Under grey skies and the vaulted ceilings of St. James-the-Less chapel, Dean Lisowick was remembered as someone with a “light that shone from him,” a man who remained generous despite the challenges he faced.Ten months after he was named an alleged victim of accused serial killer Bruce McArthur, friends and acquaintances of Lisowick, 47, gathered for a memorial service Friday, followed by a ceremony in the church’s Rose Garden where his ashes were scattered. The service spoke of a man who endeared those around him with his kindness, while acknowledging a tragic fact about his final chapter: that Lisowick’s disappearance — sometime in late 2016 or early 2017 — went unreported.Read more: Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur waives right to preliminary hearingA timeline of the Bruce McArthur case and the police investigation into the Gay Village killingsFamily honours Selim Esen at memorial service“I’m guessing most of us here never knew him in life,” said Rev. Deana Dudley, who led a prayer during the service. “It breaks my heart.”Dudley said Lisowick’s challenges in life, and his death, can nonetheless move individuals to act, and work towards ending some of the factors that made Lisowick particularly vulnerable, including homelessness. “We need to recommit ourselves to make this a better world,” she said. Lisowick used the city’s shelter system, and was in and out of the Scott Mission shelter beginning in 2003, sometimes checking in for months at a time, other times disappearing for as long. His last recorded check-in was on April 21, 2016. Charles Fisch knew Lisowick because he sometimes slept on his street, near Church St. He got to know him, and described him during the service as “lovely and sweet … there was this light that shone from him.” Fisch said he was moved to attend the funeral after learning that Lisowick hadn’t been reported missing, t ...
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