We Remember Them

Cantley's 1889 Articles in The Echo of Cantley

Echo Cantley Echo

Cantley 1889’s volunteers have written more than 150 monthly articles of local historical interest for publication in The Echo of Cantley, a non-profit bilingual organization that produces Cantley's only community newspaper.

The following article is reprinted here with permission from in The Echo of Cantley, Volume 36 no 5, November 2024.

We Remember Them

Mary Holmes

Eldon Storey was the son of George Storey and Marion Maxwell and brother of Lloyd. He left his family home on Cantley’s Storey Road, never to return. He was a gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery, 12 Field Regiment. Eldon had been overseas about a year and a half and had been in action since the D-Day invasion. He was killed on September 6, 1944 at the age of 22. He is buried in Calais Canadian War Cemetery (Leubringhen), Pas de Calais, France. A memorial service for Eldon was held at Cantley’s St. Andrew’s Church on October 22, 1944. Rev. F. Mitchinson conducted the service during which he dedicated a wreath and the congregation observed a minute’s silence in memory of Eldon.

George Barton signed up for war service as did his brother, Norman, and his cousin, Ruggie. Born in 1919, he was the youngest child of William Barton and Martha Wilson and of his siblings Norman, Ruby, Jenny, Percy and Cortis. They first lived in Low Québec. Next they appear on the 1921 Census in East Wakefield. Sometime before 1927 when their land on the Gatineau River was flooded by the hydroelectric dams, they moved to a farm not far from the intersection of highways #307 and #366 near today’s Hazardous Waste Depot.

On March 21,1942, George sent greetings home from overseas to family and friends through the CBC broadcast of “Troop Time”. We can imagine their excitement since they would not have heard his voice since he shipped out. His war experiences in the Canadian Forestry Corps left him partially deaf making it difficult for him to obtain steady employment. He picked up work where he could, such as working on the road crew with his brother, Cortis, or as a hired hand for local farmers. His cousin, Elsie Barton Woodburn remembers George as being a very neat and tidy man. He was a very fine fiddler and often visited the family. George played while Elsie’s father, Billy, sang along.

Jean-Paul (“J-P”) Chenier shipped out from Petawawa in December 1942. At the time, the Ottawa Journal reported, “One soldier the medical officers did not have much doubt about was Sapper Jean-Paul Chenier, 25-year-old [son] of Alfred Chenier [and Alexina Ouellette]. Jean is a husky miner and right at home as a sapper. A Hull boy, he lived in Ottawa for six years when he worked with the Ottawa Electric Railway. His wife [Audrey] and three-year-old son [Robert] are living in Cantley [with her parents].”

J-P arrived in Britain in March 1943 and served in the Royal Canadian Engineers, No. 3 Canadian Field Company. He was accidentally wounded in Italy on April 28, 1944 from a gun explosion. After returning to Canada on September 29, 1945 by ship, the “New Amsterdam”, he launched into what became a highly successful construction business. His company was responsible for the construction of thousands of homes and apartment buildings in Ottawa and Hull.

Earl Tempeny (sic) was descendant of the long-time St. Pierre de Wakefield Tempeny family. His grandparents, Frank Tempeny and Bridget Foley, settled in the Tenpenny Lake area. His parents were Frank Tempeny and Edith Clarke and he had one sister, Velma. When Earl married Hazel Moore, they made their life in Ottawa with their children David, Penny, Randy, Laurie and Marilyn. In the 1956 Ottawa Citizen was an article, “Ottawa Street Holey Nightmares, But Most Motorists are Resigned”, in which Earl, then a transport truck driver, was quoted as saying, “Could be Worse”. According to his obituary in 2006, Earl was a lifelong member of Teamsters Local 91.

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Thank you to the many people who identified George Barton in last year’s November Écho article Remembrance Day 2023, especially to Elsie Woodburn who identified three of the soldiers. Extra special thanks to Raymond Chenier who went above and beyond in his efforts to help us identify the soldiers.

 

J-P Chenier. Evelyn Hupé collection.
J-P Chenier, his wife Audrey and son Robert. Evelyn Hupé collection.

 

George Barton. Evelyn Hupé collection.
George Barton. Evelyn Hupé collection.

 

Earl Tempeny (left) with Eldon Storey. Evelyn Hupé collection.
Clipping Earl Tempeny, Ottawa Citizen 1956 article.

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