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SIMS o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-05-15 published
McKAY, Robert William
Peacefully at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, Robert William McKAY of Forest passed away in his 77th year. Remembered by siblings Viola LADANCHUK of Sarnia, Gord and Sue McKAY of Forest, and John McKAY of Lambeth. Also survived by several nieces and nephews, and many Friends. Predeceased by sisters Helen SIMS and Jean LEWIS. Funeral service to be held at 11: 00 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2008 with visitation 1 hour prior to service at Gilpin Funeral Chapel, Forest. Interment to follow at Wyoming Cemetery with Rev. Joyce MORRIS officiating. Memorial Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society gratefully acknowledged in lieu of flowers. Online condolences at gilpinfuneralchapel.com.

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SIMS o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-07-19 published
STEEVES, Simone
We would like, at this time, to extend our deepest gratitude to all our neighbours, Friends relatives, and co-workers of Community Care Therapy, for their expressions of sympathy and comfort in the recent passing of our Mother, Simone. To the staff of Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital, Doctor Favot, Doctor Tan, Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit staff, and Olivia HEFNER, Lay Chaplain, our sincere thanks for the care our Mother received and the compassion shown to our family. A special thank you to Peggy and Andy McFADDEN, who stepped in to help with our grandchildren. Fran GROULX, for helping with meals, the ladies of Emmanuel Worship Committee, for helping with the luncheon following our Mother's service, and our Minister, Linda BLAIR for her compassion, calmness, and organization in planning our mother's tribute service, Koolini's for catering a great meal on such short notice, and finally thank you to Carolyn at Salon V. We were so grateful to the many family and Friends that came from Toronto, Stoney Creek, Port Dover, Port Ryerse, Brantford, Paris and London for the service. Your presence there meant so very much to us. Thank you for the beautiful floral arrangements, fruit baskets, gifts of food, cards and donations to Emmanuel United Church. Thank you to the Community Care Access Centre, especially Case Manager, Fay LAWN for her support over the last year. It meant so much to Mom to continue living independently in her own home. Thank you to Dijana PANZALOVIC, Occupational Therapist, with Community Care Therapy, for her many suggestions and implementations, making Mom's life safe and manageable in her own home. Thank you to Com Care Personal Support Workers, Heather BUTT, and Debbie CÔTÉ and St. Elizabeth Nurse, Judy SIMS. A very special thank you to Pauline and Al BRKOVICH, Andrea and Chris OSBORNE, and Val and Stephane DESBIENS, who welcomed Mom, (Danda's Sweetheart), into their family with kindness, compassion and love during their 11 year "courtship". Pauline, in this long year since Danda passed, Mom looked forward to your continued visits, meals and phone calls. They were appreciated more than you can know by Mom and us. Finally thank you to the Walter D. Kelly Funeral Home, especially Hector AUDETTE, for his guidance and going above and beyond his role as Funeral Director and taking care of even the smallest of details to ensure that Mother's service was perfect. Launa and Ken GROULX, Jody STEEVES and Kirt STEEVES.

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SIMS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-03-27 published
WILLSON, William Joseph " Bill"
At Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital in his 72nd year, on March 26, 2008, after a lengthy period of failing health. William Joseph, son of the late Marion Ruth APPELBE and Donald Hunter WILLSON. Also predeceased by his eldest brother Donald and sister-in-law Meredith. Survived by his brother J. Robert (Bob) and sister-in-law Ruth, his wife Barbara (née SIMS,) his daughter Stephanie (Jim COPPOLINO,) his son Jonathan (Andrea CHARLTON) and his four grandchildren, Sophia, James, Katherine and Ross. In keeping with his wishes, a private family interment will be held at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, London, Ontario. If desired and in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Ridley College, P.O. Box 3013, 2 Ridley Rd., St. Catharines, Ontario, L2R 7C3.

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SIMUNAC o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-01-27 published
Geography teacher gave kids the world
By Daniela SIMUNAC, Sun Media, Sun., January 27, 2008
Barry GORBOULD was the kind of high school geography teacher whose lessons extended beyond the classroom and literally into the far reaches of Europe.
On several overseas class trips, he exposed his students to foods, languages and customs they wouldn't find in Woodstock.
He and his wife, Diana, also a geography teacher, would assign students to ask local people simple questions using their limited knowledge of the foreign language and they would praise the students for getting answers.
That was just like GORBOULD -- always trying to prove to students they had it in them all along, his daughter, Alison GORBOULD, said from her home in Toronto.
"He always connected with the underdog," she said.
Born in 1942, GORBOULD began teaching after he immigrated to Canada in 1967 and he taught at three Woodstock high schools.
Prior to the move, GORBOULD studied at the University of Bristol in England, where he met his wife, and the couple spent a year in Kenya surveying land.
However, it was teaching that meant the most to him.
An avid globetrotter, GORBOULD and his wife took their children to Europe nearly every summer.
At home, GORBOULD was a skilled builder who created canoes, doll houses and nearly half the family's furniture.
When his son, Paul, once asked for a secret room, GORBOULD sought the original plans to the home and built a door to a crawl space behind the boy's room.
"We believed he could build anything," Alison GORBOULD said.
Suddenly in 1980, GORBOULD began to suffer seizures. He learned he had a brain tumour, but continued to teach and was open with his students about his illness.
One of his students, who had epilepsy, later thanked him for his honesty because he was embarrassed to admit that he, too, had an illness.
GORBOULD died on December 19, at the age of 65. He is survived by his wife, two children and two granddaughters.
He was remembered by one student as "brave" for taking his students across the ocean.
"Many people never leave their hometown or home province," wrote Janet (HUTCHINSON/HUTCHISON) HOEGG on a tribute website to GORBOULD. "I have not been without a passport since that trip."

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SIMUNAC o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-02-03 published
George MOTTRAM guided by his strong Catholic faith
By Daniela SIMUNAC, Sun Media, Sun., February 3, 2008
If there was one thing that guided George Edward MOTTRAM's life, it would be his Catholic faith.
Whether he was administering eucharist at his long-time church or negotiating costs with bus companies for the Catholic school board, MOTTRAM always treated others with the respect he'd like to be given.
"That was the key to George -- his Catholic faith," said Ken REGAN, former education director of the London Middlesex Catholic school board.
MOTTRAM died January 25 at age 83.
He was one of the first people who welcomed Regan into the school board in 1967 when he took over after Monsignor J.A. FEENEY retired. That moment sparked a Friendship that would last more than 30 years.
MOTTRAM was one of four people in the administration office at the time. He began working there a decade earlier, straight out of high school, when FEENEY asked him to join the board.
As the planning and transportation officer for the board, it was MOTTRAM's responsibility to seek sites where new Catholic schools could be built, plan bus routes for students and negotiate costs with school bus companies.
His responsibilities were heavy at the time, considering Catholic boards had fewer dollars from the province to work with and nearly half the board's students depended on busing. Gentle but effective, MOTTRAM always impressed his colleagues with his ability to negotiate low prices.
"The other boards were jealous at what he could do," REGAN said.
They were daunting tasks, but MOTTRAM made them look easy.
"I never saw the man angry. I'm sure he was at times, but he never showed it," said REGAN. "He was always calm and respectful."
MOTTRAM was also a board member at the Monsignor Feeney Foundation, a secretary of the ecumenical commission of the diocese of London and a past-president of the Irish Benevolent Society.
"He never knew how to say no," said John FERRIS, the board chair, who knew MOTTRAM for more than 50 years.
An active member of Saint Mary's Roman Catholic church and later Holy Family, every year MOTTRAM would comment on live radio during the broadcast of midnight mass at Saint Peter's Basilica.
In 1992, MOTTRAM was named to the mayor's Honour List. Eight years later, he organized a faith-based celebration that drew thousands to London from various religions.
MOTTRAM was notorious for forever running late -- because he would always stop to chat with people, FERRIS said. "He was the closest thing to a perfect gentleman I have ever met in my life."
MOTTRAM is survived by his wife Rita, four children and a grandchild.

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SIMUNAC o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-02-24 published
Frome's oldest citizen recognized as a builder
By Daniela SIMUNAC, Sun Media, Sun., February 24, 2008
John Sidney SILCOX joked with his neighbours that he was the mayor of their tiny village near Saint Thomas called Frome.
He called himself mayor because "he was the oldest one here," said his cousin, Don SILCOX.
It was hard not to come into contact with the self-proclaimed top public servant in the community of 50 residents.
For half a century, John SILCOX was both a skilled carpenter and volunteer firefighter. He was always available to those who knew him and needed a hand, his cousin said.
When a tornado blew through Frome one August day in 1990 and ripped through 10 homes, SILCOX was there.
His son Stephen's home was "torn down flat," while the roof on his father's house ripped off, recalled his brother, Bob SILCOX.
"We had a bad year that year. We had to hire some extra help."
Those were houses SILCOX helped to build. He also built his own home in 1977 less than half a kilometre from the Frome United Church, where he was an active member, his cousin said.
SILCOX was able to build three or four houses a year, framing the entire house with his brother beginning when the two were in high school.
SILCOX studied carpentry at Arthur Voaden secondary in Saint Thomas, followed by an apprenticeship and a stint as a volunteer firefighter.
When it was someone else's turn to apprentice, SILCOX stressed the importance of using more nails.
"He liked to put stuff up that was very sound," his brother said.
SILCOX would also always try to squeeze in extra space to make a room bigger.
"It doesn't cost that much more to make it two feet wider," Bob SILCOX remembers him often saying.
Still it wasn't always hard times working with SILCOX. He would make others laugh by nailing a worker's pant leg or lunch bag to the roof, his cousin said.
"He was always a jokester. He always had a smile on his face."
SILCOX's carpentry skills aided him in his battles with fires.
"He knew how to cut houses apart and get water inside," said Don SILCOX, who often worked beside him firefighting for the Southwold fire department.
John SILCOX died January 22 at the age of 76 of liver cancer, the same disease that took his wife three years earlier.
He is survived by three children and eight grandchildren.

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SIMUNAC o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-03-03 published
Teacher devoted to children
Kay McLAUGHLIN saw her career as an 'investment' in children.
By Daniela SIMUNAC, Sun Media, Mon., March 3, 2008
Wilma DE ROND credits her Grade 8 teacher Kay McLAUGHLIN with helping her through a difficult time.
"She was the first female teacher I had since my mother passed away," said DE ROND, education director of the London District Catholic school board. "I had already gone through a lot of change.
"She was just a steady hand and that's what I needed," DE ROND said.
McLAUGHLIN, whose career in education inspired others to follow, died February 24 She was 92.
Her daughter, Kathy FRAUMENI, is a school principal. Granddaughter Kate VAUTHIER teaches and Mary Kate FRAUMENI, another granddaughter, aspires to teach.
An elementary teacher in the Catholic system, then a three-time trustee on the board that preceded the London District Catholic school board, McLAUGHLIN's life revolved around children, those who knew her said.
She trained to become a teacher in Saint John, N.B., where she was born in 1916.
She met her future husband, Maurice, at a skating rink one frosty day while a student and the couple later kept in touch.
They married in 1940 and and raised five daughters and a son. The young family moved frequently with each job transfer Maurice had while dealing trucks and farm equipment.
"We were a close family because we moved together," recalled her daughter Patricia McLAUGHLIN of London.
They settled in London in 1967 where Kay McLAUGHLIN taught at Notre Dame, St. Paul and Saint Anne schools.
When she retired at 65, McLAUGHLIN decided to run for the school board. She ran three times, all successfully.
In 1982, in her third run, she told The Free Press her plan was to "protect my investment in the children."
Her experience as a teacher and a mother paid dividends later, recalled former board education director Ken REGAN.
"She brought all of those perspectives to the board. They were terrific bits of information," he said.
Seldom seen without a hat, McLAUGHLIN's wit was sharp, her manners impeccable and her arguments almost always pointed, said Regan.
"She certainly added some decorum to our deliberations," said trustee John FERRIS, now the board's chairperson.
McLAUGHLIN encouraged parents and teachers to take part in public meetings and have their voices heard in a boardroom where they often felt intimidated.
McLAUGHLIN's presence was also felt at her parish, now Holy Cross, where she was president of the Catholic Woman's League and a key fundraiser. Among her projects was an annual bake sale, begun 30 years ago, to repair public works in South America.
The fundraiser continues to this day and has raised "tens of thousands" of dollars, Patricia McLAUGHLIN said.

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SIMUNAC o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-03-15 published
Car-train crash kills Stratford man
By Daniela SIMUNAC, Sun Media, Sat., March 15, 2008
A man in his 20s died yesterday when his vehicle failed to stop at a railroad crossing and crashed into a passenger train just east of Stratford.
Perth County Ontario Provincial Police said lights flashed and the bell had sounded as a Via train going west collided with a Ford Contour heading south on Perth Road 111, just south of Highway 8, shortly after 1 p.m.
The driver of the car, 28-year-old David SIMONS of Stratford, died at the scene.
Ontario Provincial Police said the train was travelling at about 115 kilometres an hour.
Firefighters, investigators and a coroner went to the site in South Easthope Township.

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