We would like to thank all of you for coming.

82 years "not bad". On May 2^nd 1919 Bill was born in Toronto. He arrived on a kitchen table, the typical location for that time. He weighed 13 pounds. I guess he started with a bit of a weight problem. He was an only child, He grew up during the depression. The family was poor, and lived in a one bedroom house. As a result dad couldn't go to bed until all the guests left because he slept under the dinning room table. He loved to spend summers at Aunt Maud's farm up near the Holland Marsh. That was when the marsh was still a marsh & they used to go down and collect hay. For you St. Theo. folks, aunt Maud is Connie Riche's grandmother. He had to quit school and started working at 16, because his dad was out of work.

He has always been very proud to be a Canadian, so he volunteered early in the Second World War. At the tender age of 22 he was in-charge of a radar unit and responsible for the lives of more than 60 men. All the money that he earned before and during the war was sent home to help his mother and father. When the war ended he enrolled in Engineering Physics at the University of Toronto. Around the same time that he met Mary. Mom knew almost immediately that he was the one for her. After the second time they met, mom went home and told her landlord that she was getting married. They got married, continued going to University, and mom became pregnant. When they called veteran's affairs to get the medical costs covered. Veteran's affairs rejected their request. Pregnancy was not covered because it was classified as a self-inflicted injury. Leslie was their first self-inflicted injury and over the next 6 years, I was born, and then my brother Dave.

Because he was lonely growing, family has always been very important to him. We did everything as a family. We visited Aunt Gerry and Uncle Dick in London and then Owen Sound. We rented cottages and took trips with the Deans. We even went to the dump together. My dad invented "Tomato Can Joe" to make trips to the dump an adventure. As soon as we got in the car, dad would change into Joe's voice and tell us all about his life at the dump. "Yep I am Tomato Can Joe, I live in the dump, and I love tomato cans". Only my dad could make a trip to the dump fun. As kids we got lessons in just about everything. (Dancing, Skating, Swimming, Horseback Riding, Skiing, Sailing, and even Curling). We were all Girl Guides or Boy Scouts. He encouraged us, but he wasn't critical and as a result we have a wide variety of skills, and we are not afraid to accept a challenge.

Dad's work was always interesting. He was in the leading edge of the electronics industry. When we lived on Fabian Place (in Etobicoke) he traveled a fair amount. He had a keen interest in just about everything. He brought back stories, lamps and chessboards, jewelry, figurines, and plaques from every country. He brought the world home to us.

Around the time that Alan and I got married, Dad talked Harold Bedford into selling him a piece of cottage property on the Severn River. Our cottage is across the bay from 2 of the cottages that we visited as kids, and just up river from the Deans. Years passed, in a happy jumble of work, friends, trips, building cottages, garages, docks, playing cards, playing golf, and other cottage stuff.

When Dad retired, they sold the house on Fabian, and changed their lifestyle. Winters were spent down in Myrtle Beach with the Greenland's, Taylor's, and a few dozen other close friends. They played golf, cards, shopped and partied while the rest of us ..dealt with the Canadian Winter. Part of the summers was spent in Toronto, where dad used his knowledge, and experience to help expand the businesses of a number of his close friends (that's including PG Electronics). He continued to volunteer with associations such as the IEEE. The rest of the time was spent at the cottage. The 13 grandchildren started to arrive, and what dad started with "Tomato Can Joe" developed into a whole raft of fun cottage traditions. I don't want to brag but I think that over approximately 20 years of the Lower VS Hale volleyball/horse shoe tournaments, the Lowers won more volleyball games than they lost. Unfortunately Bill was our only talented horse shoe player so the Hales have that trophy. I don't know how but Dad managed to find time to volunteer on the Severn River cottager's association but he did. He played a very important role in boating safety.

A few more people would like to talk but before I go I would like to leave you with this. "Dad started out with 13 pounds and finished up with 13 grandchildren (plus one special grandson in-law). I think 13 was his lucky number".