"ARM" 2003 Obituary

ARMITAGE  ARMOUR  ARMSTRONG 

ARMITAGE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-13 published
WEBSTER, Eric Taylor
Died on Saturday, October 11, at Queensway-Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, at the age of 87. Eric was the youngest and last surviving of the six children of Senator Lorne WEBSTER and Muriel Taylor WEBSTER of Montreal. He was predeceased by brothers Colin, Stuart, Howard and Dick, and by their sister, Marian. Born in Montreal on March 1, 1916, he attended Selwyn House School and Lower Canada College, then graduated from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. Already a licensed pilot, in 1939 he volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force, in which he served until 1945, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. In 1940 he married Elizabeth (Ibby) PATERSON, daughter of Senator Norman and Eleanor PATERSON of Fort William, Ontario. After the war, they settled in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where he became President of J.S. Mitchell and Co. and established Eastern Townships Warehousing Ltd. He was a leader in a wide range of community activities including Trinity United Church, the Sherbrooke Hospital, the Eastern Townships Protestant School Board, Bishop's College School, Bishop's University and Stanstead Wesleyan College. He also went into farming in North Hatley and served a term as President of the Canadian Hereford Association. His interests included antique and classic cars and family motor coaches, in which he traveled widely. He could install an oil burner, design a cottage or lead a fund- raising campaign, but never seemed happier than when under a motor vehicle, tinkering with its innards. When Ibby died in 1974, he married Jane Sweny ARMITAGE of Ottawa, where they lived until he died. Eric leaves his widow, Jane, and children Norman WEBSTER of Montreal (with wife Pat,) William WEBSTER of Vancouver (Diana,) and Maggie GALLAGHER of Oakville, Ontario (Tom.) Two other children, David and Ruth WEBSTER, died in infancy. He also leaves stepsons Mark ARMITAGE of Montreal (Pam,) Bill ARMITAGE of Ottawa (Jan) and David ARMITAGE of Ottawa. There are 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. There will be a memorial service at Plymouth-Trinity United Church, 380 Dufferin Street, Sherbrooke, on Thursday, October 16, at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Queensway-Carleton Hospital Foundation, 3045 Baseline Rd., Nepean, Ontario, K2H 8P4.

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ARMOUR o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-07-02 published
HILLSON
-In loving memory of Maxwell Alexander "Bud" Hillson, who passed away at the age of 77 years. Husband of the late Katherine "Kay" (TURINECK,) July 4, 1999.
You had a smile for everyone
You had a heart of gold
You left the sweetest memories
This world could ever hold
No one knows how much we miss you
No one knows the bitter pain
We have suffered since we lost you
Life has never been the same
Those we love don't go away
They walk beside us every day
Unseen, unheard but always near
Still loved, still missed and very dear.
A father's legacy is not riches
possessions or worldly goods
It's the way he lived,
the lives he touched, the promises he kept
It's the man he was
Your life, Dad was a job well done
and now you have left us to be with Mom.
Loving father of Bernadine, husband Phillip HARRIS of Ottawa, Maxine, husband Ronald ALBERTS of London, Edward of Little Current, Roseanne of Calgary and Kevin of Little Current. Remembered by brothers Maxime, wife Shirley, Randolph wife Helen. By sisters Marie, husband Gene ARMOUR, Agnes CARDINAL, Rita DUNDON, Judith, husband Wifred GUAY, Georgina GAGNON and Dorothy MASSON.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-02-05 published
Vera Ilene SHERING (née WOOD)
In loving memory of Vera Ilene SHERING who passed away peacefully at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Barrie on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 in her 78th year. Beloved wife of the late Joseph ARMSTRONG and the late Monty SHERING. Loving mother of Harold ARMSTRONG and his wife Lynne, Bill ARMSTRONG and his wife Linda, Ken ARMSTRONG and his wife Andrea, Carolyn SMURTHWAITE and her husband Norm, Marlene WHEELER and her husband Steve, Cathie Gould and her husband Jack. Dear grandma of 11 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Vera is survived by her sisters Myrtle WOOD, Marie TANN, Bernice SLOSS, and Edith BAYER and by her brother Lorne WOOD. Friends may call at the Innisfil Funeral Home, 7910 Yonge street, (Stroud) on Saturday, February 8th from 1: 00 pm until time of service at 3:00 pm. Cremation. Words of comfort may be forwarded to the family at verashering@funeralhome.on.ca

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-03-12 published
Elva Margaret GILPIN (née ARMSTRONG)
In loving memory of Elva Margaret GILPIN April 19, 1927 to March 3, 2003.
Elva GILPIN, a resident of Spring Bay, died at the Mindemoya Hospital, Mindemoya on Monday, March 3, 2003 at the age of 75 years.
She was born in Gore Bay, daughter of the late Alf and Margaret (PHALEN) ARMSTRONG. Elva was a member of the Gospel Hall in Gore Bay, loved gardening, especially tending her flowers, knitting, quilting. She was a hard working farm wife and mother and will be fondly remembered for her pride, love and enjoyment of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Beloved wife of Elwood GILPIN of Spring Bay. Loved and loving mother of Marie GRANT and husband Joe and Mary Anne HAYDEN and husband Jeff. Predeceased by two children Ronnie and Donna. Dear grandmother of Brandon and friend Tracy, Ryan, Krystal, Daniel and Holly and great grandmother of Jessica and Morgan. Loving sister of Clarence ARMSTRONG, Bill ARMSTRONG and wife Anne, Alfred ARMSTRONG wife Nelda (predeceased,) Ronnie ARMSTRONG and wife Barb and Alvin ARMSTRONG (predeceased.)
Friends called the Culgin Funeral Home on Thursday March 6, 2003. The funeral service was conducted on Thursday, March 6, 2003 with Pastor Alvin COOK officiating. Spring interment in Grimesthorpe Cemetery. Culgin Funeral Home

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-07-30 published
Harry James ROWE
In loving memory of Harry James ROWE who passed away Thursday, July 24, 2003 at General and Marine Hospital, Collingwood in his 76th year.
Harry was the son of the late Robert and Sarah (ARMSTRONG) ROWE of Manitoulin Island. Harry was the last surviving member of the ROWE Settlement where he farmed all his life. Upon retiring to Collingwood Ont., he resided with his sister Marjorie HURST.
Dear brother of Marjorie HURST of Collingwood and Jean JOSEPH of Orillia. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
Predeceased by his brothers Frank, Leonard, Albert and his sister Kathleen. Arrangements entrusted to the Watts Funeral Home and Cremation Centre, 132 River Road.E. Wasaga Beach. Urnment of cremated remains will take place at Mountain View Cemetery, Manitoulin Island later in the fall.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2003-11-05 published
Wesley " Wes" Edward HALL
In loving memory of Wesley "Wes" Edward HALL who passed away on Sunday, October 26, 2003 at the Sudbury Regional Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre at the age of 70 years.
Beloved husband of Lucille (FORTIER) HALL predeceased 1995. Loving father of Wesley (wife Valerie) of Toronto, Michael (wife Colleen) of Ottawa, Allison (husband Alvin LANDRY) of Oshawa, John (wife Marie-Anne) of Ponty Pool, Sharon (husband Danny GIRARD) of Arlington, Texas and Sherri-Lynn (husband Joseph BORLAND) of Milan, Mich. Cherished grandfather of Jennifer, Samantha, Jessica, Kaela, Kaitlyn, Bradley, Rebecca, Nicholas and Ashley. Dear son of Harold and Florence HALL, both predeceased. Dear brother of Harold predeceased (wife Valerie) of Cambridge, Kenneth (wife Eleanor) of Grimsby, Bruce of Toronto, Inez (husband Harold COLLINS predeceased) of Sarnia and Beverley predeceased (husband David ARMSTRONG predeceased). Funeral service was held in the RJ Barnard Chapel, Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home, 233 Larch St. Sudbury on Thursday, October 30, 2003. Cremation in the Parklawn Crematorium.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-19 published
'His heart was always in the labour movement'
United Auto Workers director and Canadian Labour Congress president, he was one of labour's most influential leaders
By Allison LAWLOR Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - Page R7
He went from the assembly line to the lofty heights of union leadership. Dennis McDERMOTT, who died last month at age 80, was one of Canada's most influential labour leaders throughout the 1970s and 1980s as Canadian director of the United Auto Workers and later president of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Mr. McDERMOTT's life in the labour movement began in 1948 when he started work as an assembler and welder at the Massey Harris (later Massey Ferguson) plant in Toronto. He joined United Auto Workers Local 439 and quickly rose through the ranks.
"He had a lot of pizzazz, said Bob WHITE/WHYTE, former president of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Labour Congress. "He had a good sense of what was good for working people."
After a 38-year career in the Canadian labour movement, Mr. McDERMOTT was made Canadian ambassador to Ireland in 1986 by Prime Minister Brian MULRONEY. Mr. McDERMOTT received some criticism within the labour movement for the appointment, but he made no apologies.
"I didn't cross the floor and become a Conservative. I am a social democrat and will continue to be a social democrat, " he said at the time. "I will continue to act and speak as a trade unionist, Mr. McDERMOTT said in 1986 after accepting his appointment.
Mr. McDERMOTT was known for his sharp tongue and had a particularly abrasive relationship with former prime minister Pierre TRUDEAU. He fought against the anti-inflation policies of the Trudeau government, in particular wage and price controls.
On November 21, 1981, Mr. McDERMOTT led a massive rally on Parliament Hill, said to be the largest such demonstration in Canadian history. About 100,000 people protested against the oppressive burden of high interest rates that created high unemployment and economic instability.
Behind his combative style, Mr. McDERMOTT had a strong intellect and a talent for building consensus. As Canadian Labour Congress president, he was able to reach out to other groups and build a coalition among various social interests in Canada in pursuit of common goals.
"I am confrontational. When I have to play hardball, I play hardball. But I can be just as conciliatory as anyone else. I can walk with the bat or I can walk with the olive branch. It depends on what's happening, Mr. McDERMOTT once told a reporter.
Dennis McDERMOTT was born on November 3, 1922, in Portsmouth, England. He was the eldest of three children to his Irish parents John and Beatrice McDERMOTT. Growing up poor, Mr. McDERMOTT learned firsthand about some of life's injustices. As a young boy in the church choir, Mr. McDERMOTT remembered being left behind on the bus while the rest of the choir performed at a concert because his family was too poor to buy him a uniform, said his wife, Claire McDERMOTT.
Mr. McDERMOTT left school at age 14 to become a butcher's helper. Two years later, he joined the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, he served on a destroyer escort travelling on convoy duty to different parts of Europe and sometimes to the Russian port of Murmansk. In 1947, he left the navy to work in a Scottish coal mine before coming the Canada.
After landing a job at Massey Harris in Toronto, Mr. McDERMOTT quickly became involved in the United Auto Workers. Small in stature, but with a quick mind and wit, he became a budding leader.
"He was very impressive, said Bromley ARMSTRONG, a civil and human-rights activist who worked with Mr. McDERMOTT at Massey Harris. "He held rapt attention."
During his first year in the union, Mr. McDERMOTT worked on the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance, which successfully lobbied to help bring about Ontario's first piece of human-rights legislation, the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1948.
His work in human rights continued throughout his career. He later served on the executive of the Toronto Committee for Human Rights and as a member of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. He was awarded the Order of Ontario for his work in the trade-union and human-rights movements. After serving in several positions in the United Auto Workers Local 439, Mr. McDERMOTT became a full-time organizer for the union in 1954. He was made subregional director of the Toronto area in 1960, a position he held until being elected Canadian director of the United Auto Workers in 1968. During his first year as Canadian director, he moved the union headquarters from Windsor, Ontario, to Toronto.
"He started down the road towards more autonomy for the Canadian union, and he reached out to all points of view inside the union, Mr. WHITE/WHYTE said. (In 1985, the Canadian arm of the United Auto Workers broke away to form its own union -- the Canadian Auto Workers,)
"Dennis McDERMOTT raised the profile of the Canadian labour movement to new heights, said Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz HARGROVE. "He was a tough and effective negotiator at the bargaining table, but he also took on the key social and political issues of the day."
Mr. HARGROVE added that his friend and colleague "always had a vision for the movement."
Mr. McDERMOTT was a strong supporter of American Cesar CHAVEZ and the United Farm Workers. He led a contingent of Canadians to California and also organized a march in Toronto to raise money for Mr. CHAVEZ.
Elected Canadian Labour Congress president in 1978, Mr. McDERMOTT served in that position until his retirement in 1986. When asked by a reporter what he considered his prime accomplishment, he pointed to the labour congress. "I think putting the Canadian Labour Congress on the map. Before I came there, it was pretty low profile. You never heard of it. I was kind of proud of that, Mr. McDERMOTT said in a 1989 interview with The Toronto Star.
McDERMOTT also broadened the Canadian Labour Congress's role in international affairs. He was a member of the executive board of the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers and served as vice-president of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
"His heart was always in the labour movement, Ms. McDERMOTT said. During his three years as ambassador to Ireland in the late 1980s, Mr. McDERMOTT made headlines when he lashed out at Irish government officials for giving better treatment to singer Michael Jackson's pet chimpanzee than the McDERMOTT's Great Dane, Murphy. Mr. Jackson's chimp was whisked into the country while Murphy had to endure six months of quarantine. The dog died shortly after being freed.
Mr. McDERMOTT enjoyed both writing and painting. While in Ireland, he sold a few of his paintings. One of his short stories, about his war experiences, was published in The Toronto Star as part of the newspaper's short-story contest.
Returning from Ireland, Mr. McDERMOTT retired and spent his time between a home near Peterborough, Ontario, and a place in Florida. He continued to paint and write. His letters to the editor frequently appeared in newspapers.
"He lived an incredible life if you think of where he came from, Mr. WHITE/WHYTE said. "He would be the first to say that he was fortunate."
Mr. McDERMOTT died on February 13 in a Peterborough hospital. He had been suffering from a lung disease. He leaves his wife Claire and five children.
A memorial service will be held on March 24 at 1 p.m. at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street, Toronto.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-24 published
He ran O'Keefe Centre in its prime
Former accountant was an innovator: He booked a show using surtitles and a play about an interracial romance
By Carol COOPER Special to The Globe and Mail Saturday, May 24, 2003 - Page F10
Late one spring night in 1963, a phone call awoke Hugh WALKER, the first managing director and president of Toronto's O'Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts. A police officer wanted to know if "we had a mad Russian called Nuri-something dancing at the O'Keefe Centre," Mr. WALKER wrote in his book, The O'Keefe Centre: Thirty Years of Theatre History.
After the opening performance of Marguerite and Armand, in which he starred with Dame Margot FONTEYN, Rudolph NUREYEV had danced up the centre of Yonge Street, attempting headstands on cars as he went. Police intervened in the interest of Mr. NUREYEV's safety, but after a scuffle, the dancer landed in jail for causing a disturbance.
Endlessly kind, courtly and patient, Mr. WALKER notified the Royal Ballet with whom Mr. NUREYEV was performing, and the dancer was released.
Mr. WALKER, the man who smoothed the way for the stars appearing at the O'Keefe as overseer of its operations and who had previously supervised its construction, has died at the age of 93.
O'Keefe Centre, now named the Hummingbird Centre, opened on October 1, 1960, with the first performance of Camelot in the country's first Broadway musical. The show starred Richard BURTON, Julie ANDREWS and Robert GOULET and played to a glittering crowd.
In The Toronto Star, Gordon SINCLAIR wrote: "A salaam to Hugh WALKER for bringing the O'Keefe Centre home on time after 30 months of strain on his patience, nerves and humour."
Mr. WALKER had, in fact, developed an ulcer during the centre's construction, and the strain didn't end with its opening. Shortly after the curtain, his wife, Shirley, smelled smoke. It turned out to be a burning escalator motor, and after the fire was extinguished, Mary JOLLIFFE, the centre's publicist, ran to a hotel across the street for air freshener. The audience came out at intermission none the wiser.
It took royalty to solve another problem. At the time, temperance sentiment remained strong in Toronto, and teetotallers criticized the fact the O'Keefe was funded by, and named for, a brewery.
Mr. WALKER set about to gain acceptance for the centre. Learning that the Queen was visiting Canada in June of 1959, he convinced her aides that she should stop briefly at the construction site and view a model of the building.
Before an audience of arts patrons and the press, the Queen inspected the model and showed such an interest that she overstayed her schedule, delaying the start of the Queen's Plate, her next stop, by half an hour.
Mr. WALKER didn't know that the Queen or the O'Keefe would be in his future when he became executive assistant to Canadian Breweries and Argus Corp. owner E. P. TAILOR/TAYLOR in 1955.
It was only after his hiring that he learned that Mr. TAILOR/TAYLOR had responded to a challenge made by Nathan PHILLIPS, then mayor of Toronto, for industry to build a desperately needed performing arts theatre in the city. For the project, Mr. TAILOR/TAYLOR gave $12-million and the services of his new assistant.
With the slogan "To bring the best of live entertainment to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible prices," the 3, 211-seat multipurpose theatre, designed by modernist architect Peter DICKINSON, quickly became a predominant Canadian venue, predating the Place des Arts in Montreal and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Pre-Broadway shows, musicals, ballets and plays from around the world came to the O'Keefe and it replaced Maple Leaf Gardens as the Toronto venue for the Metropolitan Opera. International stars such as Louis ARMSTRONG, Paul ANKA, Tom JONES, Diana ROSS and Harry BELAFONTE performed there.
During one of Mr. BELAFONTE's many performances at the centre, he experimented with a wireless mike. Accidentally, he tuned into the police frequency. "The O'Keefe audience had the unusual experience of listening in on a lot of police messages, while the police were able to enjoy hearing BELAFONTE sing Ma-til-da!," Mr. WALKER wrote.
Another O'Keefe story concerned Carol CHANNING. When the performer appeared at the centre in Hello, Dolly, she needed to make a number of quick costume changes. Since there wasn't enough time for Ms. CHANNING to run backstage to her dressing room, the crew put up a roofless tent in the wings.
From the fly bridge, the stagehands looked down on Ms. CHANNING, remaining quiet while they watched her change. After her last performance, she looked up at them and said, "Well, boys, hope you've enjoyed the show. 'Bye now."
Other more critical events are associated with the O'Keefe. In 1964, while awaiting her divorce from Eddie FISHER, Elizabeth TAILOR/TAYLOR stayed with Richard BURTON while he starred in Sir John GIELGUD's production of Hamlet at the centre. One weekend between performances, the couple stole off to Montreal and married.
And in 1974, ballet dancer Mikhail BARYSHNIKOV arranged his defection from the Soviet Union at the centre.
During the early 1960s, the O'Keefe became home to the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company. In his book, Mr. WALKER credits the centre with allowing the companies' artistic growth.
Still, not everyone spoke so kindly about the O'Keefe. Many critics denounced its acoustics and less-than-intimate size.
For that, Mr. WALKER had a ready answer. In 1985, Herbert WHITTAKER, then The Globe and Mail's drama critic, wrote: "Against the fading chorus of these ancient complaints, I hear an echo, the rather quiet British tones of Hugh WALKER: 'We know it [O'Keefe Centre] is too large for legitimate theatre, Herbert, but think of all the things Toronto would have missed if E. P. TAILOR/TAYLOR hadn't built it when he did?' "
Born on March 2, 1910, in Scotland to Brigadier-General James Workman WALKER, who fought in the Middle East during the First World War, and Jane STEVENSON, Hugh Percy WALKER was the middle of three children. After earning a B.A. at Cambridge University, he became a chartered accountant.
Mr. WALKER worked with firms in London, Palestine, Quebec, Scotland and Michigan before being employed by Mr. TAILOR/TAYLOR.
Although a great lover of theatre, upon his appointment as the O'Keefe's managing director, Mr. WALKER had little experience with its business side. This led to some innocent faux pas, such as when he booked a photo shoot with the Camelot stars at 10 in the morning, impossibly early for actors. In response, Mr. BURTON exclaimed: "What, in the middle of the night?" Ms. JOLLIFFE said.
Still, director and theatre critic Mavor MOORE said Mr. WALKER dealt with difficulties well. "He was very smooth," Dr. MOORE said. "He was very expert at handling people and situations. He was a calm man."
Mr. WALKER trusted his staff, Ms. JOLLIFFE said. "He was willing to take direction from staff people who had already been in the business, and that was unusual."
And he was gracious and courteous. "He gave great dignity to the performing arts profession and he treated people wonderfully," Ms. JOLLIFFE said. "He was a perfect model of a former era of English gentlemen."
Known for his hospitality, Mr. WALKER always visited the stars in their dressing rooms before opening night and entertained them afterward at First Nighters' parties with Mrs. WALKER.
When the WALKERs took Leonard BERNSTEIN to the Rosedale Country Club, Mr. WALKER tolerated Mr. BERNSTEIN's sending back the wine three times, Ms. JOLLIFFE said.
Along with bringing in commercial performances from the United States and Britain, Mr. WALKER showed some daring in booking shows. In 1961, Kwamina, the story of a romantic relationship between a white woman and a black man, played the O'Keefe.
Acknowledging Toronto's Italian population, Mr. WALKER arranged for Rugantino, the biggest musical hit in Italian history, to play at the O'Keefe in 1963. It was the first foreign-language attraction in North America to use "surtitles," and although plagued with technical difficulties, it played to 60-per-cent capacity.
Things changed for Mr. WALKER and O'Keefe Centre in the late 1960s. Initially, the centre had been a subsidiary of the O'Keefe Brewing Co., owned by Canadian Breweries, and was never intended to make a profit. The company wrote off its operating losses and property taxes.
When Mr. TAILOR/TAYLOR retired in 1966, directors of Canadian Breweries decided that they could not continue to pay the O'Keefe's high taxes. To resolve the situation, Metropolitan Toronto was given the centre in 1968.
A new and inexperienced board of directors brought a new way of doing things, and the centre's losses began to mount.
Mr. WALKER wrote that after the disastrous 1971-72 season, "what followed was not the happiest part of my 15 years at the O'Keefe Centre, and I would like to forget some of the things that happened."
In his final working years, Mr. WALKER dealt with both the centre's internal changes and rising competition from the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the St. Lawrence Centre and emerging alternative theatres.
After his retirement in 1975, he spent 10 years at the Guild of All Arts in Scarborough, Ontario, as the director of Guildwood Hall, curating former Guild Inn owner Spencer CLARK's historical architectural collection of artifacts, writing and illustrating a booklet on them, curating Mr. CLARK's art collection, making a film and lecturing.
He and his wife lived on the Guild's grounds for four years in the now-demolished Corycliff, where they hosted parties whose guests included many stars from the O'Keefe days.
Along with writing the O'Keefe Centre history while in his 80s, Mr. WALKER golfed.
Sue NIBLETT, who worked with him at the Guild, recalls seeing Mr. WALKER nattily attired in golf clothing and Wellingtons standing in two feet of snow driving balls into Lake Ontario.
"He had a love of life that I've never experienced or met in anybody before," Ms. NIBLETT said. "He didn't waste a day of his life as far as I could see."
Mr. WALKER died on May 2 and leaves daughters Katrina PARKER and Zoë ALEXANDER and two grandchildren. Another daughter, Sarah CHENIER/CHENÉ, and his wife, Shirley, predeceased him.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-28 published
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS, beloved wife of Angelo Zaccheo, passed away peacefully at her home in Toronto on Thursday, June 26, 2003, after a courageous battle with brain cancer, one day short of her 57th birthday. Predeceased by her parents, Maurice and Lillian (ARMSTRONG,) she will be missed by her stepdaughter Kathleen, brother Glenn (Katherine), niece Caroline, nephews Glenn, Matthew and Andrew, sisters-in-law Margaret CURTO (David▼) and Mary STEELE (Patrick), nephews David and Steven, and nieces Alicia and Jena. She also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins and wonderful, caring Friends. As a passionate and dedicated teacher, Maureen influenced and inspired her students to achievement. She will be remembered as a loyal friend, a devoted daughter and sister, and a loving and much loved spouse. A Memorial Service will be held in the chapel of Bishop Strachan School, 298 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, on Thursday, July 3rd at 6: 30 p.m., followed by a reception. Parking is available from Russell Hill Road entrance. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sunnybrook and Women's Foundation, c/o Dr. James PERRY, C.N.S. Oncology Site, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, would be greatly appreciated. May you always walk in sunshine, And God's love around you flow, For the happiness you gave us, No one will ever know. It broke our hearts to lose you, The day God called you home. A million times we've needed you. A million times we've cried. If love could have saved you, You never would have died.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-30 published
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS
Maureen Elizabeth PEERS, beloved wife of Angelo ZACCHEO, passed away peacefully at her home in Toronto on Thursday, June 26, 2003, after a courageous battle with brain cancer, one day short of her 57th birthday. Predeceased by her parents, Maurice and Lillian (ARMSTRONG,) she will be missed by her stepdaughter Kathleen, brother Glenn (Katherine), niece Caroline, nephews Glenn, Matthew and Andrew, sisters-in-law Margaret CURTO (David▲) and Mary STEELE (Patrick), nephews David and Steven, and nieces Alicia and Jena. She also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins and wonderful, caring Friends. As a passionate and dedicated teacher, Maureen influenced and inspired her students to achievement. She will be remembered as a loyal friend, a devoted daughter and sister, and a loving and much loved spouse. A Memorial Service will be held in the chapel of Bishop Strachan School, 298 Lonsdale Road, Toronto, on Thursday, July 3rd at 6: 30 p.m., followed by a reception. Parking is available from Russell Hill Road entrance. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sunnybrook and Women's Foundation, c/o Dr. James Perry, C.N.S. Oncology Site, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5, would be greatly appreciated. May you always walk in sunshine, And God's love around you flow, For the happiness you gave us, No one will ever know. It broke our hearts to lose you, The day God called you home. A million times we've needed you. A million times we've cried. If love could have saved you, You never would have died.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-08 published
Evelyn Randall THOBURN
By Liz ARMSTRONG Monday, September 8, 2003 - Page A18
Great friend, neighbour, heart of a large and loving family. Born January 5, 1911, in Toronto. Died March 11 in Unionville, Ontario, of natural causes, aged 92.
Evelyn Marion RANDALL was the fourth youngest of eight children born in Toronto's Cabbagetown to Sophie and Ed RANDALL (an organizer with Canada's first printer's union.) All the RANDALLs loved learning (including a new word every day under the tutelage of their dad); they loved to laugh and loved music. Like many of her brothers and sisters, Evie played piano by ear.
Evelyn was married twice, the first time to Norman POLSON. In 1933, the young couple moved from Toronto to Peru where he worked as an engineer for an oil company. In the Spanish-speaking town of Talara, they had the first two of their three children, Barbara and Carolyn. There Evie became an accomplished horseback rider. She also became fluent in Spanish after amusing the locals by asking for "tiny balls" rather than "lemon tarts" in her first attempt at her second language.
Tragically, in 1940, Norman was killed in an oil-field explosion. After Norman's death, Evie was given 24 hours to depart for Toronto, without even time for goodbyes. Back in Canada, pregnant with their third child (Norman, Jr.), and with very little financial help from the company, Evie decided more assertiveness was necessary. After directing her horrified lawyer to tell the company to "stuff" its apparently rather stingy offer to wind up the case, the parties finally reached an agreement that paid Ev both a lump sum and an annuity that allowed her to move to the house that became her home of more than 60 years.
A few years later, neighbours across the street asked if they might come over and bring a friend. Evie and the new friend -- usually gregarious people -- were both somewhat speechless that evening, and more than a little unnerved. He conveniently forgot his pipe and, once back with a foot in the door, never left. In order to be democratic, however, Evie sat the three kids down, presented a slate of four potential candidates, then told them to vote for their next father. She also made it clear that they couldn't complain from then on. Soon after, Evelyn and Gordon THOBURN were married in the living room of their home. (Many a time, apparently, one or other of the kids was overheard to say, "Don't blame me, you voted for him!" Evie was quite the storyteller, and her son Norman noted recently that her "slate" of four may have included the milkman, mailman and the ice-man. Clearly, the odds favoured Gordon, and the tale no doubt grew taller with time.)
Her marvellous life of 92-plus years continued to unfold -- including a fourth child, Gord Jr., who arrived in 1944. Although there was a fair share of losses and tragedies, Evie always looked on the positive side -- even after losing her eyesight -- and admonished all around her to do the same. Her lifetime motto was: "Never be a perpetrator" -- never contribute to your own grief.
Surely it was a measure of her wonderful life that on the March morning just after Evie passed away suddenly in Unionville, Barbara hurried over to the Sunrise Assisted Living Centre to find all the staff gathered in the administrator's office crying together, and sharing a loving cup of one of Evie's favourite liqueurs in her honour. In the year since her move from her home of many years, Evie had captured a whole new set of hearts, with her repertoire of favourite piano tunes (including When I Grow Too Old to Dream), her even larger stock of bad jokes and, of course, her effervescent personality.
Liz ARMSTRONG was once a neighbour of Evelyn THOBURN. She wrote this with help from Evelyn's eldest daughter, Barbara TOWE.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-19 published
Florence Mary Armstrong YOUNG
By Cameron YOUNG Friday, September 19, 2003 - Page A20
Mother, grandmother. Born February 20, 1908, in Lachute, Quebec Died July 30 in Ottawa, of natural causes, aged 95.
Florence YOUNG was an ordinary women for her century.
Her birth, at home at the ARMSTRONG dairy farm in Lachute, according to her father's daily ledger, cost $6. The oldest daughter in the family of 10, she helped raise the children. She also drove the dump rake with a team of horses that once bolted from a swarm of bees and sent her careening into the hay stubble. Today, the super-highway to Mirabel Airport knifes its way through the expropriated hay fields and cow paths of this once-thriving family farm. No one talks about the sad state of the old house.
As a teenager, in the winter, if she couldn't hitch a ride on her father's early-morning milk run to town, Florence drove her own one-horse sleigh to school in Lachute. The dairy stands beside the Lachute Protestant Cemetery, where Florence now lies buried beside her husband Harold. After visiting the grave you can stop by the dairy for some really good ice cream.
Florence was a graduate of MacDonald College and as a young woman taught elementary school in various rural Quebec communities. In winter, the wash basin in her bedroom would freeze over and she nearly died from diphtheria.
While teaching in Arvida she was swept off her feet by the handsome young principal from Shawville, Harold YOUNG. Florence and Harold were married on the front lawn of her Lachute home on June 29, 1935. In time they would move to Quebec City, where Harold worked as a school inspector and Florence raised two towheaded boys.
On hot summer days Florence piled the neighbourhood kids into the family car for a ride to the beach on the St. Lawrence River, at the base of the Plains of Abraham. Florence is well-remembered for the foot-high meringue on her lemon pies and for her immaculately decorated birthday cakes, which, in later years, took two days to complete. Her kitchen table was always like a homemaker's workshop: a shiny meat-grinder over here, wooden sock-stretchers piled up over there. Come suppertime, everything was back in its allotted place. She would spend what seemed like hours ironing bed sheets.
Regular attendees of Chalmers Wesley United Church, during wartime, Florence and Harold helped entertain the troops heading overseas, especially the young pilots. "You knew they weren't coming back," she said. Some time after Harold died in 1979, she became a church elder.
In the 1950s, when a school inspector's income stopped keeping pace with inflation, Florence went back to teaching elementary school. In the end they gave her all the so-called hard-to-handle kids. "You just had to love them," she said. Over all, she put in 20 years of teaching before retiring in 1968.
Florence had been a widow for 24 years, having moved from her house in Quebec City to an Ottawa apartment, where she continued to live independently (very independently) to the end. Florence outlived her nine siblings, save for youngest sister Ruth.
Two months before Florence died, her granddaughter Jenny asked her for some advice on becoming a teacher. "Always make Friends," she counselled. "And always be a lady."
When she died, she was laid out in the coffin of her choice, the replica of the one containing the unknown soldier. The prearranged funeral service at one of Ottawa's fine funeral homes was just what she had ordered (and paid for). It was a closed coffin, as she requested. That was the dignified way. As she lived her life, she passed on with grace.
Cameron YOUNG is Florence's son.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-10 published
PATTERSON, Hazell
Born in Barbados September 29, 1923, died in Toronto on October 9, 2003. Wife of John. Mother of Steven, Margot (Judd) and Lynne. Sister of Yvonne ARMSTRONG. The funeral service will be held at St. Cyprian's Anglican Church (1080 Finch Ave. east Toronto) on Saturday, October 11, 2003 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer's Society of Toronto would be appreciated by the family.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-01 published
Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot won the Distinguished Flying Cross
By Tom HAWTHORN, Saturday, November 1, 2003 - Page F12
Ottawa -- George BURROUGHS was a Mustang pilot whose attacks on enemy installations in the Second World War earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. He has died in Ottawa and the age of 82.
Mr. BURROUGHS, who had enlisted in Toronto on April 29, 1941, the day before his 20th birthday, served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Air Force's No. 414 Squadron. He provided reconnaissance for the Dieppe raid of 1942, as well as for the D-Day invasion of Normandy two years later.
After the war, he attended the University of Toronto, collecting coins from pay phones as a summer job for Bell Canada. He retired from the company in 1983 as a senior executive.
Mr. BURROUGHS died on September 3 after long suffering from Parkinson's disease. He leaves Mary (née ARMSTRONG,) his wife of 59 years a son and two daughters.

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ARMSTRONG o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-26 published
FOSTER, Douglas Mortimer
Died peacefully at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge, on Saturday, November 22nd, 2003 at the age of 88. Beloved husband of Mary Jean (née LYALL.) Predeceased by his first wife Marnie (née KERR.) Lovingly remembered by his children Lynn ARMSTRONG (Brock,) Wendy SHELLEY (Steven,) Doug FOSTER (Nancy,) Lesley FOSTER (Leslie HENDY), his stepchildren Susan BELL, Sharon JONES, Donald BELL and Lyall BELL. Loving grandfather of Craig, Carolyn, Stuart, Adam, Katelynn, Samantha, Marcella, Natalie, Alexandra, Sachi and Hunter. A private memorial service was held at the Reynolds Funeral Home ''Turner Chapel'' in Bracebridge 877-806-2257. Donations in memory of Doug to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation would be gratefully appreciated by the family.

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