Category: W

Wickett, Clarence #458 *

Honoured by Karen & Murray Wickett and Rod & Lynda Wickett.

Clarence (Charlie) Wickett
1911-1992

Better known to family and friends as “Charlie”, Clarence Nathaniel Wickett was an extraordinary man who lived an ordinary life.  Born in Cobalt, he grew up in New Liskeard, the oldest child of seven.  Charlie’s father cooked in lumber and mining camps and was away for long periods of time, so Charlie was his mother’s main helper.  In fact, helping others became the central theme of his life.

In banks and brokerage houses, Charlie trained to become an accountant and as a young man, married Alice McNeill in 1936.  By 1944, with two sons, Rodney and Murray, the family moved to North Bay where Charlie worked for National Grocers as the accountant for the next thirty-three years.  When he reached the age of sixty-five, he was offered the position of provincial auditor, but only agreed after he was given approval to bring his wife, Alice along.  For the next six years they travelled the province so Charlie could audit the books.

For more than fifty years of marriage, Charlie cared for his semi-invalid wife, handling not only his full time career but also raising his two sons and dealing with all the usual household challenges.

It was important for him to teach his sons financial responsibility, so when Rodney wanted to buy his first set of drums at age fourteen, his dad marched him down to a bank to set up a loan.  A few years later, Murray made the same trek with his father to arrange the financing for his first car.  In later years, Dad Wickett became the bank for his children and grandchildren, loaning out money, at a very low interest rate, and recording everything in his little black book.  Nuggets of financial advice were free.

Capturing the essence of Dad Wickett in a few words is very difficult.  Honourable, compassionate and wise, everyone relied upon him.  Even as a child, his mother, brothers and little sisters all called on Clarence for support.  For the other employees at the National and for the owners of the small grocery stores that they serviced, Charlie Wickett became the man to go to when help was needed.  Always willing to stop in when required, it was his immediate family who benefited the most from his generosity.

His oldest grandchild, Shannon, lived with him for a year after Alice died.  She was attending college and “Grandpa Wickett’s” house became the place to hang out and eat the homemade pizzas that he created.  Brent, his youngest grandchild, remembers the love he always felt from his grandfather, and Erin and Derek, his other two grandchildren, treasure memories of confiding in him.  When troubled, Grandpa Wickett was a safe refuge.

Honourable, kind and loving, Clarence Wickett was a hero in his family’s eyes.  A gentle soul, yet the devilish glint in his eyes bespoke of his quiet humour.  He worked hard, raised a family, contributed to church and community:  A man to be emulated.

Wallace, Don & Diane #1949

Honoured by their children

Both Don and Diane (Cooper) were born and raised in North Bay.  Although the Wallaces and the Coopers were well acquainted, and often socialized together, Don and Diane did not spend much time together until they both attended Algonquin Composite School in North Bay, where they were high school sweethearts.  They married in 1972.

Don Wallace is the third son of George and Sybil Wallace.  He enjoyed growing up in North Bay, and has many fond memories of the backyard hockey rink on Campbell Avenue.  Don left North Bay to attend university at Glendon College (York University) and then received his law
degree from Osgoode Hall in Toronto.  He returned to North Bay to article at the family law practice, then called Wallace & Carr.

Don was called to the Bar in 1975 and has practiced family law and civil litigation in North Bay ever since.  In addition to his private practice, Don is a Children’s Aid Counsel, the Chairman of the Nipissing Legal Aid Committee and the President of the Nipissing Law Association.

Don has always been active in the community in North Bay.  Throughout the years he has been involved with the North Bay Apollo Gymnastics Club, the North Bay Granite Club and Montessori Children’s House, however hockey remains his true passion.  Don has coached many teams and
served in several different Board of Directors roles with West Ferris Minor Hockey over the past 25 years.  He has played Old-timers Hockey for even longer with the Ill Eagles, and continues to
play and manage the team.

Diane Cooper is the third daughter of Jack and Lois Cooper.  She grew up in North Bay and spent many wonderful summers at the Cooper family cottage on Trout Lake.  Diane attended both Queen’s University and the University of Toronto, earning a Masters in Social Work.  She returned to North Bay and pursued a diverse career in social work that took her through the Children’s
Aid Society, private practice, North Bay General Hospital and the North-East Mental Health Centre.

Diane has also been an active figure in the community and has been involved with the Community Waterfront Friends, the North Bay Waste Resources Advisory Committee, North Bay Apollo Gymnastics Club and North Bay Humane Society.

In spite of all these demands on their time, Don and Diane have always made family life a priority.  They and their three children (Kelly, Christy and Greg) have enjoyed many, many summers at the Lake Talon cottage, as well as family trips to Florida and skiing in Collingwood.  They can often be seen skiing to the cottage, rollerblading along the Kate Pace Way and ballroom dancing.

Thank you mom and dad, for everything you have done for us all!

Love Kelly, Christy & Greg

Wallace, Jack & Lovie #1905 *

Milton John (Jack) & Elizabeth(Lovie) Wallace

“Black Jack” Wallace was born in 1880 in Hillsdale, Ontario. He came to North Bay with parents, Robert and Janet Wallace at the age of 9. Leaving school in his teens, he worked as a fireman and then as an engineer for the CPR, before joining his father in one of North Bay’s oldest contracting firms, Robert Wallace & Sons. Numerous North Bay landmarks were constructed by this firm, using bricks from the Wallace brick yard, situated across from the Pete Palangio Arena. These landmarks included: the Normal School (Teacher’s College), many of North Bay’s elementary schools, North Bay Collegiate Institute, the North Bay jail, many homes in the west end of North Bay, and the family home on Campbell Avenue. Jack was active in many community initiatives, served on the delegation to study the Georgian Bay Canal, was a member of the Northern Navigation Co., and president of Georgian Bay Creamery and Bidgood Gold Mines. It was through his efforts that the first of North Bay’s streets were paved.

Lovie Robinson was born in Orangeville March 23, 1884. She and Jack married in Toronto, Christmas Day, 1905 and they settled in North Bay. They had six children – Audrey, Ken, George, Harold, Gerald and Wilfred ( Bae). Jack died in 1930 at the age of 50. Lovie, a very strong and determined woman, with the support of her extended family, temporarily re-located her family to Toronto, in order that her children could complete university educations –Audrey in music, George in law, Harold and Gerald in medicine, and Bae in engineering, and later, in law.

She and her children continued to cottage on Centennial Crescent, Trout Lake, until her death at the age of 57, March 25, 1941. This cottage burned in the late 1950’s and is the current site of the Gerald and Jo Wallace family home.

Lovie lived to meet only one of her 20 grandchildren, Bob, and none of her 42 great grandchildren. Four of Jack and Lovie’s children – Ken, George, Harold and Gerald, remained in North Bay to pursue careers and raise Jack and Lovie’s grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren. Quite a legacy that we all feel blessed to share!

With love and gratitude,
Bob & Anne, John & Wanda, Mickey & Penny, Dave &Nancy, Jane & Peter
Blake & Rita, Jack & Gwen, Don & Diane
Jamie, Lovie & Danny, Jay & Ginette
Tim & Deb, Kathy & Mike, Sue & Bob, Tom & Joanne
Brian & Wendy, Rory & S, Mike & Christine, Audrey & Joe

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.

Webber Shaw, Edith #124 *

Edith Webber Shaw – Our Mother

Edith was the youngest child of Sophie Langton and James Webber. She led a charmed life.

Having two older brothers to do the farm work and two older sisters to help with the house chores Edith had time to teach herself to play the piano by ear. In fact she was hired by the local silent movie house to provide appropriate background music for the silent films. It was here that she met John Loudon Shaw, a travelling salesman for Canada Packers. It was love at first sight for the gangly Scotsman, recently arrived from Bothwell, Scotland. They eloped in November 1929.
Arriving in North Bay as a new bride with no experience as a homemaker she set her mind to learn to cook and she read her etiquette book regularly. The “Purity Cook Book edition 1929”was well used. A “proper” table was always set.

With great difficulty she delivered her first child Sheila in 1931 – followed by a second daughter Jacqueline – then a son Gary all within six years. While J.L. established his new business Macdonald and Sons Beverages, Edith, with help, during the day managed the household.

Mom insisted on good manners at the table and outside the home. She taught us tolerance and – against Dad’s orders – continued to feed the “hobos” when they appeared at the back door during the “hungry 30’s”.

Edith was never happier than when she could play the piano. When young we would fall asleep most nights to her soft renditions of the old popular tunes. If she could hum it – she could play it.

Our Mother was a gift to us. This gentle reserved lady was hardworking, spiritual, loving, kind, generous and loyal. Her home was her castle. She will never be forgotten by her children, grandchildren and anyone who crossed her path.

Honoured by Sheila, Jackie, Gary.

Williams, Amy Fowler #1927 *

Amy Fowler was born August 3, 1927, in Peru.  Her parents were Canadian and had met there, her mom being a nurse and her father a mining engineer. Sadly her mom passed away prematurely when Amy was only age 13.  Amy was then sent to Canada, under the care of relatives living in Quebec. She was mainly on her own, receiving a lot of her education at boarding school.

Amy could speak English, French as well as Spanish because of her early adventures. She went on to receive a degree in economics from McGill University and it was through being a member of the McGill Choral society, that she met Keith Quirk, who was a medical student. They had three great years there as sweethearts, but ultimately went their own ways. They both married and had wonderful children, but thought of and kept track of each other over the years.

In November of 1999 Keith, then a psychiatrist, called Amy on impulse, while attending a conference in Montreal. When the phone rang, Amy almost passed out for she was certain of who it was. They found out that Amy was widowed for five years, and Keith was separated for five years, and divorcing. They quickly picked up where they had left off, first by daily emails, then regular visits.  Then, Keith accepted an offer that came out of the blue for a full time job with the North Eastern Mental Health Center’s outreach community program ACTT, which would start January 1, 2002.  The job meant a move to North Bay. Keith and Amy were married in North Bay in August of that year. They both loved the City, lived happily here until sadly, cancer carried her away to the next world on April 17, 2010.

Amy lived a life of caring and service to social causes. In addition to raising three wonderful and successful children- Glen, Dale and Heather, she was the ultimate volunteer, and no task was too small or challenge too large. She had a deep concern for social justice and the rights of women.  She became in turn, president of:  the Montreal Council of Women, as well as the National Council of Women (NCWC) and also Zonta International. Amy represented Canada on the International Council of Women on which she was vice-president. As President of NCWC she was a full time advocate and voice of Canadian women, on issues of health, education and the environment. She chaired a two year study of the financial status of older women across Canada and then led a successful lobby that resulted in fundamental changes to the Pension legislation for older women at both the Provincial and Federal levels. For this, and many other community contributions, she received the Order of Canada in 1985.

In addition to being the perfect loving wife for Keith, resulting in truly “Golden Years”, Amy also made a lot of friends in this community. She took a very active part in community groups, including the Canadian Federation of University Women, Living Fit and the North Bay Baha’i Spiritual Assembly. She also joined the waterfront Heritage Gardeners and helped out with their weekly maintenance ‘down to earth’ activity.

Amy and Keith loved the waterfront from day one, and were very excited about the redevelopment steadily taking place over the years. Amy would be most happy to know that we are supporting this Pergola Leaf project in her memory.

Wallace, George & Sybil #42 *

Honoured by Blake and Rita, Jack and Gwen, Don and Diane.

This is the story of George and Sybil Wallace, offspring of two North Bay pioneer families. It is also the story of 2 families hit hard by the Depression, War, and the loss of their parents at a very young age.

Born in North Bay on Nov. 2nd, 1912, George was the son of “Black Jack” and Lovie Wallace. The Wallaces were a founding family and ran the brickyard for several generations.  Sybil Carr was born on Feb 23rd, 1914 in Truro, Nova Scotia. Her father was a Superintendent with the CPR who came here when the railway was being built.

George lost his parents when he was in university. George had five siblings including; Ken, Drs. Harold and Gerald, Bae and Audrey. Sybil lost her father while still in school. She had three siblings; Fred, Isobel Hambley, and Bob. Together, Sybil and George have three children, Blake, Jack and Don, nine grandchildren, and now one great grandchild.

In spite of losing his parents, George pursued his education. With a law degree in hand, George returned to North Bay and started practicing in 1936. He boarded on Main Street and ate at the Chicago Restaurant for $5 a week. He helped many local Chinese people bring their families over here.

In High School Sybil pitched for the Rinky Dinks, a local girl’s baseball team that won the Provincial Championship.  She attended the North Bay Normal School and got her teaching degree.  She taught in several remote areas including Callander, and Loring. She ended her teaching career in Sudbury.

George and Sybil were married on Valentine’s Day, 1942. George enlisted, and left Sybil and sons, Blake, and Jack while he went off to war to serve as a Captain in England with the PEI Highlanders in Patton’s “shadow army”. He was also posted briefly as a lawyer to the Nuremberg War Trials.

Throughout the years, George established a well-respected law firm. Many local lawyers learned their craft from him.  He was appointed a QC in 1951 and a Family Court Judge in 1956. He was awarded the first Law Society medal for excellence in the profession in 1985.  He was one of the founders of Legal Aid in Ontario.  He served 9 years as a Bencher of the LSUC. He founded Mangouch Lodge, a group home for children; the first in Ontario. He was very involved in the Museum Society. He was the driving force behind the building of the new Court House. He was on the building committee for the YMCA.

In his practice, George was a pre-eminent counsel in Ontario, and appeared in the courts up the Supreme Court of Canada. A number of his cases changed the law in Canada; including a change in the wording on our paper money, and allowing the first adoption of a catholic child by a non-catholic family in Ontario. He also was counsel when our local mayor was removed from office. He was involved in developing Pinewood Park, Marshall Park, and Nosbonsing Park.  He handled many murder trials, and high profile civil actions.

Sybil in the meantime was raising the children, and becoming very involved in golf, curling, and politics. The Esperanza Club was a particular favorite, and she and her friends organized many charitable social events. She competed across the north in curling and golf. She was involved in the building of the Curling Club, and won the battle to have women as members. She was a great hostess and they entertained in their home such prominent people as; PM John Diefenbaker, Premier John Robarts, and Gov-Gen.  Roland Michener

George practiced law for 55 years and ended his career in partnership with 2 sons and his brother-in-law, Bob.  The firm he founded continues to flourish.  He was 80 years old and still practicing law and playing tennis when he died in 1992.

Sybil continued to be involved with her grandchildren and to live on her own.  She loved to travel to Toronto, and to entertain the family at the annual Christmas party at her condo until her death in 2006 the age of 92.

This is also a love story with a rich history. George and Sybil left their mark on the City of North Bay, and their legacy has been their children and grandchildren; many of whom continue to live in here and contribute to their community.