Stories

Montgomery, Mark #2005 *

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.

Wallace, Bae & Miriam #1944

Honoured by Brian, Michael and Rory Wallace.

Wilfred John “Bae” Wallace

Born in 1918, the youngest of a family of six, Bae grew up in North Bay and deeply loved the family camp on nearby Trout Lake where his extended family of siblings, cousins and friends spent long, idyllic summers together.

By the time he was 20,his parents, pioneers of North Bay, Jack and Lovie Wallace, had died.

Bae studied engineering at the University of Toronto, but his service in the Navy interrupted that career. After the Second World War,he moved on to a deep passion for a life in the law.

His change in career was part of a larger change in Bae’s life: he married Miriam McCaffrey from British Columbia and moved to Vancouver.  Vancouver was a long way from his North Bay
family, but it was a new and growing city with great opportunity for a young lawyer with his young family.

Both grew quickly and eventually he had a family of his own and a very successful career in litigation, finally serving as a Justice on the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Bae loved the practice of law so much that the concept of retirement was inconceivable. With compulsory retirement at 75 from the court, he returned to his old law firm to take up mediation, an approach to conflict that had never occurred to him in the adversarial arena of the court. He approached it with characteristic enthusiasm. As he put it, “meeting challenges is happiness”.

One of Bae’s priorities on his arrival in Vancouver was to find a place for his new family that would be like the Trout Lake of his youth in North Bay. He found it on Pasley Island, near Vancouver. It became for him “the most beautiful place on earth” where he spent the long days of summer.

He loved to surround himself with family and friends and ultimately, he reluctantly limited his law practice to an animated cross-examination of his four children, four grand-children, and three-and-counting great-grandchildren.

He enjoyed nothing better than the cut-and-thrust of friendly argument.

He faced adversity with patience and fortitude always maintaining, despite the challenges he faced, that he was so “lucky” to have lived the way he had:  blessed in his career, his marriage, and his family.

While Vancouver became his home, Bae always kept close to his North Bay family. There
were constant visits back and forth as families at both ends of the country flourished and Bae was always at the heart of any event.

Alger, Violet #51 *

Memorial Prose: Violet Fleurette Bramhall Roberts Alger

These are our attempts to capture the beauty and caring of Violet Alger, an exemplary individual. We would like to talk about her love of the arts, interest in education, her ability to love others unselfishly, and her talents as a homemaker extraordinaire. This will give you some concept of Violet and her contribution to her family and her community.

Mom was a great teacher. Her general knowledge was extensive. She was exceedingly well read and frequent trips in her later years made her a fascinating conversationalist.

Her lifelong passion for classical music and live theater gave her and many others, great joy. A yearly trip was made to Stratford, with at least one child in tow, to enjoy the plays. She was actively involved in the theater guilds of North Bay and Niagara-on-the-Lake. She made theatrical costumes, developed and ran the Gateway Theatre Guild’s costume department and retail costume rental store that was a huge revenue source, for many years. She was involved in most all their productions both back stage and on stage. The most fun she had was a lead role in Arsenic & Old Lace. Vi was one of the old maid sisters and she was amazing!

After taking Communication Arts at Canadore College she developed a children’s TV show called Mother Goose. Her viewers loved her stories. While she lived in Australia she promoted, developed, wrote and starred in, her Mother Goose Stories for a TV series for Australian Public Television.

Mom was a wonderful homemaker. There were always cookies or a slice of cake, to share with visiting friends. She taught her daughters and daughters-in-law, to cook, bake and to sew, at which she excelled.

We admired her most for her ability to discipline with love, thoughtfulness, and fairness. She did not raise her voice or her hand to us. Boredom or mischief resulted in more chores being assigned or “grounding”. We feel privileged to have Vi as a mother and role model and her wisdom still lives in our hearts.

Mom was in so many ways an artist. Her most amazing artistry blossomed in her celebration of all special family events. Christmas, Easter, New Years Eve, Graduations, Anniversaries and especially birthdays, were all reasons to give those she loved, an incredible, joyful celebration. Secretly, I always knew she enjoyed making my birthday the most special Birthday of all, (and she always succeeded.) I miss you every day Mom…..but never more than on my birthday.

Summers were a casual affair at the cottage on Trout Lake. We earned 10 cents a bucket for berries which were made into fruit crisp, jams or frozen for winter desserts.

Mom could always see the beauty in Nature and appreciated what humans created through art, carpentry, music, pottery, etc. She is an inspiration to us all as we attempt to emulate her example.

Violet Alger was a wonderful mother, a loving grandmother and a caring wife. We all think of her daily and we all miss her.

Love to her always,

Her Children;
Caroline, Gerald, David, Martha, Kathy and Jean

Her Grandchildren;
Jeffery, Karen, Cindy, Stephan, Kevin, Beverly, Jennifer, Emily, Ian, & Elaine

Patrick 4 Life #78 *

Honoured by Christian and Christine Fortin.

Patrick’s Story

Patrick was born in Kapuskasing, on June 26th, 1978, and was diagnosed a severe hemophiliac. To manage his bleeding disorder, Patrick required bi-weekly Factor VIII infusions. In the early to mid 1980s, the Canadian blood supply was contaminated with the HIV virus and as a result, Patrick was diagnosed HIV positive in February of 1986, at the age of 7.

Being a talented athlete, gifted musician and student of life, Patrick’s childhood was filled with activities that were enjoyed to the fullest. As the disease advanced through Patrick’s teenage years, his positive outlook, courage, determination, through adversity, and humour inspired everyone he met.

Patrick’s HIV status remained undisclosed for 10 years. In 1995, Patrick chose to reveal his HIV status to family and friends and received acceptance and support.

Patrick found courage and used his story to educate and help others become aware of the disease. Students in North Bay cherish their memories of Patrick; the young man with AIDS who broke down stigmas and myths with facts.

In 2001, Patrick died of AIDS, but his legacy remains.  After Patrick’s death, his parents, Christine and Christian, started training for their first marathon.  Christine and Christian were encouraged by friends to use their running as a way to fundraise for a cause.

The Patrick4Life organization grew out of a desire to honour the life of Patrick Fortin, to specifically communicate the desires of Patrick`s dream – ZERO AIDS – and to address the many challenges associated with HIV. Patrick’s wish at every birthday and at each full moon was: A CURE FOR AIDS.

Patrick was proud to be Canadian and would be proud that through his enduring spirit, we continue to raise AIDS awareness in our communities.

Nadeau, Jean #80 *

Honoured by Christian and Christine Fortin.

There is no limit to Jean Nadeau’s (born Haggarty) love for family, friends and delicious food prepared from the heart! Today, she is also affectionately called Nanny by her 20 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Throughout her life Jean continually demonstrates the benefit of deep faith, true persistence and the value of hard work. In 1927, during the great depression, her parents emigrated from Scotland to Matheson in Northern Ontario.

Unfortunately a job-related accident killed her father when she was only 6 months old. This left her mother, Catherine, to raise 4 young children on her own; which meant everybody had to pitch-in to help. By age 12 Jean was already making extra money delivering newspapers.

At 18 she married her childhood sweetheart, Dave Dupont, and moved to Timmins. But only a few years later, at 22 years old, Jean became a widow due to a fatal car accident. This is when she decided to move to Kapuskasing and open her own hairdressing shop.

By the time Jean was 24 she had fallen in love and married a young entrepreneur called Richard Nadeau.  Over the next 9 years they had 6 healthy children together. They would remain happily married for the next 25 years sharing a mutually loving and strong relationship built on respect, love of the outdoors and travel.

A tragic hunting accident took Richard’s life in 1979. This caused Jean to move to Toronto where she worked at Holt Renfrew before deciding to study real estate and begin a new career at age 51. After completing the program she moved back to Kapuskasing to work at her son-in-law’s firm, for the next 10 years. Before retiring Jean also worked in her eldest son’s legal office for some time.

In 2004, Jean moved to North Bay, another new start, remaining as active as can be.  Jean has inspired many with her courage and independence when macular degeneration set in, restricting her vision.  Jean shares her laughter and kindness, enjoying long-held precious friendships and visits from family and friends.

The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw famously wrote: “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”  Jean, daily, finds joy and satisfaction in her preparation of homemade healthy gourmet food.  Hence, love and peace abound as each day passes.

Busch, Elva Mae & Emmette #1924 *

Honoured by Emmette F. Busch.

This is a story of a 52-year marriage based on love for one another and for humankind, and especially for neighbours.

Elva Mae Read and Emmette Busch were married on August 23, 1958, at Trinity United Church in North Bay, after a five-year courtship. They would have married sooner, but they waited until Emmette had a secure job with Canadian Johns-Manville in North Bay.

For Emmette, it was pretty well love at first sight when he met Elva at her parents’ home on First Ave. West, where Emmette was a boarder and drove truck for Seven-Up. As well, he was serving with the Canadian Army Reserve, Algonquin Regiment, and maybe the uniform had something to do with Elva Mae being attracted to this young man. He asked her to an Army dance at old Chippewa Barracks and they danced the night away. And thus began the Love Story for Elva
Mae and Emmette.

She loved to dance from the two-step to square dancing and everything in between. Emmette was a square dance caller, with Elva always right there, for bands led by Leo Lamothe, and several other North Bay western bands.

“We were always together. Always. We didn’t go anywhere without each other,” Emmette says, “even fishing.”

Emmette mainly operated heavy equipment and for the past 22 years, has been a Security Guard at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse. “The Sisters are part of my Family,” he says. Elva Mae, for many years, worked at the old American Optical Company above the Bank of Commerce on Main Street at Fraser. Her work was exacting and demanding that involved following a prescription to grind and form the lens properly and then install it in an eye glasses frame. She was considered one of
the best optical technicians in the Company.

Elva was just a little woman but her energy was boundless. She loved to dance, play darts, shuffleboard, knit and crochet everything from baby  sweaters to blankets—all for someone else’s
child, because Elva Mae and Emmette didn’t have children of their own.

She was a member of the Legion Auxiliary at Callander Legion Branch for 40 years, where she worked in the kitchen, worked as a server and carried Colours on parade. Emmette remains a Legionnaire with 45 years’ service.

Her c0mmunity work and love of and for neighbors and other friends was seemingly limitless. She drove folks to hospital for an x-ray, the drug store for a prescription, to the grocery store, drove for Meals on Wheels and would never say no to a friend.

Elva Mae and Emmette were so special in their Jane Street West neighbourhood because so many of the area kids made the Buschs’ home their second home. “These neighbourhood kids were our kids” is how Elva felt. One very special girl in the neighbourhood is Linda Hayhurst, then Linda Rogers, who was a frequent visitor to the Busch home from age three. Today, she and her husband live in the Sault with their children and not a week goes by without a call to Emmette.

That wonderful love story of Elva Mae and Emmette ended on April 20, 2010 when cancer took her. But Emmette carries on their tradition for their Jane Street “neighbourhood family” and friends, and mostly the Sisters at the Mother House.

Payne, George #1932 *

Honoured by Vivian Payne

George Ambrose Payne was born in Kingston, Ontario in 1932, where he grew up at 597  Johnson Street. He was surrounded by his extensive family, many of whom lived in their own houses in the neighbourhood. He jokes that he couldn’t have been an unruly youth if he tried because there was an auntie or a second cousin on every corner who would see what he was up to and report on him.

He has many happy memories of summers with his cousins on Wolfe Island, including riding Bessie (an old draft horse) to visit his first girlfriend on a farm on the other side of the island. The horse was so old and slow that by the time he got to the girl’s house, it was time for him to turn back and head for home. He remembers learning to drive at age 12  when his aunt gave him the car keys and told him to take his Uncle his lunch. He protested that he didn’t know how to drive, but his Aunt just said, “You’ll learn”, and he did, bouncing in an old stick shift truck across the fields.

His father, Llewellyn, was an independent contractor and built many homes in downtown Kingston, most of which are still being enjoyed by families today. George often worked side-by-side with his father and so came into his later interest in engineering quite naturally. The Great Depression was tough on George’s family but he remembers they always had food on the table. George remembers many out of work men coming to their back door looking for work in exchange for a meal , and that his mother Clara always found something for them to do before giving them a hearty meal. He asked her once why she just didn’t give them food and send them on their way.  She told him that these men needed their pride as much as they needed food. Perhaps this was the source of George’s strong social ethic.

After the Depression came World War II. George was just a child, but he remembers the tension in the house, sitting at the radio with his parents, listening to news reports, and worrying about his older brother Bill who was a pilot with the RCAF. He remembers one very happy night in the  middle of the war. The family hadn’t known where Bill was for weeks due to security black-outs on information. They were very worried, especially during one very intense battle period and listened to the radio anxiously before going to bed exhausted.  One night, there was a noise downstairs. They thought it was a break-in. It wasn’t. It was Bill, home on leave, crawling in clumsily through a window. Bill was George’s childhood hero, and you could say that Bill remained a hero to George for his whole life.

Looking back to George’s early life, it is not so surprising that he became the man he became, the man that his family is honouring in this memorial project.

George graduated from Queen’s University in 1956, with a degree in Engineering.  Long fascinated
by trains, he broke the family tradition of staying in the Kingston area and moved to Toronto
to work for the Toronto Terminal Railways. Possibly his only unmet objective in his long career was one of his first tasks with the TTR which was to try to find a way to keep pigeons from nesting over the doors at Union Station. George tried, and so have hundreds of others over the years, but still the pigeons roost. With the Ontario Northland Railway, he waged a similar sort of battle
with beavers throughout his career.

George went from Toronto to Sudbury to work with the CPR. By now, he had started his family and had two daughters, Lori and Teri, and he passed on his love of trains to them by taking them to work with him when he could. His third daughter, Cyndi, was born in North Bay, shortly after George started to work for the ONR in 1962 as Engineer Maintenance of Way. Life was good in the
house at 780 Copeland Street, but George seemed destined to live through complex times. He remembers vividly the night President Kennedy was in the nuclear stand-off with Kruschev, aka the Cuban Missile crisis. Neighbors and friends gathered at his house to watch the TV and to worry together about their possible imminent fate.  Remember, North Bay was a NORAD missile site, and would have been a target in a nuclear attack. Throughout the long night of tears and fears, George consoled and reassured. It has always been his way to stay calm in a crisis, to think about others, and to help find a solution to whatever problem. One can only imagine his sense of helplessness on that bleak night, and the helplessness felt by millions of North Americans.

In 1969, after having risen to the position of Staff Engineer, George left the ONR to work for a private company, Penvidic Contracting, a Burlington, Ontario company that builds railroad
sections all over the province. With Penvidic, George made many new friends all over the transportation system in North America and gained a varied experience. However, the pull of the north was strong, and in 1973, George returned to North Bay and the ONR as Director of Systems and Planning. In this position, he supervised the building of the new Chief Commanda and the Chi Chi Maun in Owen Sound, pioneered container shipping for Northern Ontario, contributed to the establishment of NorOntAir, and initiated the passenger rail service now known as “The
Northlander”.

In 1996, George retired from the ONR but it cannot be said that he stopped working. He started his own engineering consulting business and he put more time into the many volunteer activities he had already been involved in. He organized  Shrine Circuses and Golf Tournaments which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Shrine Hospitals for Children. He served on the Social Planning Council and helped streamline food bank operations so that all  food banks in North Bay
have equality of access to donations. He sat on the Planning Council to help ensure that planning decisions made sense for the individuals applying and the neighborhoods they lived in. He was a Director of the Chamber of Commerce. He was involved in the moving of the CPR railroad tracks at the waterfront, which is allowing the development of the waterfront that is going on now. He helped design the track for the Heritage Railway. He did the engineering specs for the
walkway that now connects North Bay’s downtown to the shore  of Lake Nipissing.

When you are standing on the waterfront, admiring what it has become, or thinking about what it might become, think of George Payne and the many other volunteers who are working hard to make our waterfront  all it can be.