There is a new grandson, Fionntán Joseph Robin Turner McKibbon. Bud and I have been to see him and he is a wonderful new addition to the family thanks to Brenhan and Stacey. So now Dad and Mom have nine grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Our family has grown. Bud and I have three grandchildren: Owen Gordon Pearce and Mary Eilish (Sean McKibbon and Michaela Rodrigue ) and Kaytlyn Irene Elizabeth (Dan and Kim McKibbon).
Bev and John have three grandchildren: Emma Lee Rose and Maxwell Lee (Christopher and Jen Heggie) and Michael Robert (Rob Heggie).
Bob and Julie have two grandchildren: Tyler Gordon and Cameron David (David and Meagan Pearce).
So Mom and Dad have now 8 great-grandchildren. I know they are smiling in Heaven.
The Pearces came from Wendover, Buckinghamshire. Mark Pearce, my great-grandfather, was a gardener who worked on a large estate near Wendover. My great-grandmother ran a pub situated in the Coldstream Cottages. The family lived above the pub. My grandfather, Harry Robert, was their only son. They had two daughters. Mark Pearce died in his early forties and my great-grandmother remarried. Harry and his step-father did not get along so Harry was apprenticed to a shoe-maker in another village. However, my grandfather was his own man and shoe-making did not interest him. He instead, apprenticed himself to a carpenter. As soon as possible, my grandfather and a cousin emigrated to Canada. There they boarded with the Janes family in London, Ontario.
The Janes were a large family of 9, not all living at home. Their youngest daughter, Daisy, a very shy girl with dark hair, caught my grandfather's eye.
Daisy had been brought up mostly by her older sister, Ada. My grandfather enlisted in the Canadian army when WWl was declared. He became a sharp-shooter (something he never spoke about). We only found out what he had done during the war when family members read about him in Pierre Berton's book "Vimy". After he returned from overseas, my grandfather asked Daisy to marry him. He became a building contractor and built many homes etc. around London. Grampa was also in Timmins during the fire that devestated that town.
He said that he had taken to the lake during the fire.
Grampa and Grandma Pearce settled at 103 Askin St. in London which had been left to my great Aunt Ada. Aunt Ada lived there with them their whole married life. Grandma and Grampa had two children, my father, William Janes and Patricia Mary. My father was a Cub and Boy Scout. He also had a huge paper route with the London Free Press. He and his friend, Ralph Lashbrook, spent many days playing around and on the river Thames. They had a raft with which they used to ply the river until it sank (luckily they weren't on it). Dad loved history. It was his best subject in school. If WWll hadn't happened he might have gone to university and taught school. However, WWll broke out and right out of grade 13 he enlisted.
Dad was sent to Halifax for radio training and he became a specialist. He spent most of the war going back and forth over the Atlantic on corvetts and destroyers escorting the supply ships. He eventually became a Lieutenant and spent time going between ships (both Canadian Navy and Royal Navy). He had a number of close calls. The bow of one ship blew up after he had been relieved by another sailor. The captain was the only survivor of the people who had been on the bridge. Dad said they had to back the ship all the way to the harbour in Ireland.
On one of his many Atlantic crossings, Dad met my mother, Elizabeth, at a dance in St. John's Nfld. He was dancing with another woman when he spied a lovely dark-haired lady dancing so gracefully with an acquaintance of his. They swapped partners and Dad fell in love with Mom. Mom was shocked at how young her partner was, when she saw his id card. She was six years his senior, but it never matter to Dad. They were married in Newfie and spent 47 years together.
When my father returned from the war, he joined his father in the construction business and built us a home on Devonshire Ave. Sadly, the construction business wasn't enough for two of them, so my father went back into the navy.
He and my mother spent most of their married life moving from one posting to another in Canada. Bill and Elizabeth had three children, two daughters (I'm the oldest) and one son. One of Dad's postings was to Aklavik, NWT. It was a most exciting place for an eleven year old. We were there for two years. Eventually we moved back to Ottawa, Ontario in a home in Bell's Corners.
When Dad retired from the navy he went into the Civil Service. He worked for Nationa Parks and Northern Affairs until his retirement. Mom and Dad made many long-lasting friendships in their travels and sent out over 200 Xmas cards every year. Mom and Dad travelled extensively in North America and Europe. They enjoyed many trips and had the photos to prove it.
Sadly, when Dad was seventy, all the war experiences and fire-fighting he'd done (part of the job in New Brunswick for the forces) not to mention his cigarette habit (which he'd given up for ten years) caught up to him. Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and he lived one year beyond his diagnosis. I miss my father and find it hard to realize that twenty years have gone by since his passing. I am so glad that Dad got to know his nine grandchildren (8 grandsons and one granddaughter). Happily, there are three Pearce men to carry on Dad's family name. As the only son of an only son, of an only son, that is quite a nice outcome.
We love you, Dad and miss you very much.
