POTTER o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2007-07-26 published
LEMICK,
Janet
Elizabeth (née
ROBERTSON)
Passed away peacefully on July 20, 2007 in her 63rd year. Loving
mother of Christopher John
LEMICK, daughter of Mary
CROSS
(Doug)
of Barrie, sister of Patricia
ROBERTSON
(Randy
MURPHY) of Calgary,
Wendy TUNNARD
(Ken) and Kelley
DUNN all of Barrie. Also survived
by nephews Robert
CAMERON and David
DUNN and nieces Julie
CAMERON,
Jessica POTTER and Leila
DUNN.
She was pre-deceased by her father
Allan George
ROBERTSON in 1995. Janet graduated from Oshawa General
Hospital as a Registered Nurse in 1965 and nursed at several
hospitals in Ontario specializing in Operating Room until she
retired in 1998 from Grey Bruce R.H.C. due to poor health. Cremation.
Janet's life will be celebrated in a service of remembrance on
August 9, 2007 at 1: 00 p.m. at Bethel Community Church, 128 St. Vincent
Street,
Barrie,
Ontario. Rev. Bruce
STICKLEE officiating. Donations
to Canadian Cancer Society or Canadian Diabetic Association would
be appreciated.
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POTTER o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2007-10-25 published
FISHER,
Dorothy
Margaret (née
LEPPARD)
With loving memories, the family announce the passing of Dorothy
Margaret FISHER
(LEPPARD) in her 88th year at Maple View Nursing
Home on October 23rd, 2007. Dorothy was the beloved wife of Charles
FISHER for 60 years. Mother to Faye
FISHER and husband David
GRAHLMAN, Sandra and Barry
KEARNEY and Donna
FISHER-
POTTER and
Tom POTTER.
Proud
Grandmother to eight grandchildren, Chris
WEBBER
(Amberley), Adam
WEBBER, Kristina
KEARNEY-
RICHARDS (Mark), Colleen
KEARNEY-
JANSSENS (Jerry), Ryan
EASTICK (Katherine), Kyle
EASTICK
(Jessica,) Graham and Garrett
POTTER and great-granddaughter,
Emma RICHARDS.
Fondly remembered by Barry
MOLE (Dorothy) and
Jean GATEMAN and family. Dorothy was predeceased by her parents,
Thomas and Margaret
LEPPARD and her sisters, Laura
McGIRR,
Jean
MILLER and Sadie
HARBOTTLE.
Friends may call at the Brian E.
Wood Funeral Home, 250 - 14th Street West, Owen Sound (519-376-
7492) on Thursday evening from 7: 00-9:00 p.m. A service to celebrate
Dorothy's life will be held in the Funeral Home Chapel on Friday,
October 26th, 2007 at 11: 00 a.m. with Father Ed
WAGNER officiating.
Interment in Greenwood Cemetery. Donations may be made to the
Parkinson Society of Canada. Condolences received at brian@woodfuneralhome.ca.
An elegant and multi-talented lady who loved her family, gardening,
animals, music and art; Dorothy's final canvas is now complete.
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POTTER o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.stayner.stayner_sun 2007-11-07 published
POTTER,
Maureen▼ (née
GALE)
On November 4, 2007 at home with her family by her side, after
a long and courageous battle with cancer. Beloved wife of Anthony
(40 years) and cherished mum of Joy (Adam) and Freya (Matt).
Sister to Raymond. Predeceased by her parents, Cicely and Ted
GALE of England. Maureen will be remembered fondly by her many
nieces, nephews and brothers and sisters-in-law in England for
her quiet kindness and dedication to her family. The family would
like to thank the nursing staff at Collingwood General and Marine
Hospital for their kindness over the years. We are also genuinely
grateful to Community Care Access Centre in Barrie and to the
nurses of St. Elizabeth's whose compassion for Maureen will not
be soon forgotten - a special thank you to Annette. A private
family service and cremation has already taken place, in accordance
with Maureen's wishes. If desired, memorial donations may be
made to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, or to the Colon Cancer
Society. Arrangements are in the care of Watts Funeral Home and
Cremation Centre, 132 River Rd E, Wasaga Beach, 705-429-1040.
Page 13
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POTTER o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.stayner.stayner_sun 2007-11-21 published
POTTER,
Maureen▲
The family of Maureen
POTTER would like to thank all Friends
and neighbors for flowers, cards and messages received at this
sad time. Thank you everyone. Anthony and Family
Page 17
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-01-12 published
POTTER,
Thomas
James
Passed away surrounded by family the evening of January 9th,
2007 at Saint Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, after a long illness
that claimed him but never defined him. Tom was 52. Tom was the
loving husband of Joanne
McLEOD, and proud father to James. Son-in-law
of Gundy and Ann
McLEOD, much-loved brother (and brother-in-law)
of Marlene and Dan, Stephen and Nancy, Mark and Nancy, Julie
and Walter, Alix and Bob, and Cam and Moira. He will be fondly
remembered by nieces and nephews for his love and advice. Predeceased
by his parents, Mary and Alexander
POTTER of Toronto. Tom will
also be missed by family, a wide circle of Friends, and by associates
and clients of Miller Thomson, all of whom he touched deeply.
Memorial service will be conducted Saturday, January 13th at
2 p.m. at Saint Mary's (Kerrisdale) Anglican Church, 2490 West 37th
Ave. (at Larch), Vancouver. Reception to follow. Tom was a supporter
of Saint Paul's Hospital, and Friends may wish to make donations
in his honour to the Saint Paul's Hospital Foundation (Renal Initiative)
178-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver V6Z 1Y6, www.helpstpauls.com
Walkey and Company Funeral Directors 604-738-0006 Tom loved his
family, delighted in his Friends, and he inspired us with his
love of life.
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-06-28 published
SEELEY,
Lois (née
POTTER)
Died Tuesday, June 26, 2007 in her 82nd year after a 10-year
struggle with interstitial lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis)
at Valley View Villa, Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Lois was born
in Ottawa West, Nepean Township, to the late Margaret Gertrude
(MURPHY)
POTTER and Andrew
BOUCHER on February 28, 1926, and
graduated from the High School of Commerce in Ottawa. She served
proudly as a member of the Canadian Women's Army Corps in World
War 2, attaining the rank of Sergeant, with postings to Ottawa,
Saint John and Vancouver. She left when the Canadian Women's
Army Corps was disbanded in 1946. In l953, Lois married the love
of her life, Allan Frederick
SEELEY, in Ottawa, where their only
child, Ruth Elizabeth
SEELEY, was born in 1955. Lois and Allan
worked for many years for the Federal Government in Ottawa, and
in 1974, Allan returned to the Maritimes to a posting with Environment
Canada. Unfortunately, he died young (64) in 1991. She is survived
by her daughter, Ruth, Burnaby, British Columbia At Lois's request,
her body has been cremated. Interment at a later date in Ottawa,
Ontario. Arrangements entrusted to Colchester Community Funeral
Home, Truro, Nova Scotia. Very many thanks to Doctor Debra Morrison
for her care and devotion over the past 10 years.
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-09-25 published
CHICK,
Flora
Elizabeth "
Betty" (née
GORMAN)
Passed away peacefully after a short illness on Saturday, September 22,
2007 in her 92nd year. She was the beloved wife for 62 years
of the late Wilfred Charles
CHICK and a wonderful and caring
mother to Lois and John
WYNDHAM of Burlington and John and Margit
CHICK of Toronto. She thought the world of her six grandchildren
and seven great-grandchildren, Morna
WATTS and Chris
POTTER
(Connor,
Griffin and Owen,) Stephanie
MAHONEY,
Angela and Tom
MOCH (Ashley,)
Greg and Melissa
WATTS (Spencer, Cameron and Rowan), Sean
CHICK
and Colin WYNDHAM, always interested in their activities and
travels. Betty is also survived by her sister and brother-in-law
Margaret and Floyd
ANDERSON of Mesa, Arizona and her sister-in-law
Lois GORMAN of St. Catharines. Betty was born in Sault Ste Marie,
Ontario, the elder daughter of Margaret and Fred
GORMAN.
She
captured Wilf's heart when he came as a young accountant to audit
the books where she worked and they were married in October 1942.
Throughout their life together she created a warm and welcoming
home for family and Friends, both in Canada and during winters
spent in Maui and Arizona after Wilf retired. She had the knack
of making Friends wherever she went and until the last few years
kept in regular touch with an amazing number of people from every
stage of her life. Betty was an active member of Knox Presbyterian
Church in Burlington for many years and more recently attended
Knox Presbyterian in Oakville. During their years in Burlington
she was also active in the Burlington Arts and Letters Club,
the Garden Club and the Big Sisters Association. Betty was an
avid curler for many years, at the Burlington Curling Club, the
Burlington Golf and Country Club and the Mississauga Golf and Country
Club. We will miss her zest for life, her sense of humour and
her generosity of spirit. Visitation at Smith's Funeral Home,
485 Brant Street (one block north of City Hall), Burlington (905-632-3333)
on Thursday from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. where Funeral Service will
take place Friday, September 28, 2007 at 1: 30 p.m. Cremation
has taken place. If desired, expressions of sympathy to the Alzheimer
Society or a charity of your choice would be sincerely appreciated
by the family.
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-10-23 published
POTTER,
Jack
Peacefully in his 93rd year on Sunday, October 21, 2007 at Humber
River
Regional
Hospital. Jack
POTTER, beloved husband of Rose,
his loving wife of 67 years. Loving father and father-in-law
of Stanley and Sharon
POTTER, and Linda and the late Tom
MAHER.
Dear brother of the late Clara (Chippy)
SHACK, and Morris
POTTER.
Devoted grandfather of Marla
BAKER and Brian
SILVERSTEIN,
Jonathan
BAKER, and Jordan
POTTER.
Adoring uncle of Michael
TIETELBAUM,
and Carol PASTERNAK. He was a W.W.2 veteran, and an avid fisherman
and bowler. After 42 years of service working for Continental
Can starting as a printer and retired in 1979 as general plant
manager. He and Rose were among the founding members of Club
L'Chaim at Adath Israel Synagogue. A respected gentleman who
will be missed by all. At Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles
Avenue West (3 lights west of Dufferin) for service on Tuesday,
October 23, 2007 at 1: 00 p.m. Interment Adath Israel section
of Pardes Shalom Cemetery. Donations may be made to the Jack
Potter Memorial Fund c/o The Benjamin Foundation, 3429 Bathurst
Street, Toronto, M6A 2C3, 416-780-0324, www.benjamins.ca
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-11-14 published
WITHER,
Isobel
Fleming (née
POTTER) (1923-2007)
Born in Cypress River, Manitoba, Isobel passed away peacefully
on Friday, November 9th at Providence Health Care Centre in Toronto.
Isobel lived in Winnipeg for most of her life where she and her
late husband Glenn raised their family. She will be lovingly
remembered by her children and their families; Joan and Tim
ROUNDS
(Laurel, Will, and his wife
Anthea,)
Bruce and Joan
WITHER
(Robert,
John and Allison) and Don and Donna
WITHER
(Jacqueline.)
Isobel
was predeceased by her husband Glenn in 1981 after 35 wonderful
years of marriage. Isobel's focus was charity work with over
40 years working for the McKinnon Guild in Winnipeg, supporting
the Children's Hospital Foundation. She was a prodigious knitter,
providing yearly sweaters for her grandchildren and mittens for
all. She enjoyed her golf and the many Friendships she made at
Southwood Golf and Country Club. Her fondest memories are of
her youth spent at Fox Lake with her brother Ross and cousins
David and Margaret. Despite Rheumatoid Arthritis, Isobel proudly
maintained her independence in Winnipeg until last Christmas,
when a fall necessitated her move to Toronto. Although Winnipeg
was always her home, her close proximity to her children in her
last year was a blessing to all. Many thanks to the compassionate
staff at Providence Health Care Centre for their help and support,
particularly in her last few months. In lieu of flowers, donations
in her memory may be made to The Arthritis Society or Children's
Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. A private family memorial will
be held in Toronto, followed this spring with her interment and
a celebration of her life in Winnipeg.
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POTTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-12-31 published
BOURQUE,
Patricia (née
LEE)
Died peacefully, at home surrounded by her family on the morning
of December 28th 2007, in her 83rd year, from pneumonia. She
was predeceased by her husband Lt. Cdr Charles Alfred
BOURQUE
(1988). Pat is survived by her six children, Phillip (Ann), Patricia
(Willy), Paul (Lenore), Peter (Laura), Anna (Philippe), and Julia
(Mark,) and her grandchildren Samantha and Andreas
BRUEGGER,
Jacob and Claire
BOURQUE,
Michael,
Louise, and Elizabeth
BOURQUE,
Alexandra, Sebastian and Charlotte
POTTER.
Pat was the daughter
of Thomas LEE and Charlotta Cantfell
LEE, of Halifax, Nova Scotia
and sister of Peggy, (deceased), Blanche (deceased), Jennie,
Paul, Robin, Mary, Heidi, and Sandy. Pat was a graduate of The
Convent of The Sacred Heart ('44) and the Maritime School of
Social Work ('46), York University (B.A. Psych '71). Pat retired
in 1990 from a career in social work with the City of Toronto.
A memorial celebration is planned for June.
P... Names PO... Names POT... Names Welcome Home
POTTER - All Categories in OGSPI
POTTS o@ca.on.grey_county.artemesia.flesherton.the_flesherton_advance 2007-06-06 published
POTTS,
Dean
In loving memory of a dear husband, father and grandfather, Dean,
who passed away 3, 2000.
What would I give to clasp his hand,
His happy face to see,
To hear his voice and see his smile,
That meant so much to me.
- Lovingly remembered by his wife, Phyllis, Judy, Dan, Katie
and Lori.
Page 3
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POTTS o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2007-10-03 published
PRYOR-
CUNNING,
Catherine (née
PRYOR)
At the Bowmanville Hospital on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at the
age of 47 years, the former Kate
PRYOR of Oshawa. Wife of Steve
CUNNING.
Mother of Robert
POTTS and his wife
Valerie of Elderslie
Township, and Danielle and her husband Mike
CHOPIK of Oshawa.
Stepmother of Logan and Georgette
CUNNING of Little Britain,
and D'Arcy
CUNNING and Elisa of Oshawa. Grammie to Clinton, Autumn,
and Tyler. She is also survived by three brothers and three sisters.
She is predeceased by her parents George and Marjorie
PRYOR.
Friends may call at the W. Kent Milroy Port Elgin Chapel, 510 Mill
Street, Port Elgin from 7: 00 to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 3rd,
2007. Visitation will then take place at the Carleton Co-operative
Funeral Home, 337 Lockhart Mill Rd., Jacksonville, New Brunswick
from 2: 00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Friday. Funeral service
will take place in the chapel of the Carleton Co-operative Funeral
Home on Saturday at 11: 00 a.m. Interment Williamstown Cemetery.
Memorial contributions to the A.L.S. Society would be appreciated
as expressions of sympathy. Portrait and memorial online at www.milroyfuneralhomes.com
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POTTS o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.collingwood.the_connection 2007-11-02 published
McLEOD,
Charles▼
Marshall▼
(April▼ 21, 1932-October 24, 2007)
Charlie died peacefully surrounded by his family on Wednesday
night. Charlie was born at Northslope Farm on the 8th Line of
the former Nottawasaga Township, and lived there his entire life.
He married Maureen Carollyn
HERRINGTON on October 30, 1964, and
together they raised three children on the farm amid much rowdy
laughter and hard work. Charlie is survived by his wife, sons
Alex and Ian, daughter Mariane, daughter-in-law Kathy, son-in-law
Charlie RENTNER and
by Delia IAFRATE. He adored his grandchildren
Kaitlyn, Connor and Rosaleigh. He was predeceased by his sister
Jean YEAGER and brothers-in-law Joe
YEAGER and Dean
POTTS.
Charlie▼
will be sorely missed by his surviving siblings: Don and Betty
McLEOD,
Hazel▼ and Harry
ROWLEY, Marion and Bill
GORDON, Phyllis
POTTS,
Mildred▼ and Jim
WALKER, Helen and Ron
WRIGHT. He will
be fondly remembered by 32 nieces and nephews, their children
and a wide extended family. Charlie will be missed for his gentle
ways and quiet, quick wit. Visitation with the family at Fawcett's
Funeral Home in Creemore on Friday, October 26 from 2 to 4 p.m.
and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services to be held at Dunedin Presbyterian
Church on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers,
please donate to the Dunedin Presbyterian Church Window Fund,
South Simcoe 4H Association, or the Parkinson's Foundation. Friends
may visit the on-line book of condolences at www.fawcettfuneralhomes.com
Page 19
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POTTS o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.stayner.stayner_sun 2007-10-31 published
McLEOD,
Charles▲
Marshall▲
(April▲ 21, 1932-October 24, 2007)
Charlie died peacefully surrounded by his family on Wednesday
night. Charlie was born at Northslope Farm on the 8th Line of
the former Nottawasaga Township, and lived there his entire life.
He married Maureen Carollyn
HERRINGTON on October 30, 1964, and
together they raised three children on the farm amid much rowdy
laughter and hard work. Charlie is survived by his wife, sons
Alex and Ian, daughter Mariane, daughter-in-law Kathy, son-in-law
Charlie RENTNER and
by Delia IAFRATE. He adored his grandchildren
Kaitlyn, Connor and Rosaleigh. He was predeceased by his sister
Jean YEAGER and brothers-in-law Joe
YEAGER and Dean
POTTS.
Charlie▲
will be sorely missed by his surviving siblings: Don and Betty
McLEOD,
Hazel▲ and Harry
ROWLEY, Marion and Bill
GORDON, Phyllis
POTTS,
Mildred▲ and Jim
WALKER, Helen and Ron
WRIGHT. He will
be fondly remembered by 32 nieces and nephews, their children
and a wide extended family. Charlie will be missed for his gentle
ways and quiet, quick wit. Visitation with the family at Fawcett's
Funeral Home in Creemore on Friday, October 26 from 2 to 4 p.m.
and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services to be held at Dunedin Presbyterian
Church on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers,
please donate to the Dunedin Presbyterian Church Window Fund,
South Simcoe 4H Association, or the Parkinson's Foundation. Friends
may visit the on-line book of condolences at www.fawcettfuneralhomes.com
Page 13
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POTTS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-07-07 published
Pioneer filmmaker turned hard-hitting social issues into popular
television
He returned from naval duty in the Second World War to pioneer
such shows as Wojeck, writes Sandra
MARTIN, and to set standards
for 'what an archetypal Canadian drama series ought to be'
By Sandra MARTIN,
Page
S11
Forty years ago, when John Vernon as Wojeck and Gordon Pinsent
as Quentin Jurgens, M.P., were upholding Canadian attributes
of social justice on the country's black-and-white television
sets, Ron WEYMAN was in his golden age at Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation Television drama. A visual artist and a navy veteran
who had seen H.M.S. Hood go down and landed at Omaha Beach in
the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Mr.
WEYMAN learned to make documentaries
at the National Film Board and to shoot film on location by watching
Italian directors Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini in
action. That's the cultural baggage Mr.
WEYMAN brought to Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation-television in the mid-1950s. Within
a decade, he had persuaded the corporation to shift from videotape
to film and to send directors out of the studios and into the
streets so that they could use real locations in home-grown stories
that reflected contemporary social issues. And he had put Wojeck,
a short-lived but stellar dramatic series, into the imaginations
of viewers.
One early fan was Ivan Fecan, president and Chief Executive Officer
of CTVglobemedia. Back in 1966, when Wojeck premiered, he
was a 12-year-old boy. "In Wojeck, I saw performances and stories
and images of Toronto in a way that I had never seen before and,
frankly, rarely afterward. It made a huge impression on me,"
he said in a telephone interview this week. Of Mr.
WEYMAN, he
said, "I didn't know him well personally, but I was a huge fan
of his work. He was the real deal, the real ground-breaker in
Canadian drama, and I don't think he ever got enough credit for
what he proved could be done."
A little more than 20 years later, when Mr. Fecan was program
chief at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he hauled six Wojeck
episodes out of the vaults and put them back on the air. Mr. Fecan
still thinks that Mr.
WEYMAN's work sets the standard for "what
an archetypal Canadian drama series ought to be today."
Ronald
Charles
Tosh
WEYMAN was the third
son of four children
of Margaret
(POTTS) and Joshua
WEYMAN, a machinist. He was born
in England in the middle of the First World War. The family immigrated
to St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1923 because Mr.
WEYMAN's older
brother Charles had settled there. Within a few years, the
WEYMANs
had moved to the Danforth area of Toronto, where Ron attended
Danforth and East York Collegiates. When the Depression hit and
Ron had to leave school to help out financially, he took on a
variety of jobs, including working as a tea taster.
As soon as he had some money in his pockets, he bought a small
boat and taught himself to sail. He was also very interested
in painting and acting and, with his younger sister (broadcaster
and sculptor Rita Greer
ALLEN,) became part of a local theatrical
group that swirled around Dora Mavor Moore. Through these connections,
Ron met University of Toronto undergraduates Alison (Ashy) Alford
and her older sister Giovanna (Vanna), the daughters of John
Alford, who was the founding chair of the university's fine arts
department.
After the Second World War broke out in 1939, Mr.
WEYMAN enlisted
in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. Despite his lack
of formal education, he was in the first group of Royal Canadian
Navy Volunteer Reserve recruits who were seconded to the Royal
Navy for officer training. About the time that France was falling
and Dunkirk was being evacuated, Sub-Lieutenant
WEYMAN was qualifying
as a specialist with anti-submarine detection equipment.
Among other ships, he was the only Canadian to serve on H.M.S. Achates
as part of the escort-destroyer group attending on the battlecruiser
Hood when she was sunk in 10 minutes by the German capital ship
Bismarck with the loss of all but three hands during the Battle
of the Denmark Strait on May 24, 1941.
After Achates hit a mine on the Murmansk run, with the loss of
half its company, SLt.
WEYMAN joined H.M.C.S. St. Croix on convoy
escort duty in the North Atlantic during some of the most treacherous
U-boat engagements of the war. He and Ashy were married in October,
1941, while he was home on leave. About 16 months later, when
he was overseas again, she died in her sleep -- probably of an
epileptic seizure.
As the balance finally shifted in the war, he was promoted to
first lieutenant on a landing ship, tank (LST) and responsible
for getting what he called a "floating radar palace" on Omaha
Beach in June, 1944. Subsequently, he received a promotion to
lieutenant commander and a new assignment: command of an LST
bound for Southeast Asia, where he was to lead Indian troops
onto the beaches of Malaya and Burma. Before he could see action,
the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and the Japanese surrendered. In describing his war service,
he said he "was mined once, torpedoed once and got sunk a third
time."
Life was not all battle stations. He had continued to paint on
his various vessels and while on leave in London contributed
some canvasses to an exhibition of Canadian War Art at The National
Gallery in London. One of his paintings, U-Boat Attack, was purchased
by The National Gallery in Ottawa. Another dozen works (five
paintings and seven drawings) now belong to the Canadian War
Museum.
After he was demobilized in Halifax, Mr.
WEYMAN wanted to become
a serious painter and headed to Ottawa to consult with a curator
at The National Gallery. That same weekend, he encountered Sydney
Newman of the fledgling National Film Board, who suggested he
try film instead. By chance, Nick Reed had just come back from
Greece with the film footage that would later be used in the
film Out of the Ruins. He took Mr.
WEYMAN on as an assistant,
and when Mr. Reed returned to his home in South Carolina, he
inherited the film. "I was hooked," he wrote later.
He was also becoming hooked on his sister-in-law, Vanna. Her
husband, John
TERRACE, a bomber pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force,
had been shot down over Magdeburg, Germany, in 1944 and was missing
in action for two years until his death was finally confirmed.
She and Mr.
WEYMAN became close because of their bereavements
and their mutual interest in the visual arts. They married on
June 28, 1947, and eventually had five children: Cindy, Jenny,
John (Tiki), Peter (Bay) and James.
Mr. WEYMAN worked for the National Film Board from 1946 to 1953.
He made more than 20 films, including After Prison, What?, which
won the prize for best theatrical film at the Canadian Film Festival
in 1951, and The Safety Supervisor, which earned a first award
at the Venice Film Festival in 1952. After seven years, he quit
to freelance in Italy, the ancestral home of many in his wife's
family. While they were abroad, he wrote and filmed eight documentaries
in Italy and the Middle East for the National Film Board and
the United Nations, learning how to shoot film on location rather
than in studio, a skill that he brought back to Canada and to
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he began working
in 1954 under Robert
ALLEN, who was the head of television drama
and the scriptwriter/accountant who had married Mr.
WEYMAN's
younger sister Rita.
His lasting contribution began in the 1962-63 season with his
invention of The Serial, a program that presented Canadian novels
on film and tape and employed Canadian actors, directors, writers
and producers. It was on The Serial that Mr.
WEYMAN produced
dramatizations of Thomas Raddall's The Wings of the Night, Morley
Callaghan's More Joy in Heaven and the pilots that would become
Wojeck, Quentin Durgens, M.P. and Hatch's Mill, working with
such directors as Paul Almond, David Gardner and later Daryl
Duke.
Tell Them The Streets Are Dancing, based on the files of Doctor Morton
Shulman, was written by Philip Hersch and starred John Vernon
(obituary February 4, 2005), Bruno Gerussi and Patricia Collins.
The plot pitted a crusading big-city coroner investigating the
deaths of five Italian construction workers against their greedy
bosses and corrupt government inspectors. Audiences loved it
and Mr. WEYMAN quickly commissioned enough scripts from Mr. Hersch
to run 10 episodes the next season, staring Mr. Vernon as Wojeck.
As a model, Wojeck (which ran from 1966 to 1968) was the forerunner
of NBC's Quincy, M.E., and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's
Da Vinci's Inquest.
The series, which used the
WEYMANs' own home as the set for Wojeck's
house, attracted 2,900,000 viewers with an overall audience enjoyment
of 80 and climbed into the top 10 of most popular shows when
sold to Britain. Another pilot, Mr. Member of Parliament, starring
Gordon Pinsent as a naive and conscientious politician, and directed
by Mr. Gardner, became the hit series Quentin Durgens, M.P.
Both programs brought hard-hitting contemporary social issues
(abortion, suicide, abuse of power) into dramatic stories played
out in locations that Canadians recognized as part of their own
worlds. But none of it lasted, for the same reasons that have
beleaguered so many other "golden ages" in Canada's cultural
history: a lack of money, vision and commitment. The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation couldn't commit to a third season of
Wojeck or promise steady employment to the actors, directors
and producers, so they all followed the jobs and the money to
Los
Angeles.
Even Mr.
WEYMAN toyed with moving to California.
In a brief to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation management in
April, 1970, a frustrated Mr.
WEYMAN complained that a vacuum
existed between the policy planners and the drama producers that
"threatens the future of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation drama"
and "the survival of our community of talent." He insisted that
"a given volume of production is essential on a continuing basis,
if we hope to maintain a healthy climate in which talent can
survive" and he outlined the various measures he thought should
be taken, including training and letting people make mistakes
in regional and local productions rather than on the network,
where the new writer or new director "falls on his face in front
of millions of people" while the public and the critics "quite
properly" wonder "if we know what it is we are doing."
He continued to make drama at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
in the 1970s with shows such as Corwin, The Manipulators, Welcome
Stranger, The Albertans and a dramatization of Margaret Laurence's
novel The Fire Dwellers, but nothing exceeded the audience rapport
he had achieved a decade earlier with Wojeck. "The tragedy is
that he got sidetracked," Mr. Fecan said. "He could have gone
on to do so much more, but he never got the chance and consequently
he didn't get the credit he deserved for what he did."
After he retired from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in
1980, Mr. WEYMAN turned back to painting and to writing screenplays
and a new form: novels. He borrowed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
famous fictional character Sherlock Holmes and created new adventures
for him after his presumed death at the Reichenbach Falls in
the Swiss Alps in The Adventure of the Final Problem. Instead
of mouldering in his grave, the famous sleuth was flitting about
Canada from 1891 to 1894 at the behest of Queen Victoria's son,
the Prince of Wales and later Edward VII. At least that was
the story Mr.
WEYMAN spun in his trilogy, Sherlock Holmes and the
Ultimate Disguise, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Mark of
the Beast and Sherlock Holmes Travels in the Canadian West. He
also wrote In Love and War: A Memoir, a vivid account of his
romantic and naval experiences in the Second World War. As well,
he directed the occasional film, learned to play classical guitar
and travelled.
About four years ago, Mr.
WEYMAN suffered a stroke that left
him paralyzed on one side and unable to speak or to feed himself.
Late last month, sensing the end was near, his family took him
to a farmhouse northwest of Toronto that he and Vanna had bought
in 1964, the fount of so many happy family occasions. "Every
time we left the farm, he would say, 'Goodbye, this place,' "
she said in an interview this week. That's where he died, two
days before they would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Ronald
Charles
Tosh
WEYMAN was born in Erdith, Kent, on December 13,
1915. He died near Flesherton, Ontario, on June 26, 2007. He
was 91. He is survived by his wife Vanna, five children, 11 grandchildren,
his sister Rita and extended family. A celebration of his life
will be held tomorrow at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street,
Toronto.
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