Neil Spriggs

Spriggs - Neil

It is with overwhelming sadness that we share the passing of Neil Martin Spriggs, who passed away in a tragic aviation accident on February 10, 2021, near Carp Airport, west of Ottawa. Neil will be deeply missed by Kathy, his wife of 33 years, as well as his daughter Krista (Melissa Nannini), son Alastair (Jess Cable), and soon-to-be step-granddaughters Astrid and Daphiny, who all live in Ottawa.  Neil is also survived by his parents, Jean and Fred Spriggs, brother David (Jane), niece Samantha (Paul Thulborn), and nephew Matthew, who live near Oxford, UK, as well as his sister-in-law, Sandra Musick, nephew Andrew, and niece Ashley, from Weatherford, Texas.

Neil was born in MacKenzie, British Guiana, on March 16, 1961. He attended a boarding school in the UK, and went on to graduate with Magna Cum Laude recognition from Cambridge University’s Oceanography and Geophysics program in 1983, despite having dyslexia.

Upon graduation, Neil moved to Garland, Texas to begin his career in earth sciences at Teledyne Geotech. It was in Garland that he and Kathy met, and they married in 1987. Soon after, they moved to the UK so Neil could work in Teledyne’s London offices. The couple purchased their first home near the south coast where they loved racing their beloved Hobie 19 sailboat.

In 1992, Neil and his family immigrated to Canada when he joined Nanometrics – a seismic monitoring start up – and began a successful partnership with the late Robin Hayman. As VP of Sales and Marketing, Neil travelled to over 52 countries, established meaningful customer relationships, and rarely left a meeting without a promising handshake and a done-deal. Neil was instrumental in transforming the company from a 10-person start up into the global leader that it is today, which employs 170 people across three countries. In 2015, Neil became CEO, and was honoured to be voted among the best-managed companies in Canada by Deloitte in 2019.

Outside of his work, Neil was an enthusiastic horseback rider, pilot, sailor, and handyman, and loved spending time with his family. He will be dearly missed.

Due to COVID restrictions, a private family celebration of life will be held at Tubman Funeral Homes Garden Chapel on Friday, Feb. 26th at 2 pm.  To watch the service through livestreaming, please go to www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com