Category: B

Beachey, Dianne # 1031 *

In Memory of Dianne Beachey
1960 – 2008

Dianne Beachey was a great influence on family and friends, as well as anyone who knew her. One of the nicest things about the special memories I’ve gathered through the years, she was a part of so many.

Someone once said Dianne was so many things to so many people. If needed she could be your lawyer, nurse, mother, friend, counsellor, match-maker and great hairdresser; and if anything came up, you would want her on your side.

There was nothing in this world that she wouldn’t do for her only child ‘Mysty’ and husband ‘Champ’ of 29 years. She was there for family and influenced her nieces and nephews to always leave them with great impact of fond memories; and in return was loved beyond belief. She was Number One.

She had two sisters – Laurie and Belva-Jo and one brother, Terry, who looked up to her as well. She was a shining example in time of sickness, never showing her pain, always up beat and looking healthier than most. Dianne never gave up. What an impact and example she left on all who knew her. She has left such a mark and none of our lives will ever be the same without her!

Thanking God that he gave us 47 years of knowing her beauty, wisdom and honour of her shining light, that is still the brightest star in the sky.

Honoured by her mother – Ella Beachey, and family.

Brull, Theo & Nellie #888 *

Honoured by Tony Brull.

Testament

My parents were like a warm coat on a damp, cold and blustery autumn day. No, not your standard off the rack model, more so a surprisingly light and comfortable one, with a tough protective outer shell and a soft woollen lining.

I recall a certain day from my childhood … high in the open bleachers at Ivor Wynne stadium, the cold damp wind cut through me like a knife, chilling me to my very core. Seeing me shake with cold my Dad took off his warm coat and draped it over my shoulders. A little thing, yet to this day I remember. It warms me still.

My parents, Theo and Nellie Brull, came to Canada from post war Holland with their hopes, dreams and a young family in tow. This leaf commemorates their courageous journey … my warm memories of growing up in Canada commemorate the lives they lived once they got here.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

Boulerice, Wilfred & Fabiola #213 *

On May 5, 1930,Wilfred (Fred) Boulerice and Fabiola Auger were wed in holy matrimony.

Over the years, they survived the long and cold winters of the North, the hot summers, not to mention blackflies and mosquitoes as well as the  Great Depression years.

Although they had many hardships, there were more good times than bad. They enjoyed the company of each other as well as friends. Over the years, they began to have a family, just a small one of 15 children.

We have so many recollections of our home filled with singing, guitar picking and step dancing that we could go on forever, like their love.

This particular memory comes to our mind:

Dad told us a story about the days he was a young man, when his family moved to the area.  How his Father had one of the first cars, this far north and how bad he felt to have to sell his car and return to horse and buggy because the roads were too rough for a car.  He also was happy to be part of the opening of Highway 17.

Wilfred our Father and many who knew him as Fred, was the lead singer with an exceptional voice, singing in Latin, at the Bonfield Church.

In his late years, he would tend to his garden or sit on his rocking chair holding his pipe which was hardly ever lit, but we all can still smell the smoke over his lit pipe.

Fabiola was our Mother although our dad called her Fabi.

Mom loved to cook, even during the Depression years when she managed to make a meal that could feed an army.  She was very dedicated to her family. We remember being a very happy family and this was due to a very loving mother who kept us safe, and never let us know the hardships she had to endure.

Our mother believed her strength came from being a devoted Catholic, and attending Church. Holidays were her favourite times, having all of their family together in one place.  Her devotion to her family did not stop there; she also donated her time and talent of knitting and crocheting socks and hats to the hospital for premature babies.  In her later years, she would listen and sing to her favourite country music.

Written by Joan (Boulerice) Villneff and Harvey C. Villneff for the fifteen Boulerice children.

Babcock, Robert (Bob) #1961 *

Honoured by the North Bay Golden Age Club.

Credited for the success of the North Bay Golden Age Club

Mr. Bob Babcock, along with his wife Florence, established the North Bay Golden Age Club in 1961.  In October of that year they held their first meeting at their home, 732  Algonquin Avenue, with 22 members in attendance.  Bob Babcock established the Golden Age Club because he felt there was nothing being done for seniors in the range of age 50+, thus the name Golden Age.
Five weeks after Mr. & Mrs. Babcock had begun the club a new meeting place had to be found due to the tremendous growth in membership. A group of RCAF Vets (406 wing) gave the senior citizens the use of their club room one afternoon a week.  The Club established its priority objective as getting a centre of its own.

Three years later the senior citizens took over the old King Edward  School, on McIntyre Street East.  By this time membership had grown and totalled nearly 200.

Bob Babcock also saw a need for senior citizen housing. With a lot of hard work, his new dream came true and they purchased a piece of property at 135 Worthington Street West.  At this point, Ontario Housing Corporation realized the need for Senior Citizens Housing in the central core area.

Thus the Golden Age Club made a sale of the land with the agreement that a housing centre complex would be built.

The plan called for a full scale centre on the main floor with a 100 year lease renewable in 50 years.  Above the centre there would be 10 floors containing 106 apartments for Senior Citizens.  It took 13 years and a lot of hard work, but the proof lies in the centre.  All the Senior Citizens, tenants and members of the city, can come over and enjoy the club that moved into its new home at 135 Worthington Street West in 1974.  The membership, 50 years later, in 2011, stands at just over 500.

The club to this day works very hard as it did in the beginning, having events and membership, at a very nominal fee that seniors can afford.  This is done also as it was in the early days with the help of many volunteers.

What a wonderful tribute to have one man’s dream come true and still be going strong 50 years later.

Beach, Robert (Bob) #2004 *

Honoured by Mr. Stan W Nichols.

After I carved a small armoured horse (#27 – Ad Astra) for the horse Carousel, I decided to work on the next Carousel which was to consist of wild animals native to our area except for a  hypocampus (half horse and half fish).  When I turned up, the project was well underway and I was pointed to a large cube of glued-up basswood and told that there was a pair of bear cubs in it.
Edna Scott, our Carousel expert, provided her usual small model of the bear cubs to use as a pattern.  However, I was to meet another carver who I had not had the privilege of knowing before.  Bob Beach was a recently retired MTC employee who left North Bay and spent his entire career in the New Liskeard District.  When he retired in 2001 he moved to Powassan.

As it turned out he was right handed and I am a south paw, so we found that we could both work on a large carving without interfering with each other.  We found the cuddly bear cubs complete with a honey pot in their lap.  The carving was painted by Edna Scott’s group of painters and it is on display in the Waterfront Museum.

After the bear cubs, we carved a Wolf pup and then a River Otter.  Unfortunately, Bob died suddenly of a heart attack in October of 2004 when the Otter was about two thirds finished.  I managed to finish the carving and it has been duly mounted on the beautifully decorated animal Carousel.

Bob was a superb carver and a wonderful person to know and work with.  Carving had been his hobby for many years.  Another sample of his is a Blue Heron and a Frog in the enclosure on the horse Carousel.

Bob, we miss you.

 

 

Brown, Rooney H. #87 *

Rooney Brown 1923-2011

Rooney was born in Campbell’s Bay Quebec in August of 1923. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved him and his sister Muriel to North Bay where he lived out the remainder of his life.

After a short one year at Algonquin Composite School, Rooney left school to work and to volunteer for the Navy during the Second World War. Rooney served as a gunners mate with most of his Navy time on the HMS Athol escorting war ships across the Atlantic. During wartime he met his first wife, O’Dell Hebert, from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

After the war Rooney brought O’Dell to North Bay where they married and had twelve children.  Rooney worked at many jobs in North Bay; which included Johnston Dairy, Pepsi Cola and Palangio Bus Lines, where he made many trips to Montreal during EXPO 67. All the while Rooney worked for CN Rail transferring to VIA when the passenger trains separated from the freight trains. He always had more than one job at a time and rarely took a sick day. Rooney retired after working thirty seven plus years with the railway.

Rooney, along with his son, Barry, started Brown’s Towing in 1967. He continued to work with the towing company until he was well into his eighties. Rooney worked many hours and employed many young men in the community giving them a good start while keeping them out of trouble. Almost all of his former employees called him “Pops” and their children call him Grandpa.

After the passing of his first wife in 1977, Rooney married his second wife Ruth in 1979 adopting her four children. There were many grandchildren and great grandchildren who loved and respected him. They knew him as the grandpa with the treat drawer where he kept candy treats to give them when they came to visit.

Rooney died on March 24, 2011 leaving a very large family to mourn him. He would have been proud of the display of respect with every tow truck in town creating a parade to send him off to the better place that we all know he went to. The Mayor actually thought that the city was under siege as the entire city block around City Hall was lined with flashing beacons.

His most famous line was “my name is Rooney, like Mickey Rooney, but he got the money and I got the looks.”

The placing of his name on the Pergola is appropriate as he worked at this train station during the time VIA Rail had a ticket office at this site. Rooney also worked at the ticket counter at the VIA train station at Second and Fraser St.  Chances are if you took the passenger train from North Bay from the VIA train station you bought your ticket from Rooney.

Honoured by Ruth E Brown