Honoured by the Membership, Family and Friends of the North Bay Elks Lodge #25.
BIOGRAPHY OF MARK MONTGOMERY
Mark was born and raised on a small rural farm in Northeastern Ontario and received his schooling in Warren and his high schooling in Sturgeon Falls. He lived on the farm until he graduated high school in 1968. He is the fifth child with seven siblings.
Mark has been married to Marie for the past 18 years and they have four children – Lisa, Tina, Erin, and Jennifer and three wonderful grandchildren – Katelin, Shaynna, and Travis. Marie is a past HRL and DD for the Royal Purple and she joined the Elks in 2004. Marie has served on the National Charities Committee for 5 years serving as Chairman for three years. Lisa is a member of the Royal Purple and her husband Mike has been a member of the Elks for 11 years currently serving on the Lodge Executive. Tina is a member of the Royal Purple and has attained a 12 year perfect attendance pin and a drill team award. Erin and Jennifer were members of the Royal Purple.
In 1969, Mark moved to southern Ontario for work purposes and on September 16, 1969, joined the Metropolitan Toronto Police as a police officer. On Dec. 3, 1973, Mark moved to North Bay joining the North Bay Police Service and moved through the ranks becoming an Inspector on September 3rd, 2001 and served in Patrol, Criminal Investigation and lastly Administration retiring in 2005 with 36 years of service.
Mark was initiated into the North Bay Elks Lodge on December 19th, 1977. He served on the Elks Club starting in 1985 and became a Lodge officer as Lecturing Knight in 1987. He progressed to E.R. serving 3 continuous years and was E.R. for the 1992 National Convention. He served as D.D. in 1993-94 while also serving on the Ontario Elks Association. He became Provincial President in 1996 and was elected to the Grand Executive in Whistler, B.C. in 1998. He and Marie were Co-chairs for the 1999 National Convention and both are currently on the 2005 Convention Committee.
Mark also became a National Facilitator for the Elks of Canada and has served as Trustee/ Supervisor for Sudbury No. 329, Creighton-Lively No. 345, Moose Jaw No. 7, Belleville No. 325, and Espanola No. 346. Mark was also Chairman of the Forward Planning Committee and has served on all the Grand Lodge committees.
Mark has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Color Party, the North Bay Police Service Color Party and currently sits on the Board for the Critical Incident Stress Management Team as Treasurer and Peer Support. Mark also had the honour of being selected by the CISM team to go to New York after 9/11 and provide peer support and counselling to the New York Police Officers and other emergency personnel on two occasions.
Mark’s theme for this year is “4 the Kids – Pour les Enfants”. We are a National organization with a Vision to be the most progressive family focused organization. Our National Charity – the Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children promotes our concern and care for all children. We must ensure that we are relevant and that we reach out to our next leaders – the children of today. They are our future and they are so much of what we – the Elks of Canada – do.