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| Arthur, 1971 |
Arthur and his family, minus Lynette and Gary, arrived in Florida in September
1971, their home for the next 15 years. Delighted to be in a climate similar to the one he had grown accustomed to in South Africa and anxious to put behind the cold winters of New Brunswick he set about looking for work to supplement his rather meager Canadian Forces pension. He eventually found work looking after some fruit groves and grounds in the small community of Land O'Lakes, 16 miles north of Tampa, setting up a used 60 x 14 mobile home nearby on a few acres among the palmetto, oranges, grapefruit, tangelos, armadillos and snakes. In the spring of
1972 June found employment in a new branch of a Savings and Loan bank in Land O'Lakes, and Arthur, at last quitting the back breaking work outside in the hot sun, started a night job as a security officer at a girl's college in Tampa. Richard had decided to join the United States Air Force, taking his basic training in Texas as a veterinary specialist. Don was still in Thailand, heavily involved in the war in Vietnam and Gary, in his second year in the Canadian Armed Forces, was serving on his second ship, the HMCS
Saguenay. In
1973 Arthur and June took over a local paper route, working seven days a week delivering newspapers to make ends meet and debating opening a small nursery on their land. Lyn and her husband Don were now residing in Topeka, Kansas, but he would soon to be posted to Biloxi, Mississippi. Richard was busy taking flying instructions near Orlando at McCoy AFB where he was serving. After quitting the paper route June found a job as a teller, then a secretary, in a Flagship bank in nearby Lutz, and Arthur began work part time at the hardware section of a Gold Triangle department store on Dale Mabry, in Tampa. Gary, still with the
Saguenay, spent a week with the ship in Charlottetown, PEI that summer during the visit of the Queen and HRH Prince Philip, before sailing to Europe with the NATO fleet, enjoying a week in Dublin, Ireland. In September Richard was posted to Kincheloe AFB in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.
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| Arthur with Billie, Susie and Pepsi, 1973 |
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| Arthur and Billie the goat, 1973 |
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| Arthur and June, 1974 |
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| Arthur, 1974 |
In the summer of
1974 Arthur had a large pond dug on their property, put in some catfish and planted hundreds of pine seedlings around the perimeter. Gary was posted to CFS Masset in the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwai), British Columbia, driving there via Florida to see his parents, then on to Mississippi to see Lyn and Don who took him to New Orleans with them for a day. On the way north he stopped in Calgary to see the Stampede with an old friend from France. Richard got his much desired re-muster to an air traffic controller, going to Keesler AFB in Biloxi for training. In
1975 Arthur had again changed jobs, starting work at a Twin Fair department store on Hillsborough Ave in Tampa. Diane, now 16, got her first job at a local
Whataburger drive in and June was still at the bank.
Richard had subsequently been posted to Blytheville, Arkansas as a new ATC and Don had been assigned to Andrews AFB in Virginia. Gary was content on the Islands, fishing and hunting and exploring the deserted sandy beaches in his VW dune buggy.
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| Arthur, 1976 |
Arthur was promoted to Asst Manager at his store in
1976. He was still enjoying life in his Florida acreage, raising ring-necked doves, goats, horses and dogs and planting more trees. That year in July Richard flew up to the Queen Charlotte Islands before Gary left for his next assignment in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to another destroyer, the HMCS
Iroquois. He and Richard drove down to Florida from BC together in Gary's new Toyota Celica. Arthur left Twin Fair in the fall and Diane moved to Virginia, where Lyn was living, to look for a permanent job, eventually working as a secretary at an electronics firm in Capital Heights, Maryland. Richard was still in Arkansas working on his instrument rating qualification for his pilots license. In
1977 Arthur completed a 10 week real estate course at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa and became an associate with a local realtor, Helen Grantham Realty. Richard, now married and having completed his time with the Air Force, had moved to Daytona Beach with his wife Debbie, a nurse, and enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
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| Arthur and Carolyn, 1977 |
After many years of planning Arthur at the beginning of
1978 finally began building his new house on the property behind the pond
. Diane moved back to Florida that spring when she learned Lyn and Don would be moving to Ogden, Utah. She began working at a new job in Brandon, near Tampa. Richard got his US citizenship after some delays and, while still attending university, worked part time at Hickory Farms and UPS. He was hoping to graduate in December. June and Arthur's home was completed by the end of August and they were able to move in. Shortly after they decided to put up their mobile home and half an acre for sale. After some disagreement with his employer Arthur left the realtor he was with and look elsewhere to hang his shingle. Gary was over in Europe again, his ship again part of the NATO deployment, stopping in France, Portugal, the Netherlands and England. He returned to Halifax and spent July in Newfoundland with the ship, before he was posted for the second time to Masset, BC. He married Doris, a girl from Cape Breton in November, just before taking his last cruise on the Iroquois to Puerto Rico. While he was there Richard and Debbie were involved in a freak accident on I-4 near Tampa and he was able to take leave and fly from San Juan to spend a week with them.
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| Arthur and June, 1978 |
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| Arthur and June, 1979 |
As
1979 began Gary and Doris drove west to BC for his new posting. Richard was still waiting to hear from the FAA for an ATC job, expecting a trip to Oklahoma City for 20 weeks training if accepted. They contacted him in May and offered him Birmingham, Alabama and, with his new daughter Jenny, who had been born in Oklahoma, settled in Trussville, ten miles northeast of Birmingham. Lyn and Don had moved into their new home near Powder Mountain ski resort in the small village of Eden, Utah, 25 miles from Hill AFB where Don would be working. Arthur meanwhile had gone back to school to learn about the real estate tax service. At the same time he had accepted a desk job at a hotel in Tampa, again working nights. But with the price of gas he decided the long drive every day wasn't worth it and gave them his notice. He and June would often go to the Tampa Bay Rowdie soccer games and had become ardent fans. Arthur, completing his courses, started working for
TransAmerica, driving to various towns across the state checking tax records, a job he seemed to enjoy finally. Diane was now living in Temple Terrace, very close to where she worked. Carolyn had a summer job, waiting on tables at the
Lutz Drive-In and restaurant (the former
Whataburger).
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| Arthur, 1980 |
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| Arthur, with Carolyn and June, 1981 |
1980 was the year Gary became a father when Doris gave birth in Prince Rupert, BC to Lara Marie. Dee had moved out west to be with Lyn in Utah and found a job with the City of Ogden, June was now the early morning drive-in teller at the bank, Arthur was still working for
TransAmerica, now with a company car, and Carolyn was working part time at
TG&Y, a variety store in Lutz. June flew up to Masset for two weeks in August to be with Gary, Doris and their new baby. In late September Richard and Debbie came for a week's visit, flying in with Jenny on the seaplane service to the Islands from Prince Rupert. In April
1981 June, Lyn and Carolyn flew over to England, Wales and France to visit Aunt Betty, Frank and the family as well as to look up some old relatives, including her father's brother. In May Diane flew up to Haida Gwai for a week just before Gary left for his next posting to Ottawa, Ontario. Richard and Debbie moved to Boyton Beach, Florida when he started at the Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale. Ronald Reagan was president when the Air Traffic Controllers went out on strike in August. As a result Reagan fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, Richard unfortunately being one of them. Doris and Gary flew down to visit with him and talked about him returning to Canada. Carolyn by then had gone west to live with Diane to seek her fortune. June and Arthur were alone for the first time - the nest was empty. Marie spent three months in Borden, Ontario on a Officer's Logistic course. June and Arthur drove up to visit Gary in Ottawa the summer of
1982 in their little red MG. Gary, separated from Doris, drove down in May with Lara to see them. Richard, now taking a nursing course with Debbie in Florida, also had a Department of Transport interview in Toronto. He was successful and moved to Ontario at the end of the summer. June came up to visit and her and Gary took a day trip to Foymount where the family lived from 1952-1954. She was diagnosed with Bell's Palsey but felt better after treatment and therapy, while Arthur was experiencing recurring liver problems that year. He and June flew up to Utah when Carolyn and her English boyfriend Michael were married in December in Ogden. They honeymooned in Sun Valley, Idaho. Diane's boyfriend, Ron Valadez, managed and counselled at the Ogden City Rescue Mission.
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| Arthur, with Carolyn, June, and Michael, 1982 |
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| Arthur, 1982 |
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| Arthur, 1982 |
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| Arthur, with Betty and June, 1983 |
Gary drove down with Lara to Land O'Lakes in February 1983, going to the Florida State Fair with Arthur. Aunt Betty and Stuart visited from England in April,
, staying two weeks, driving east with June to Cape Kennedy to see the Challenger Space shuttle launch, Epcot Centre and Busch Gardens. Gary and Richard attended Diane and Ron's wedding in May. Lyn had two rib surgeries that year, the first of many to come in the years ahead. Gary was living alone as Doris had returned with Lara to Nova Scotia permanently and would soon commence divorce proceedings. He managed a trip to see them in NS in October, then took Lara to Florida at the end of the year to help Arthur, now retired from
TransAmerica after almost four years. It was the beginning of the end of the citrus groves surrounding their property when Pasco county lost 100% of their fruit following a deep freeze. He and June were still following their beloved Rowdies but this year was the last they bought season tickets as they would soon be going to Utah in the new year to see if they wanted to live there permanently. Richard was now living in Brampton, Ontario and employed as an ATC in Toronto. In
1984 June finally retired from the bank after 11 years. Gary had now moved in with his new girlfriend Marie, his boss from work, and her daughter Christina. They drove out together with Richard, Debbie and Jenny to visit the family in Utah in May. June and Arthur kept themselves occupied travelling throughout the State visiting Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park in the southern part, looking for a place to settle before selling up in Florida. Diane gave birth to the first of two boys, Isaac, in September and Carolyn had Ryan, her first in October. June and Arthur went to Los Angeles to visit Michael's parents in Sunnymeade and took in the bronze medal soccer match at the '84 Summer Olympic Games. June flew up to Brampton to visit with Richard for a week. Michael was going to school to learn computer maintenance, working evenings at Hill AFB on the F4 Phantom jet interceptor. In December June, now working at the local school office, and Arthur drove up and met Marie's parents for the first time before heading west on the 401 to see Richard, spending Christmas Day with him.
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| Arthur and family, 1984 |
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| Arthur, 1984 |
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| Arthur, with June, Lara, Marie, and Christina , 1984 |
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| Arthur, 1984 |
In early
1985 Arthur's brother Harry and wife Gerri, brought news that Harry's second son, Andrew, an accomplished organist who has played before the Queen Mother, was coming to Tampa. He managed to visit with them in January. Shortly after Gary and Marie's son Philippe was born in Ottawa in March he was posted back to Halifax, working in the Dockyard at Base Supply. Richard's second daughter Jamie was also born that March. Gary and Marie, now working in Base Supply as well, bought a house by the ocean in the small village of Whites Lake. Don and Lyn were now in Dayton, Ohio. June flew up to Nova Scotia for a visit in August, enjoying a trip to Peggy's Cove and visiting the naval Dockyard with Gary and the children. As the year ended she and Arthur were still trying to sell their house in hopes of moving west. Gary and Marie attended the happy Together Tour in Halifax with The Turtles, Grassroots and the Buckinghams.
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| Arthur, with June and Jamie, 1985 |
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| Arthur, 1986 |
Marie, Philippe and Gary flew down in January
1986 to visit Disney World and Epcot Center, witnessing the tragic explosion of the Space shuttle
Challenger on the way to the airport to catch their return flight to Canada. June and Arthur sold their house in the spring, bought a truck and trailer and began their move to Utah, driving up first to Nova Scotia in May before heading west. Arthur had to go into hospital while visiting Gary for an upper GI and cholecystectomy but recovered so he could continue their trip west to Brampton, Ontario to see Richard, then Lyn in Ohio, finally arriving in Ogden in July. Diane had another boy, Tyler and Carolyn her second as well, whom she named Jason. Lyn and Shawn, who turned 15 while there, drove out to visit Gary in August, leaving with a lobster trap strapped to the roof of their car. June and Arthur drove up twice to Vancouver to take in Expo 86. June took a two week computer/word processing course at a local school. She and Arthur moved into a small house, nearly 100 years old, on Sullivan Rd. in Ogden which kept them busy renovating. In
1987 Diane and Ron were working at a wayward youth center on weekends. Lyn and Don went to Scotland and England on vacation, Carolyn and Michael went out to California. In the summer June and Arthur drove up to visit with Richard and Debbie in their new home 50 miles west of Toronto in Erin, Ontario. Gary and family met up with them there, taking the opportunity to visiting Niagara Falls. Marie's parents drove out from Montreal to Nova Scotia to visit her that summer.
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| Arthur and Jason, 1987 |
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| Arthur and Phil, 1987 |
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| Arthur, 1987 |
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| Arthur, 1987 |
Richard and Deb went to Jamaica in January
1988. Marie and Gary were still working at Base Supply in CFB Halifax although Marie moved to DREA in October. Lyn, working at a veterinarians, and Don, now retired from the USAF and working for Morton Thiokol, an Aerospace Company, had moved back to Utah. June and Arthur celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary that summer. They drove up to rainy Haida Gwai to revisit the islands where Gary worked for 5 years. Debbie died tragically in a car crash on the way to work at the hospital on the 10th of August and was dearly missed by all the family and her many friends. June and Carolyn flew up to be with Richard and his girls to help them through their lose before Yvonne, a live in nanny, arrived. In late fall Richard returned with a friend to Jamaica while Lynette went up to look after Jenny and Jamie. June cross-country skied for the first time that winter with Lyn and Don, fell countless times but enjoyed it.
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| Arthur, 1988 |
Richard took the two girls down to Florida in January
1989 to visit with Debbie's parents. He was considering moving to either western Canada, Switzerland or New Zealand to work. Mike and Carolyn sold their house in March, moving to a new home in S. Ogden. Lyn turned 40 that April and went out with all the family to
Sizzlers restaurant to celebrate. Diane broke her wrist after a fall at home, tripping over her exercise machine, and had to stay overnight in hospital. Lyn severed her Achilles tendon on her foot after glass from a door broke in a high wind and also spent the night in hospital. Diane and Ron went to a martial arts tournament in Idaho that month where Ron got a first place. Carolyn and Mike visited relatives in Ireland in the middle of May, leaving Ryan and Jason with June, until Michael's parents flew in to help. June finished working for the city early in the summer. Marie and Gary moved to the small village of Paradise in the Annapolis Valley, buying a hobby farm where they raised goats, steers, chickens and rabbits, renting out their house in Whites Lake. They were married in Bridgetown in August. June and Arthur drove out with Jenny, after spending 40 days with Richard and family in Brampton. June took the VIA train back to see Richard for 6 weeks before returning to NS and heading west once more with Arthur. They spent a month in Arizona camping before returning home in November. In September Lyn and Richard flew to Paris, going to England, Germany and Austria as well. That fall Gary was posted back to sea, again on the old destroyer HMCS
Saguenay. Richard and Lyn went to England and France to visit old friends and relatives in September.
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| Arthur, 1989 |
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| Arthur and June, 1990 |
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| Arthur and June, 1990 |
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| Arthur, with Jason and Jamie, 1990 |
Richard flew Jenny and Jamie to Las Vegas for two days in January 1990 before heading to Utah for a week. He went skiing at Snow Basin with Lyn, Don, Mike, Carolyn, Diane and Shawn. Rachael was born to Michael and Carolyn in early February
. Lyn had some surgery done on her toe that month.
Diane and Ron, were working for the city of Ogden, Ron now with the Water Dept. In April June and Arthur drove south to New Orleans to begin their took 5 month cruise to South Africa. On the 8th of May their freighter, SS
John Lykes, left port finally for Durban where they spent a month visiting old relatives and rekindling memories from the 40s. They went to Johannesburg and Pretoria where they caught the famous Blue Train to Cape Town. In July they took another freighter, the SA
Helderberg, to England for three weeks before returning to the USA in September on the container ship
MSC
Rafaela. Gary spent part of the winter at the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida with the
Saguenay then went on the ship's decommissioning trip through the Great Lakes to Thunder Bay, inviting Richard on board for an overnight stay between ports on Lake Ontario. Carolyn had her appendix removed in October, staying in hospital for four days. June flew up to Ontario in November to spend a week with Richard then took a train to NS to see Gary in Nova Scotia, returning to Georgetown until mid December. The year
1991 for Gary and Marie started badly after they had a fire in January in their old farmhouse and they had to move out until spring. Marie was working at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. June and Arthur had frozen pipes that January due to frigid temperatures in Utah. Early in the year Diane filed for divorce from Ron while Richard married Pat - and now had a family of 7. In March Lyn and Don vacationed in Manzanillo, Mexico. Marie had two surgeries, a bowel resection and hysterectomy and both went well. Her and Gary took the three kids to Disney World afterwards. June and Arthur drove up in September to NS, stopping by Peggy's Cove and doing the Cabot Trail to enjoy the fall colours. They traveled that winter into southern Utah, Arizona and Lake Powell, camping along the way in their Hi-Lo, which they eventually sold for a fifth wheel, settling in Coyote Howls Park in Why, Arizona. Gary finally sold the house in Whites Lake after a bad experience with his tenants.
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| Arthur, 1991 |
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| Arthur and Gary, 1991 |
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| Arthur, 1992 |
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| Arthur, 1992 |
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| Arthur, 1993 |
June and Arthur spent part of the spring of
1992 in Lutz, Florida looking after a friends home. Hayley was born to Rich and Pat in April. June went up to help with what would be her 15th grandchild. Her cousin Pat Amos from England visited them in Utah that summer and Carolyn and Michael, on leave from DDO (Defence Depot Ogden) where he was employed, flew up for a week to visit Gary and Marie in August with their two boys. In the fall Marie became the new admin officer for Agriculture Canada at the Kentville Research Station. Diane had moved to Legal Services in Ogden City after 12 years at her other position. June and Arthur spent another winter in Why, Arizona. Richard and Pat, having moved to a bigger house in Georgetown, Ontario, vacationed in Belize in early
1993 . June once again flew up to babysit. Lyn, Don and Shawn spent part of the winter at their new timeshare in St. Maarten, a small island in the Caribbean. June and Arthur sold their house in the spring, bought a new motor home and with grandson Tyler in tow drove up to visit Gary that summer. Later when they had returned to Utah, June's cousin Madge visited from Cheltenham in England. Harry, now in a retirement home, lost his wife Jerri in August. Michael and Carolyn opened the Solid Rock Cafe (formerly Ark Ministries) in September. Arthur spent his third winter in the desert at Coyote Howls Park alone for a month while June returned to Utah to spend Christmas with the girls. She flew up to Ontario again to look after Richards's kids when he went off to the Caribbean for a break in April of
1994. Marie visited her parents in Montreal in June and her brother Mario in Boston in July
. At the end of the month Lyn, Diane and Isaac spent a week with Gary in Nova Scotia, visiting Annapolis Royal. June and Arthur (now 70) began hosting at a National Forest Service campground in Red Canyon, near Bryce Canyon, Utah from May to September. Carolyn and her family spent a week there with them in June. Tyler spent two months there with them during the summer as well. After Michael's parents moved to Pensacola, Florida he and Carolyn bought their house in north Ogden in September. Shawn started working for the Ogden City Water Department in the fall. Harry died in hospital in Tampa near the end of the year. He was only 72. June and Arthur spent their fourth winter in Why, Arizona.
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| Arthur and Rachael, 1994 |
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| Arthur and June, 1994 |
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| Arthur and June, 1995 |
The spring of
1995 June and Arthur spent camping near Moriarty, New Mexico. Richard and Pat broke up after many differences in the spring. He and Jenny flew out to Utah later in the year for Jenny's 16th birthday. Marie attended her brother's wedding to Emily in Boston in June. That summer June and Arthur drove up again to see Gary and family in Nova Scotia. They again headed south for the winter, stopping first in Yellowstone before bringing in
1996 in Why, Arizona for the fifth year in a row. That winter Diane kept busy with her two boys with hockey tournaments and Carolyn and Michael with the Cafe, starting to flip houses in the area. Jenny who had been living with Lyn and Don went home to Canada in May. Lyn and Don spent part of that winter again in St Maarten. June and Arthur spent the summer renovating their new house and building a shed. June for the first time started using e-mail to send her letters and, in July, started working at Sears. Marie's brother Mario had his first child, Zoe, born in June. Gary and Marie sold their farmhouse in Paradise and moved to Kentville, closer to Marie's work at the Research Center. In April
1997 June and Lyn drove down to Las Vegas for three days. Marie, Phil and Gary flew to Utah for a holiday, also stopping off in Las Vegas before going on to Salt lake City. That summer June, who turned 70, and Arthur rented a car and drove from SLC to Charleston, SC to take a cruise on the freighter
Contship Germany. Richard flew down from Toronto to Charleston to spend a few days with them before they boarded the ship which was to head through the Panama Canal. They had to wait four days to get through the backlog of ships then sailed on to Tahiti, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia for five days of exploring, then to Taiwan and Hong Kong. They flew back from Hong Kong in September as Arthur, experiencing back problems, was advised to cut their trip short. Marie got a new job in Ottawa with SAP and began flying back and forth to Nova Scotia every two weeks.
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| Arthur, 1997 |
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| Arthur, with Lyn and Diane, 1997 |
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| Arthur and June, 1998 |
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| Arthur, with Paulo and June, 1998 |
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| Arthur, 1998 |
In
1998 Lyn and Don went to Toronto to visit with Richard and the girls. June was no longer with Sears. Gary flew down to surprise her at her birthday party held in the Solid Rock Cafe in June. Arthur's old friends from France, Lucienne and Paolo flew in to Utah in early September. June and Arthur went back to Why, Arizona for a few months, stopping off to visit White Sands Monument in NM, spending Christmas in Arizona. Marie and Gary sold their house in Kentville and moved finally to Ottawa to be closer to Marie's work at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Soon after buying another house Gary started working for the Corps of Commissionaires. After returning home to Utah in January
1999 June and Arthur had a visit from Marilyn and Simon, who flew in from England. In April Arthur lost his new fence and some fruit trees to a 100 mph windstorm. In May Carolyn and Diane became US citizens at a ceremony in SLC. Don and Lyn were cruising on the Great Salt Lake in their new sailboat. Richard and Pat looked to sell their big home in Georgetown when they decided to begin separation proceedings. Diane had decided to move back to Florida with her boyfriend John, a former high school friend from Land O' Lakes. John came up at Easter to meet June and Arthur. In September they went to Canada to visit Gary in Ottawa and Richard, now living in Acton, Ontario. Lyn had began entering her photographs in various competitions, some of which finished in first place. In April she and June went over to England and then to France to visit with Mme Perrin in Metz.
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| Arthur and June, with Diane and Lyn, 1998 |
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| Arthur, with Gary and Phil, 1999 |
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| Arthur, 2000 |
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| Arthur and June, 2001 |
In
2000 after selling her house Diane moved to Florida. June and Arthur spent much of their spare time visiting Antelope Island, one of their favorite getaway spots close to home. In March Lyn and June headed to Europe for a month, taking a flight out of LA to London, visiting Canterbury, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Sandringham, the Queen's country home, then by ferry to France to see Mme Perrin in Metz. Carolyn and Michael expanded the Solid Rock Cafe to make it easier to accommodate musical functions. They vacationed in Hawaii later in September. Gary, Marie and Philippe went to Georgetown to see Richard and his new girlfriend Lianne in the summer. In
2001 Don retired from Thiokol and started planning a permanent move to Florida, taking a vacation with Lyn to Barbados in February. Marie moved to a new job with the RCMP in Corporate Management, after a short time with Foreign Affairs and International Trade. June and Arthur drove to Florida that winter to spend time with Diane and John. Richard and Lianne went to see them after they had made an offer on a three acre parcel of land with an old mobile home near the town of Brooksville. After they had made their move from Utah and moved in to their new home Marie and Gary flew down to help. Carolyn and Michael flew to Ireland and England with their two boys and Rachael, visiting Leeds castle, Stratford-On-Avon and Dublin. That summer Gary got a call from Vancouver. It was Lynette's long lost daughter Rande looking to contact her birth mother. Lyn flew up to Canada to meet her for the first time. Rande was with the RCMP in Langley. On 9-11 Gary was working for a landscape company as a foreman and Marie had moved to the RCMP as a Regional manager, Business Systems.
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| Arthur and June, 2001 |
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| Arthur, 2002 |
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| Arthur, with June and Carolyn, 2002 |
Gary and Richard, in January
2002 , took a piano down to Florida for June in his big van. Diane and John began preparing their new property in Land O' Lakes to build their house. Carolyn worked as a volunteer when the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City in February. That month Lyn and Don went snowmobiling in Yellowstone, Montana then vacationed in Tobago in March. Philippe flew to Vancouver to meet his new cousin Rande and her husband Brent that spring. Returning from the Caribbean Don bought a 38-foot motor home in Florida and drove it back to Utah. Marie and Gary also went on a Caribbean cruise in April from Ft Lauderdale, stopping first to see June and Arthur and Richard who was down at the time. He and Lyn went to England for a wedding, then on to Ireland, and France in July and August. Gary, Marie and Philippe visited Nova Scotia that summer to see Lara and her boyfriend Bucky. In September Ryan began attending Weber State University. Carolyn and Rachael flew to Florida to visit that month, spending some time at Pine Island. Don and Lyn eventually arrived in December and set up their motor home at June and Arthur's. While Arthur spent most of the year renovating and repairing the mobile home June got to know a family of Sandhill cranes, one she called Lucy who returned year after year.
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| Arthur and June, 2003 |
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| Arthur and Richard, 2003 |
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| Arthur and Rande, 2003 |
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| Arthur and June, 2004 |
Lyn, Don and Mom went to Tarpon Springs for the Greek Epiphany celebrations in January
2003. Gary flew down to Florida for a week that month. Lyn and Don went to their timeshare in St Maarten once again. June and Arthur worked on their new outside laundry room in the spring. Lyn, Don and Rande attended Bike Week celebrations near Daytona in March. Marie and Gary drove to Toronto to visit with Richard, then in April drove their old Dodge ram motor home down to Florida. Don put an offer on 5 acres in Brooksville, planning to build their home there. Michael teamed up with a partner in a real estate venture that summer. Diane and John were ready to move into their new home in late spring. Arthur had a successful double hernia operation in May and an MRI on his arm in July. Lyn had more shoulder surgery after a trip to the western US and BC. Arthur and June applied for new Resident cards and Marie and Gary went to Daytona Beach to meet up with Richard and Diane in May. In June they drove down to Boston to visit Mario who was now married to his girlfriend Emily. Lyn flew up to Ottawa in October to attend a Metz
General Navereau School Reunion with Gary and Marie. That month Carolyn and her family spent a few days on a house-boat on Lake Powell, a reservoir lake straddling the Utah and Arizona border. At the start of
2004 June and Arthur were still spending all their spare time remodeling and updating the old mobile home. Lyn and Don began the foundation for their new house in Brooksville in February. Richard had an operation on his knee and had to wear a cast for a few months. Marie's mother and father both passed early in the year in Montreal. She and Gary later spent a week in Quebec City in April, staying at a resort near Mt St. Anne, then flew down to Florida. They went out to Anclote Island with Dee and John in his new boat. They also went to the Dominican Republic for a week, then in July drove out to NS. They went to the Five Fisherman restaurant where Lara's new boyfriend Bucky was the sommelier. Richard and Jenny went down to Florida in June to visit Debbie's parents. Carolyn and her family went to Cozumel, Mexico for a holiday. June started playing the piano at a small church she attended close by, Lake Lindsey Methodist. Arthur planted some papaya and banana trees on the property. Jamie flew down in August to visit before going to see her Grandma Kustra on the east coast. Isaac, now in the US military finished his basic training in Fort Jackson, SC and attended para school in Fort Benning, Georgia. Lyn and Diane went on a four day cruise to the Bahamas from Ft. Lauderdale in October. Carolyn, Michael and Rachael visited Florida in December.
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| Arthur, 2005 |
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| Arthur, with June and Marie, 2005 |
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| Arthur, with Diane and John, 2005 |
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| Arthur, 2006 |
June had the cataracts removed from her eyes early in
2005. Lara and Christina began working for Passport Canada in Ottawa that year. Lara and Bucky flew down to Florida in April to meet the family. Gary, Marie and Richard visited at the same at the same time. Jenny and Joel were married in Chatham, Ontario. Marie began work at Social Development Canada as a Director Financial Management. Phil started working in Vancouver with Telus. Gary began a four year art course at the Ottawa School of Art. Phil went down to Florida in October to see his Grandparents. Gary and Marie drove down for Christmas, visiting Elenore in Lake Worth. Lyn and Don and Shawn took a long trip early in the year
2006 to South Africa, returning in March
. Hayley and Jamie flew down to be with their Grandmother Kustra who was not well. Richard moved into a smaller house in Georgetown. Gary and Marie went to New York City with the students and the history teacher from his Art School visiting the Armory Show, MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They also saw Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in Ottawa that summer. Rande and her two boys came down to visit Lyn in the spring. Phil, back from his work in Vancouver, started a job in New Jersey. June started taking p.t. three times a week in April on her doctors recommendation. Isaac and his fiancee visited that month. Gary and Marie bought property in the Eastern Townships of Quebec near the Maine border, planning on building a home there in the future. He and Richard attended a Moody Blues concert in Toronto. Marie moved on to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as Director General, Strategic Management.
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| Arthur, 2007 |
April
2007 found Gary
and Marie
in Florida going to Captiva and Sanibel Islands, near Ft. Myers. Don had started with the Forestry Dept in Florida. June flew up to visit Gary and Marie in July, visiting the Parliament Buildings and celebrating Lara's 27th birthday with her and Christina. Marie was now working with Public Safety Canada as an Executive Director, Financial Planning. In June she and Gary drove out to Utah in their camper van to visit Carolyn and Michael
. In the early summer of
2008 Gary and Marie flew down to Florida again, this time going with June, Lyn and Don to Crystal River to swim with the manatees. Gary and Marie spent two weeks in Greece in the spring, visiting Athens, Delphi and Olympia. In June Gary graduated from the Ottawa School of Art with a Fine Arts Diploma. Richard took the train up to visit him in Ottawa in September. He and Marie went to Anne Murray's farewell concert at the NAC in Ottawa. Dad turned 85 that Christmas.
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| Arthur and family, 2009 |
In the summer of
2009 Gary, Marie, Lara and Chad, her new boyfriend, went to Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. Lara was working for
Adresz, a real estate company in Montreal
. Marie and Gary flew to Tampa when Carolyn and Richard were there. Gary and Richard flew down to Florida from Buffalo to celebrate Lyn's 60th birthday. She drove up in her Saab to Ottawa to visit in May. That December Gary and Marie went to Mt Tremblant ski resort with Lara, Chad, Phil, Dart, a friend of Phil's and Fernanda. Phil and Fer were married in Cancun on the beach in December
2010. While they were there Gary and Marie went to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids, the National Museum of Archaeology in Mexico City and the town of Cuernavca. Marie had moved to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada as Director general Finance and Administration in Montreal. She and Gary had moved to Montreal from their condo in downtown Ottawa. In February they flew down to bring up their camper from John's place (Gary and Christina had driven down the year before). Lara was now living with her latest boyfriend, Jesse.
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| Arthur with June and Gary, 2011 |
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| Arthur, 2011 |
In
2011 Lyn drove up to Montreal on her way to visit Richard and Rande in Ontario. In September Gary and Marie flew down to Florida to see June who had been ill in hospital and needed now to get around in a walker. In November Marie retired from the Canadian Federal Public Service after 35 years. She and Gary took a retirement cruise to the Caribbean for three weeks going to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico and Haiti. They went to Mexico at the end of the year, taking the ferry over to Cozumel to stay at Michael and Carolyn's place. Amy was born to Phil and Fernanda in February
2012. In June Mario and children visited Gary and Marie. Sadly June passed on July 10 at the hospital in Brooksville. She was 85. Her service was held in August. Lyn and Arthur, now alone for the first time since 1948, drove up to see Gary and Marie in Quebec.
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| Arthur and Lyn, 2012 |
Joshua was born to Lara and Jesse in February
2013. In May Marie and Gary flew down to Florida for two weeks, visiting Arthur who was now staying in the
Grande, an assisted living facility in Brooksville. On July 6th a train derailment in Lac Megantic close to where Gary and Marie lived killed 47 people. That December they flew down to Mexico for two weeks, visiting Acapulco, Tepoztlan and the Museo
Frida Kahlo in Mexico City.
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| Arthur and Gary, 2013 |
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| Arthur and Lyn, 2015 |
T he spring of
2014 Gary and Marie flew to Europe, going to Spain, France, Belgium and England. William was born to Phil and Fernanda in June. In July Richard and his new girlfriend Rose drove up in their big camper to see Gary and Marie. Later that month Marie's brother Mario and his two children drove up from Boston. Later they were visited by Cesar and Rosalia, Fernanda's parents. In August Gary and Marie drove down to Wiscasset, Maine to spend a weekend with Mario and his new girlfriend Elisabeth. In November they spent a week in Florida, tiling Richards condo in Lake Worth, then going to Miami with Lyn. Another trip in February,
2015 for Gary and Marie to visit with Arthur, now 91 and in the early stages of Alzheimer's. While there they went to the old town of Mt Dora with Lyn and Don. Arthur was later admitted to
Forest Oaks of Springhill, another assisted living facility that would provide the closer care he now needed. In April Gary and Marie drove down in their pickup truck to bring back a slide-in camper they found for sale in Daytona Beach, stopping in Salem, Massachusetts to visit Mario and Elisabeth in their new home. They attended Fernanda's brother Cesar's wedding in Veracruz, Mexico in July.
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| Arthur, 2016 |
Early in April
2016 Gary and Marie returned to Florida to see Arthur, visiting the old town of St Augustine while there. In August they took a holiday with Phil and his family to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, where Phil attended his friend's Dart's wedding. In December Gary and Marie flew down south again, visiting
Ybor City in Tampa
. Gary and Marie spent a month in England and France in April and May
2017. In May Carolyn
and Michael visited Gary and Marie, and later in the summer Diane flew up with her grand-kids Isaiah and Andrew, going later to Quebec City. In August Richard drove up to visit in his new BMW. Later that year in September and October Gary and Marie drove their truck and camper to British
Columbia to visit Lara and Jesse and children who had moved west the previous summer. Marie's aunt Thérese, who she had been caring for, passed away in April 2018. That month she and Gary flew down to Florida to see Arthur for what would turn out to be the the last time. They also went to the small town of Ozello with Lyn and Don and later spent another week at an AirBnb in St. Petersburg. In August Richard and his new girlfriend Nancie came up to visit Gary and Marie. They also saw Shania Twain on tour in Montreal.
That summer the Penagos family visited Gary and Marie, celebrating two birthdays while there.
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| Arthur, 2017 |
On September 30th Arthur passed. He was three months shy of his 95th birthday. He had promised himself he would live to be 100 but it wasn't to be. But he had a long interesting life, traveled extensively after leaving his native South Africa and left many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as his legacy. gws
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| Arthur, 2018 |
