. He was soft spoken, good at listening, and easy to make smile. Those traits made him a respected teacher.
This may be the first week STM has ever been without him. He will forever reside in my heart as a fine man and a great teacher. Many men will remember him that way. (Sorry, I guess women now too!)
Bro is in our prayers, and Father David in Port McNeil and surrounding areas has included him. I know he will be in many prayers. Rest in peace Bro.
Brother Bassett, thank you for the calming force you helped to instill in me as I am sure many others felt around you. Your patience and knowledge made a great impression on me and I strive to do this every day. I thank you sir for your time and devotion. May you rest in peace in the arms of our Lord.
Today, I felt a prompting to go to the STMC website, which I have not done in many years, and was saddened to read about the passing of Brother Bassett. I first met Brother Bassett in 1979, soon after I arrived in Canada and joined the faculty at STMC. I immediately liked Brother Bassett’s soft-spoken manner and cheerful disposition, and looked forward to the occasions when I ventured up the stairs to the physics lab, usually late in the day, where I found him working quietly behind his desk. In our many conversations, I sensed a depth of character in him and dedication to his work at STMC. For him teaching was not a job. It was not even a career; it was a calling. And equally so was his calling to follow in the footsteps of Edmund Rice and become a Christian Brother.
Vale Brother Bassett. The world is a lesser place with your passing. Rest in peace.
Chris Lane Cairns, Australia
Bro was one of the science teachers who played a significant role in my being a teacher of physics today. Patient, thoughtful, and smart. I was fortunate to have him for Physics 12 so many years ago.
We priests of the Archdiocese of Vancouver this devoted servant. He was always there at St thomas More, and was always a humble, welcoming man.
Our condolences to the Christian Brothers on the loss of a wonderful confrere. When i was in Powell River BC for ten years, I met him up there when we would visit his brother who lived in the Powell River/qathet region. May you rest in peace, dear Brother, you have been an inspiring example for our world’s youth!
Fr Patrick Tepoorten Saint Pius X Parish, Mount Seymour, North Vancouver BC