BUIE o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2008-02-23 published
BYE,
Jean▼
Marjorie▼ (née
GRUNSELL)
Peacefully at the Grey Bruce Health Services in Owen Sound on
her mother's birthday Friday February 22, 2008. In her 92nd year,
Jean Marjorie
BYE (née
GRUNSELL,) beloved wife of the late Lester J.
BYE.
Loving▼ mother of John
BYE and his late wife
Barbara,▼
Mary▼
and her husband John
COLLIER and Kathryn and her husband Martin
ROACH.
Loving▼ grandmother of Melissa
BYE, Amy and her husband
Lenny FONTE, Sarah
COLLIER and James
WOOD, and Martha
COLLIER.
Loved great-grandmother of Anthony and Haly. Fondly remembered
by nieces and nephews. Predeceased by three sisters Alma (Mrs. John
BUIE,)
Dorothy and Irene
GRUNSELL. Friends may call at the Breckenridge-Ashcroft
Funeral Home on Friday February 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to
9 p.m. A funeral service will be conducted at the Trinity United
Church,
Annan on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Rev. Hugh
McDONALD
officiating. Spring interment in Annan Cemetery. As an expression
of sympathy, memorial donations to the Grey Bruce Regional Health
Centre Foundation or to Trinity United Church, Annan would be
appreciated by the family.
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BUIE o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2008-02-29 published
BYE,
Jean▲
Marjorie▲ (née
GRUNSELL)
Peacefully at the Grey Bruce Health Services in Owen Sound on
her mother's birthday Friday, February 22, 2008. In her 92nd
year, Jean Marjorie
BYE (née
GRUNSELL,) beloved wife of the late
Lester J. BYE.
Loving▲ mother of John
BYE and his late wife
Barbara,▲
Mary and her husband John
COLLIER and Kathryn and her husband
Martin ROACH.
Loving▲ grandmother of Melissa
BYE, Amy and her
husband Lenny
FONTE,
Sarah
COLLIER and James
WOOD, and Martha
COLLIER.
Loved great-grandmother of Anthony and Haly. Fondly
remembered by nieces and nephews. Predeceased by three sisters
Alma (Mrs. John
BUIE), Dorothy and Irene
GRUNSELL. Friends may
call at the Breckenridge-Ashcroft Funeral Home on Friday February 29
from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral service will be conducted
at the Trinity United Church, Annan on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Rev. Hugh McDONALD officiating. Spring interment in Annan Cemetery.
As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations to the Grey
Bruce Regional Health Centre Foundation or to Trinity United
Church, Annan would be appreciated by the family.
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BUIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-02-01 published
She entertained Toronto and the troops, carting her organ from
stage to stage
Born to a talented family, she became a musical fixture in a
growing city and beyond
By Noreen SHANAHAN,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S9
Toronto -- As a classical organist, Dorothy
BROMBY's performances
were like a soundtrack for a maturing city in the 20th century.
From her early days in cinemas, performing during intermission,
to troop shows during the Second World War and rounding up prize-winning
animals at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, her music bellowed
in the eclectic corners of Toronto's entertainment industry for
more than five decades.
Ms. BROMBY was the first female conductor at the Royal Alexandra
Theatre, and at age 20, probably the youngest. She performed,
produced and directed shows at the Winter Fair, the Royal Horse
Show, the National Home Show, Ontario Place and Yorkdale Mall.
With great dedication and care, she carted her Lowery Organ from
stage to stage.
She also inspired others to succeed. David Rogers, one of Canada's
leading musical theatre talents and former star of the Toronto
production of The Phantom of the Opera, said Ms.
BROMBY taught
him how to be a professional.
"[She said] that it was a business that had to be taken seriously.
She always commanded respect."
Dorothy BROMBY was born into a musical and entertaining family.
When her father, Harold, was still in his teens, he was personal
trumpeter to the Duke of Atholl in Aberdeen, Scotland. Later,
in Canada, he served as bandmaster for the 116th Battalion during
the First World War. When Dorothy was a child, it was not unusual
for her to find veterans camped out on the living room floor,
especially during the annual Warriors' Day Parade. She also had
an uncle who played the xylophone, drums and zither at the Canadian
National Exhibition grandstand for afternoon circus performances.
Dorothy's first public performance was as an elementary student
in Toronto's west end. In those days, children were expected
to quietly line up in front of the "girl" or "boy" entrance.
Once her piano skills became known, she was expected to be at
the keys twice a day to herd them through the proper doors. Her
uncle, Walter, even wrote a special piece of music for her called
the Western Avenue School March. By the time she was in high
school, the organ was her favourite instrument. In 1941, she
took a job playing at cinemas across Toronto, including the Odeon
Carlton, the Humber and the Danforth Music Hall.
Around the same time, she started performing for the troops at
Ontario military installations, including Camp Borden, Barryfield
and Muskoka's "Little Norway" base.
"She was the youngest member of the musicians' union," said sister
Bernice BOYD, "and our parents had to make sure the colonel in
charge at each camp would look after her."
She often teamed up with Scottish comedian Billy Meek, who went
on to a regular role on Pig and Whistle, the iconic Canadian television
variety show. In addition to troop shows, Ms.
BROMBY volunteered
to play for wounded servicemen who were convalescing in Toronto.
In her teens, Ms.
BROMBY summered in the Toronto Islands. (Her
mother, Lily, had lived there when she first came to Canada from
Belfast in the early 1920s.) The cottage lacked a piano until
one day when her parents were bicycling at the Eastern Gap harbour
entrance and spied a table grand in the sand. They borrowed a
Toronto Transit Commission freight wagon and, with Friends, pulled
it home.
"Our parents restored it as best they could," her sister said.
"And this was where Dot did all her rehearsing. When we had parties,
the piano was closed and used as a buffet table."
During the war, Ms.
BROMBY did shows at the Royal York and King
Edward hotels, performing with four other women in a group they
called The Dorothy Bromby Singers. She wrote the music and played
accompaniment on the organ, pressing the 40 stops to emit different
sounds, including trumpets, strings and drums.
In 1946, she was hired as the musical conductor for Stop and
Go, a variety revue at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre that
featured artists from wartime entertainment troupes: the Accordionettes,
the Modernettes, Lay Kenny's Teenagers, the Rhythmteens and the
Leslie Bell Singers.
John KARASTAMATIS, the theatre's current director of communications,
noted how rare it was for women of this era to be allowed to
conduct.
"Working in the home and 'slave labour' were pretty well the
only jobs for women at that time," he said.
Ms. BROMBY married fellow Ward's Islander Jim
SMYTHE in 1948.
While overseas during the war, Mr.
SMYTHE had fallen in love
with a picture of her snapped by a mutual friend. He insisted
on meeting her as soon as he was back in Toronto. Her reputation
as a musician had also charmed him while he was away.
"I fell in love with Dorothy the moment I saw her," he said.
"I married her in '48 and had 59 years of bliss. It was an island
romance."
After the war, the Singers hit the road, this time taking four
male performers along with them. They were hired by Chrysler
and General Motors to do cross-Canada tours, putting on grand
spectacles each time a new car was introduced. In 1955, Ms.
BROMBY
did a two-week run for GM, performing as many as five shows a
day. It was an exhausting but manageable schedule, even though
she had two children at home under the age of 5. The group also
performed on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television during
its early years in the 1960s, and Ms.
BROMBY later played the
organ on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation variety shows and
dramas hosted by Monty Hall and Rick Campbell.
She performed as a solo instrumentalist at the Canadian pavilion
in Montreal during Expo 67, mingling with other performers, including
Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich and a fresh-faced Luciano
Pavarotti. (Ms.
BROMBY's son, Ron, also played the clarinet in
his high school band at Expo).
Ms. BROMBY began working at the Winter Fair and Flower Show at
the Canadian National Exhibition in the late 1960s, and remained
there until she retired in 1995. It seemed as though she had
found her niche and refused to abandon it. From this point on,
she was surrounded by bouquets of flowers. Her dedication to
the job was such that she once performed with a broken wrist.
"They built a stand for her arm at keyboard height," said her
son, "and the furriers covered her cast with a mink muff that
matched the mink stole she wore."
After a few years at the flower show, Ms.
BROMBY went on to work
with the ring committee in the horse arena. Her talent as both
performer and director were particularly noted, especially on
the closing ceremonies.
Mr.
Rogers recalls the early days of his career, following Ms.
BROMBY
in circles around the ring. "I remember her with her music in
a binder, leading the troops with her singers and dancers behind.
We'd follow her through the horses and cows [stalls], she in
her fancy gown with her hair higher than anyone else's."
The ceremony consisted of a parade in the centre ring, showcasing
Ms. BROMBY on the organ. (She also wrote the script.) There were
award-winning horses festooned with flowers, colourful bushels
of fruits and vegetables, sheep, cows, geese, chickens - for
26 years, she left nothing out.
"She brought the show business pizzazz," daughter Sandy
RUTHERFORD
said. "They asked her to come back, even up to two or three years
ago… because it now lacks that extra flavour."
When the ring was full, the lights would go down - gradually,
so as not to spook the animals - and the president of the fair
would enter the gate. He'd circle the ring once or twice, sitting
with his wife in a three-horse buggy, officially close the event,
and exit to great applause.
During her retirement, Ms.
BROMBY enjoyed spending time at the
family's cottage in Haliburton, Ontario, and turning her musician's
hands over to gourmet cooking.
Dorothy Bromby
SMYTHE was born December 4, 1925, in Toronto.
She died in Toronto on December 24, 2007, from cancer. She was
82. She is survived by husband, Jim, daughters Sandy
RUTHERFORD
and Pat BUIE and son, Rob
BROMBY.
She is also survived by her
sister, Bernice
BOYD, and eight grandchildren.
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BUIS o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-04-22 published
GROENENBERG,
Ralph
John
Of Saint Thomas, passed away on Sunday, April 20, 2008, at the
Saint Thomas-Elgin General Hospital, after a short but courageous
battle with cancer. Ralph has gone home to his heavenly Father
and is now at peace in the arms of Jesus. Loving husband and
best friend of Judy
(BUIS) and strong and loving father of Michael,
Paul and Jennifer. Loved
son of Jake and Corrie
GROENENBERG and
son-in-law of Geurt and Jennie
BUIS. Dear brother of Jean (Andre)
BRODEUR, Dorothy (John) Vanmeppelen
SCHEPPINK, Herb (Grace)
GROENENBERG,
Alice (Clarence)
VANDER
VIES,
Dave
(Betty)
BUIS, Roger (Lisa)
BUIS,
Elaine
(Jeff)
VEENKAMP, Mark
BUIS and brother-in-law of
Dana GAGNIER.
Sadly missed by a number of nieces and nephews.
Ralph was born in Saint Thomas on March 1, 1961. He worked for
Cedar Ridge Construction and formerly was self employed and sub-contracted
for G.C.W. Kitchens. Ralph was a member of the Fellowship Christian
Church. The family will receive Friends and relatives at the
Fellowship Christian Church on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.
A private family service to celebrate Ralph's life will be held
on Wednesday morning at 11: 30 a.m. at the Church, Pastor Tom
BAIRD officiating. Interment to follow in Elmdale Cemetery. Remembrances
may be made to the Saint Thomas Community Christian School or the
Canadian Cancer Society. Williams Funeral Home, 45 Elgin St.
in charge of arrangements. "Hakuna Matata"
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BUIST o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-04-19 published
BUIST,
Christine▼
Margaret▼ McGregor (née
LITTLE)
Peacefully at home in Ottawa on Sunday, April 13, 2008. Born
in Hamilton, Ontario where she received the gold medal in Honours
English from McMaster University, Christine moved to Edinburgh,
Scotland after World War 2 to complete post-graduate work and
to teach. There she married Robert Pace
BUIST, a Royal Air Force
pilot, when he came back from fighting in Burma. In 1950 they
returned to Canada, first to Montreal and then London, Ontario
where she taught at Central and Ryerson schools. Upon retirement
she pursued her interests in volunteer work, painting, bridge,
travel and publishing her memoirs. After Robert's death she moved
to Ottawa to be near her children, bravely starting a whole new
life. She leaves her son Ian and his wife Beth, daughter Margaret
and her spouse Leslie
REAUME and grandchildren John, Andrew and
Heather. Friends may call at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral
Homes, 403 Richmond Road (at Roosevelt) on Saturday, April 19,
2008 from 1 p.m. until time of memorial service in the chapel
at 2 p.m. A memorial service will also be held in London, Ontario
at First St. Andrew's United Church on Monday, April 28, 2008
at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to the
Autism Society of Ontario would be appreciated. www.autismontario.com
Condolences, tributes or donations may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com
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BUIST o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-04-30 published
DISBROWE,
Dorothy
Mary
(WHITE/WHYTE)
Peacefully called to 'New Life' with God, Dorothy Mary
DISBROWE
(WHITE/WHYTE) passed away at L.H.S.C. University Hospital on Tuesday,
April 29, 2008 in her 91st year. Beloved wife of the late George E.
DISBROWE
(September 2005.) Loving mother of Sister Janet
DISBROWE,
School
Sister of Notre Dame, Hamilton, Mary Lou and Gordon
FARQUHAR
of Port Franks, Connie and Arthur
PEARSON of London, Georgina
(Gina) and Anthony
FUOCO of Mississauga, Guy and Maria
DISBROWE
of Toronto, Catherine and William (predeceased)
LOWTHIAN of London,
Elizabeth and Ian
BUIST of Ottawa and Angela and Richard
ELIE
of London. Predeceased by her daughter Sally
DISBROWE
(July 1964.)
Also survived by 21 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
Predeceased by her grandchildren Colin and Melissa. Visitors
will be received at John T. Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo
Street at King Street, on Thursday, May 1, 2008 from 2-4 and
7-9 o'clock. Funeral Mass at Saint Michael's Church, 515 Cheapside
Street, London on Friday morning at 10 o'clock. Interment in
St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Chatsworth, Ontario. Prayers Thursday
evening at 7 o'clock. Donations to the Children's Health Foundation
or School Sisters of Notre Dame, 1921 Snake Road, Waterdown,
Ontario, L0R 2H0. 'You will be in our hearts forever'
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BUIST o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-04-19 published
BUIST,
Christine▲
Margaret▲ McGregor (née
LITTLE)
Peacefully at home in Ottawa on Sunday, April 13, 2008. Born
in Hamilton, Ontario where she received the gold medal in Honours
English from McMaster University, Christine moved to Edinburgh,
Scotland after World War 2 to complete post-graduate work and
to teach. There she married Robert Pace
BUIST, a Royal Air Force
pilot, when he came back from fighting in Burma. In 1950 they
returned to Canada first to Montreal and then London, Ontario
where she taught at Central and Ryerson schools. Upon retirement
she pursued her interests in volunteer work, painting, bridge,
travel and publishing her memoirs. After Robert's death she moved
to Ottawa to be near her children, bravely starting a whole new
life. She leaves her son Ian and his wife Beth, daughter Margaret
and her spouse Leslie Reaume and grandchildren John, Andrew and
Heather. Friends may call at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral
Homes, 403 Richmond Road (at Roosevelt) on Saturday, April 19,
2008 from 1 p.m. until time of memorial service in the chapel
at 2 p.m. A memorial service will also be held in London, Ontario
at First St. Andrew's United Church on Monday, April 28, 2008
at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to the
Autism Society of Ontario would be appreciated. www.autismontario.com
Condolences, tributes or donations may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com
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