Stories

Seguin, Ted & Margaret #202 *

Theodore (Ted) Seguin (1908-1986) & Margaret (McCharles) Seguin (1914-1999)

Our Mother and Father were self-employed. Ted Seguin was in trucking, owning his own trucks at 1544 Wyld Street. In the winter having a wood yard, he sold to the public. Mother took the orders. From spring to fall he gathered up cream from the local farm taking in approximately 50-100 miles radius of North Bay and trucking the load to the North Bay co-operative creamery.

Upon retiring in 1947 he built a food store at the corner of Duke and Wyld which became very popular to most in that area plus. Dad joined the chain with 7 other grocers namely the Red and White Grocers being individually owned and becoming very successful as a group. Mother and us children (growing up) played a large part in the operation of this store. Twenty years later upon retiring they converted the building into apartments and then selling them about 1968; when they built their last home on Larocque Road.

Being Semi retired dad did various jobs including snow removal for many different establishments. He obtained a bread route run from North Bay to Temiskaming.

Our parents, highly respected and loved by many, also inspired their seven children tremendously.

We say it best: “behind every successful man exists a good woman”.

Honoured by their children: Yvonne, Jeannette, Harvey, Simone, Gary, Rick and Brenda

Fulford, Carl & Rhoda #140 *

Carl and Rhoda Fulford

Carl and Rhoda Fulford became residents of North Bay in the fall of 1994 and thoroughly enjoyed their time here, but their life story began well before that and very much farther away.

Carl Fulford was born in the Blue Mountain district of Collingwood, Ontario in the spring of 1915, to Lauren and Mary Ann Fulford, the second youngest of their 10 children.

At the young age of 10, Carl went to live with Elizabeth and Tom Armstrong in nearby Thornbury, Ontario where he was able to attend school and help out on the Armstrong family farm.

In 1938, at the age of 23, Carl decided to leave the farm and travel north to look for work in the booming gold mines of Northern Ontario. He settled in the growing mining town of Kirkland Lake, where his first mining experience was at the nearby Bidgood Mine. He soon moved to the Upper Canada Gold Mine, located in the small village of Dobie, on the outskirts of Kirkland Lake.

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, Carl and a friend from the Upper Canada Mine decided to join the Royal Canadian Army. It was a decision that would affect the rest of Carl’s life. Both men were accepted and became members of the Royal Canadian Engineers.

Carl’s unit was sent overseas and he was stationed at an officer training school in the south of England, where he served until the end of the war. While on leave from his unit in the summer of 1941, Carl visited the Scottish coastal community of Broughty Ferry. While strolling along the seaside beach, he had a chance meeting with a beautiful young woman. Her name was Rhoda Lowson.

Born in Dundee, Scotland in early 1920, Rhoda was the eldest of three daughters born to Alexander and Elizabeth Lowson. In the summer of 1941, at age 21, she joined the RAF Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. One week before she was to leave for Air Force duty, Rhoda and her younger sister decided to visit Broughty Ferry. They had a chance meeting with a young Canadian soldier they thought looked a lot like screen star, Gene Kelly. His name was Carl Fulford.

Carl and Rhoda were married in the spring of 1943 in Dundee, Scotland, while on leave from their respective units in England. Their first child – a daughter – Irene Elizabeth, was born in the spring of 1944 in Dundee, Scotland.

When the war ended, Carl and Rhoda considered remaining in Scotland. However, with the promise of a job back in Canada for those who had left to go to war, Carl returned to Kirkland Lake. Rhoda and Irene Elizabeth joined him in the summer of 1946, travelling to Canada aboard the Queen Mary along with hundreds of other war brides and their children. Once settled in Kirkland Lake, Carl and Rhoda welcomed two more children to their growing family – Sandra in 1947 and Neil in 1954.

When Carl returned from England, he resumed his role at the Upper Canada Mine where he would work for the next 25 years. Respected and trusted by fellow employees, and recognized as a tough, yet fair negotiator by the mine’s management, Carl served for many years as President of the United Steelworkers of America Local 4639. Not once during his tenure as president was there ever labour unrest at the Upper Canada Mine.

Shortly after the closure of Upper Canada in 1970, Carl obtained employment as a custodian at Northern College, Kirkland Lake. He worked for the College until his retirement in 1980.

In his spare time, Carl was an avid gardener, painter, reader and walker, and he loved the quiet serenity offered by his most favourite summer pastime, picking blueberries in the woods around Kirkland Lake. He also took great pride in maintaining his motor vehicles in factory-like condition. His classic 1972 Pontiac LeMans remains in the family to this day and is still in excellent condition.

Meanwhile, Rhoda was a friendly and familiar face to all who shopped at Lothian’s Drug Store in Kirkland Lake. It was there in the late 1970s that she began a support program for women whose lives had been affected by breast cancer. Relying on her own experiences as a breast cancer survivor, and with the cooperation and support of the Canadian Cancer Society, Rhoda began fitting women for post-mastectomy prosthetics, and more importantly, offering them comfort and counselling at a time when neither was the norm. Recognized by the Canadian Cancer Society for her efforts, Rhoda continued to offer physical and emotional support to breast cancer survivors well into her retirement.

During her spare time, Rhoda loved knitting, sewing, baking and walking. When they were young, her daughters’ outfits were almost always hand-made. There isn’t a member of the family – young or old – who doesn’t have a cherished woollen sweater, scarf, socks or mittens that was lovingly made by Rhoda. No one who ever tasted one of her pies, mint squares, cookies, shortbread or date squares will ever forget how magical she was with baked goods. Rhoda was also a lover of music and the arts, and passed on that passion to all of her children and grandchildren.

After a lifetime of service to their community, Carl and Rhoda left Kirkland Lake in 1994 and relocated to North Bay to be closer to their family. Carl passed away in 2001 at the age of 85, and Rhoda, a long-time member of the North Bay Interlink Choir, passed away in 2010 at the age of 90.

They lived full and complete lives, highlighted by a love for their family, their communities, their countries and each other. They leave behind their three children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren to continue their story.

Swanson, Bunty #131 *

Honoured by the Swanson family.

When the North Bay Chamber of Commerce mentioned the Waterfront development in 1981, it was an annual community project proposal. This proposal was first made by Bruce Goulet over twenty years previously.

When it came up again, the reaction of several members of the City Administration was that it could not be done and would never happen. Bunty Swanson was the Chair of a citizens’ Waterfront Committee which had been formed under the auspices of the Chamber that year. To her this was obviously the WRONG thing to say! Like a red flag to a bull, Bunty took exception to this attitude and decided that yes, indeed, there WAS going to be a developed waterfront!!The Committee asked the combined forces of the Brownies, Guides and Boy Scouts in North Bay to come to the waterfront area leased by the Chamber one Saturday and join in a clean-up of brush and garbage… it was very successful. Next, the Committee approached the City and the Fire Department to oversee a fireworks display on the waterfront for the 24th of May. It was a huge event and citizens started to demand the development of “their” beach.

The Committee, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, applied for a Federal grant to do more clean-up and restoration of the dock area, which was a Federal jurisdiction. The money had to be used to hire Northern Ontario unemployed miners and loggers. This was carried out and the work gang was supervised by the Chamber and the Committee. Wages were paid through the grant and other funds were raised from the community of North Bay.

By now, the public and the private interests were onside and a City Committee for Waterfront Development was formed. Provincial and Federal monies were also by chance available only for a short window of time. Bunty was the Chamber rep to this group.
If it had not been for the efforts of Bunty and her initial Chamber of Commerce group, there would have been only the Bruce Goulet Dream, instead of the present Goulet Golden Mile which forms part of our lovely Waterfront Development.

Bunty has also been active in other Community areas.

She has served on the executives of the Catholic Women’s League of the Pro-Cathedral, the Parish Council, the Gateway Theatre Guild, QUONTA Regional  Drama, Canadian University Women of North Bay.

As a public representative she worked on Parks Creek Flood Management (Conservation Authority), Waterfront underpass, North Bay Escarpment Review, the North Bay Discovery Centre (Museum), Nipissing College and later University Board, The Nip U Animal Care Committee, the Canadore Environmental Conferences.

In later years, she worked with the Stephen Lewis Organization to start a Grandmother to Grandmother chapter in North Bay. She is also a member of Greenspace North Bay.

Bunty, a retired teacher, is married to Roy and has happily raised four daughters in the Bay.

Blake, William Joseph Thomas #344 *

Honoured by  Brenda Smith.

William Joseph Thomas Blake – July 3, 1919 to October 1, 2008

Although Bill was not a resident of North Bay, he served his community of Preston (which
became Cambridge), with dedication and a spirit of giving. After high school he served in the Highland Light Regiment as a Sergeant in Company”D”. He then joined the R.C.A.F. and served for three years during the Second World War. He worked for Canadian Office and School Furniture Company as a purchasing agent and then worked for Rexwood Products based in New Liskeard as a sales representative. He worked actively and didn’t retire until he was 68 years old.
He served as chairperson of the local Board of Education and served on the municipal Committee of Adjustment for many years. He was President of the Lawn Bowling Association for three terms and was given the title of Honorary President. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion, Preston Branch, for 60 years and a member of the 404 R.C.A.F. Wing Waterloo Branch for 35 years. He founded and was president of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee. Even in his
late eighties, he would collect Zellers grocery tapes for a Legion wheelchair project. His friends and community miss his dedication and the hosting of many Happy Hours.