PLANCKE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-21 published
Norman Wesley
CARD
By Julie PLANCKE
Friday,
March 21, 2003 - Page A24
Father, farmer. Born May 18, 1913, in Walsh, Ontario Died October
25, 2002, in Simcoe, Ontario, of natural causes, aged 89.
Norman Wesley
CARD was born on the farm that was in his family
for generations. My mom recalls her Sunday afternoon drives with
her father, when it was just her and him riding in his truck,
talking and taking note of how other farmers' crops were coming
along. When she was young, she would often join Granny and Grandpa
at the Walsh Hall for dances. Grandpa especially enjoyed square
dancing as a younger man.
In his youth, my Uncle Don spent time with Grandpa in the tobacco
fields. Some of Uncle Don's fondest memories of his time spent
with his father were later in life: the days they shared splitting
wood on the farm. It was the sharing of physical activity and
the talks that followed that meant the most to Uncle Don.
I would ride with my grandfather on the tractors, be picked up
by him from the tobacco kiln and sent down the conveyor to my
Grandma at the bottom, or sit beside him in his truck when he'd
take me to the Britt Club to play shuffleboard. This was in the
day when women weren't allowed, but Grandpa knew that rule didn't
apply to my sister Laurie and me. And, Grandpa taught us about
arrowheads, which we found frequently in the fields, and pointed
out beaver dams and wildflowers on the property. Farmers, like
my grandfather, respect the land and live a clean and healthy
life on it. It was hard work, but it was work he could be proud
of, and we were proud of him.
We can't imagine Norman
CARD's life without my grandmother, Hazel.
That became crystal clear when she suffered a stroke that would
forever change both their lives. They had to leave behind the
farm and married life as they'd always known it. After my grandmother
went into the hospital, separated for the first significant period
of time from Grandpa since they'd wed, they didn't endure more
than a few days without seeing each other. Before his own poor
health precluded it, he was at Norfolk General Hospital every
day, opening Granny's juice, playing cards with her and other
hospital "inmates" (as my Granny calls them), visiting with Friends
and family, or simply watching Wheel of Fortune while we chatted
around him.
There have been many Friends made through Grandpa's community
life. He was the longest-standing member of Walsh's Donnybrook
Fair Board, a member of the Shrine Club and of the Britt Club.
The association he most valued, and the one that took him from
home most frequently, was the Masonic Lodge. I often asked Grandpa
about secret handshakes and whoopee cushions, but he wouldn't
betray his lodge secrets. That part of his life was important
to him.
Our family has suffered significant challenges and losses and
the most tragic and difficult was the accident that took Laurie
from us in 1995. Grandpa silently supported my mom and she leaned
on his strength and faith, just as she had when she and my father
ended their marriage. Grandpa didn't say much, but he remained
strong for her, even though he was dealing with his own pain.
Losing Laurie really shook my grandfather's faith. For my grandparents,
their church was always a major part of their lives and continued
to be.
Norman CARD's life shines brightly in all of our hearts, our
memories and in the faces and mannerisms of every member of his
family. His body gave up, but I believe his spirit remains. There
are many times throughout the rest of our lives that Grandpa's
presence will be felt and his many contributions to our lives
will be remembered and appreciated. He may have been the strong,
silent type, but the life he lived shouted love.
Julie is Norman's granddaughter.
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PLATIEL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-08 published
Photographer, reporter and royal press attaché
After years at The Globe and Mail, he went on to craft speeches
for William
DAVIS and to co-ordinate royal tours
By Allison
LAWLOR
Wednesday,
January 8, 2003, Page R5
John GILLIES, a former reporter at The Globe and Mail, who later
served as press attaché for the royal tours in the 1970s, died
recently at his home in Mississauga, Ontario He was 74.
Known as "a two-way man," Mr.
GILLIES was both a reporter and
photographer at The Globe throughout the 1960s. He travelled
extensively around Ontario, covering everything from fires and
train derailments to inquests and trials.
Reporting was in his blood, said Rudy
PLATIEL, a fellow two-way
man who worked with Mr.
GILLIES at The Globe.
He loved digging up stories and talking to people, Mr.
PLATIEL
recalled.
"For John, the worst time was when nothing was panning out, and
he didn't get a story.
"We were sort of the generalists in the sense that we were ready
to take on any story," Mr.
PLATIEL added. "I think he enjoyed
not knowing what was coming up next."
After more than a decade at The Globe and Mail, Mr.
GILLIES left
the paper for a job with the Ontario government.
Working as a communications officer in the Ministry of Education,
his job, among others, was to field media calls and write speeches.
He frequently wrote them for William
DAVIS -- who would later
become the Premier of Ontario -- when Mr.
DAVIS was the education
minister. Mr.
GILLIES spent 20 years working for the government
before retiring in the late 1980s.
Of all the press officers at Queen's Park at the time, Mr.
GILLIES
was the most up-front, said Rod
GOODMAN, a former ombudsman of
The Toronto Star.
"If he knew something, he would tell you," Mr.
GOODMAN said.
"He was very straight and very honest."
During the 1970s, on leaves from the Ministry of Education, Mr.
GILLIES served as press co-ordinator for the royal tours to Canada.
He would ride on the press bus, following the Royal Family on
their visits to various parts of the country, arranging interviews
and ensuring that things ran smoothly for the press.
"Several times, he got to meet the Queen," said his daughter,
Laurie SWINTON. "He always said Prince Philip was a real card."
Her father was not known for his impeccable style: Ms.
SWINTON
recalls a photo taken of him standing with the Queen, wearing
a rumpled $29 suit from a local department store. It was not
uncommon for Mr.
GILLIES to be seen with a crooked tie and untucked
shirt. "He was probably one of the only guys at Queen's Park
that dressed worse than me," said author and broadcaster Claire
HOY.
John GILLIES was born in Toronto on March 4, 1928, the only son
of George and Sarah
GILLIES.
The family lived in a tiny row house
in the city's west end. His father worked in the rail yards,
and his mother in a chocolate factory, often bringing home boxes
of candy for her only son.
Not fond of school, Mr.
GILLIES dropped out in Grade 10.
Later, in search of work, he walked into the office of the weekly
newspaper in Port Credit (now a part of Mississauga), telling
them he needed a job and would do anything. It just so happened
that they required a sports editor and hired him.
"He just sort of fell into writing," Ms.
SWINTON said.
In 1954, when Hurricane Hazel ripped through Toronto, killing
81 people, Mr.
GILLIES's instinct was not to seek shelter in
the basement of his home, but to hit the streets to talk to people
and gather stories.
When Mr. GILLIES reached an area of the city where a number of
new townhouses had been wiped out, a police roadblock met him,
recalled his son, Ken
GILLIES. A friend who was with him at the
time pulled a badge from his coat pocket and flashed it at the
officer. After police let the pair through, Mr.
GILLIES turned
to his friend and asked where he got the badge. "From my kid's
Cheerios box this morning," his friend replied.
An avid golfer, it was on the greens in Port Credit that Mr.
GILLIES met Frances
SMITH, a woman who shared his passion for
golf.
The couple married in 1954, and later had three children. Ms.
GILLIES died of cancer in 1984.
A helpless optimist when it came to golf, Mr.
GILLIES was known
to go out under the most dire conditions. He would look at a
dark, looming sky and declare that it was clearing, Ken
GILLIES
recalled. By contrast, said Mr.
HOY, the task of getting Mr.
GILLIES on the greens when he hadn't scheduled a golf game was
next to impossible.
"I don't know anyone else who was that structured," Mr.
HOY added,
noting that his golfing buddy stuck to his weekly schedule, where
each day was dedicated to a particular task. For example, shopping
was done not on Thursday but on Saturday. "He had this one little
idiosyncrasy," Mr.
HOY joked.
A good-hearted man who was also a big lover of dogs, Mr.
GILLIES
was known to carry a stash of dog biscuits on his daily walks
to give to the neighbourhood pooches. "He was a very simple guy,"
said his son Ken. "He didn't like a lot of ceremony and fanfare."
Mr. GILLIES leaves his three children, Don, Ken and Laurie, and
two grandchildren, Corey and Grace.
John GILLIES, reporter / photographer, communications officer
born in Toronto on March 4, 1928; died in Mississauga, Ontario
on December 4, 2002.
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PLAUNT o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-12 published
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON,
Katherine
(Kae)
PLAUNT
Died peacefully at York Extendicare, Sudbury, on May 9, 2003
in her 90th year, with her children at her side. Cherished daughter
of the late Mildred and W.B.
PLAUNT.
Predeceased by her loving
husband, Dr. R. MacKay
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON in 1981. Dearly remembered by
her children: Andy (Mandy
TAILOR/TAYLOR) of Toronto, Kathie
THOMAS
(Richard,)
Judy MAKI (Tom) and Robin (Mary Lou
McKINLEY) of Sudbury. Adored
Nana to Allen
DAY (Erin
CAMERON), Andy
DAY (Carla
GIUSTO), Kathy,
Jodi, Alex, Nikki, Fraser, Michael, Jamie, Scott and great-grandmother
to Alexander. Beloved sister of Marian
MAHAFFY
(Guy, predeceased,)
Bill PLAUNT, predeceased (Agnes,) Helen
VOLLANS
(Maurice, predeceased,)
Donald PLAUNT, predeceased, Royal Canadian Air Force, World War
2 and Jean
BENNESS, predeceased (Barry, predeceased.) Loving
sister-in-law to George
WRIGHT of Hanover, Ruth
LAWS of Almonte,
Murray THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON of Ottawa and Muriel
VALENTIN of Stuttgart, Germany.
Auntie Kae will be fondly remembered by many nieces and nephews
and their families in the
PLAUNT and
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON clans.
Born in Renfrew on April 29, 1914, she moved to Sudbury in 1924
where her father established his lumber business. She attended
Central Public and Sudbury High School, Branksome Hall and graduated
from the School of Nursing, University of Toronto, in 1937. After
working in Toronto in public health, she returned to Sudbury
the following year where she met and married Mac.
Kae loved to golf and curl, and took an avid interest in her
family's history. She was very talented in the traditional arts,
enjoying knitting, quilting and cooking. As an active community
volunteer, she belonged to the Imperial Order of the Daughters
of the Empire where she was Regent and to the Salvation Army
as an organizer for the annual fund raising drive and board member.
She loved to travel with her husband and Friends, but her favourite
place in the world was Lake Pogamasing where her parents established
a family camp in 1941 and where she spent every summer with her
family. She loved to entertain her Friends and her children's
Friends, especially at Pog. We were blessed to have a mother
and grandmother who stressed the importance of family, community
and responsibility. She loved to bring people together and do
things for them, to share her interests and her talents, she
was kind and considerate to all she met, and along with Dad taught
us how to dance and have fun.
Special thanks from the family to Dr. Reg
KUSNIERCZYK and his
staff, the Walford staff and Dr.
ROCH and staff on the fifth
floor of York Extendicare for their devoted and caring attention
to Mother.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to
Young Men's Christian Association Sudbury.
Memorial service in the R.J. Barnard Chapel, Jackson and Barnard
Funeral Home, 233 Larch Street, Sudbury, Tuesday, May 13th, 2003
at 11: 30 a.m. Cremation followed by interment at Lake Pogamasing.
Friends may call 6-9 p.m. Monday, or gather in the chapel after
11 a.m. Tuesday.
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