Gwendolyn Templeton

Mom died after a long and full life at Riverdale Manor in Peterborough. Pre-deceased by her husband, Jim (James B.) and granddaughter Bonnie. Survived by her children, Wendy (Gary), Gordon (Margit), Gail and David, grandchildren, Jeffrey (Jessica), Kimberley (Louis ), Jim (Jessica), Saul and Shai, and great grandchildren Alexandra, Lucien, Claire, Sophia, Cooper, Archer, and Anya.

Born to Gordon Reid of Belleville and Nora Roberts of Buffalo New York, mom was an only child. Her mom died before her first birthday, and she was raised for her next three years by her grandparents in Belleville. When Gordon remarried Gertrude Toy they made a new family and eventually moved to Toronto where Gordon was the chief engineer at the Dunlop tire plant.

As a small girl, mom sometimes accompanied her dad to the Dunlop plant on weekends and often shared stories about her dad’s work. He travelled to the UK on business frequently, (not an easy feat in his lifetime), because, he said “you can’t teach the British anything, you have to show them.” As part of the war effort in the 1940’s, he was involved in the design and manufacture of pressurized suits essential for pilots so they did not pass out from low blood pressure at high altitudes. Mom had a strong work ethic, likely due in part to her father’s influence, along with her blunt, bull’s eye tongue.

Her dad loved sailing, and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club was his go-to place, eventually becoming commadore, and in retirement was granted an honorary lifetime membership. Gertrude, in the meantime was an avid tennis player and spent a lot of time at her club. They lived in Rosedale and moved to Lighthouse Point in Florida when Gordon retired from Dunlop.

Mom didn’t take to sailing, so spent her entire summers at a girl’s camp in upper New York State, becoming a senior counsellor late in her teens. Mom was athletic, and a good skater at the renowned Toronto Skating Club, now part of the Toronto Cricket, Curling and Skating Club, although she declined an invitation to join women’s hockey. Mom continued her love of skating long into her adulthood, finally hanging up her Knebli’s in her 80’s after being the “star” of her seniors’ recreational group at Mitchell Field Arena. She was the only one who could still do back crosscuts.

Mom attended Moulton College, located at Bloor and Yonge where the Hudson’s Bay Centre is now located. Upon graduation from grade 13, she was valedictorian, a fact that her parents hadn’t even bothered to mention to the rest of the family who attended. Mom met dad at University of Toronto where they both studied. They were at the same party and at the time, dad was engaged to someone else. Mom the man-grabber! They married in a simple ceremony at Hart House, followed by a dinner at the RCYC.

Upon graduation, mom worked for Bell at the office still located on the north side of Adelaide, right across from First Canadian Place. There she met her best life-long friend, June who was to become June Rowlands, one-time mayor of Toronto. At Bell, they were the first to learn of vacancies in a post war housing shortage, and as a result, they were both able to secure apartments for their families in the same building at 2707 Yonge Street, still there today. Their first-born kids used the gas station next door as their playground. The families remained friends down to the next generation.

Dad’s engineering career took many turns, and the family moved with him. Plans to build their own house in Hoggs Hollow were scuttled when dad left De Havilland for the Department of Defence to work on the DEW line (Distant Early Warning Line) in Churchill Manitoba. Next, they moved to Galt Ontario where the young family made many friends from the neighborhood on Parkwood Drive and vicinity. Before returning to Toronto for good in the mid 60’s they also spend four years on Riverside Drive on the outskirts of Windsor.

Mom was a busy homemaker and devoted much energy to her home and children. She was involved in the PTA, various figure skating clubs, and was chauffeur for Gord’s hockey games. She and dad played bridge, but mom preferred her less competitive ladies bridge club in Galt. Although she claimed not to be domestic, she was a good cook, sewer, knitter and loved crafts. She raised her children to follow their dreams, and think and act independently. The latter she bemoaned when her children fulfilled this expectation - but not in a manner to her liking.

Once her youngest, David, the “afterthought,” was in school, mom took up real estate, largely because of the flexibility it provided to her schedule as a parent. She engaged on a long successful career in real estate, pairing up with another best friend, Jackie Dupuis, as a business partner. The home on Pinewood in North York was the location of many real estate agent parties, and mom loved to talk office politics.

In 1970, dad died, leaving mom a young widow at 48. She outlived him by over 50 years. Mom retired in her 70’s and spent so much time reading paperback novels, that she had to mark them as “read” so she would remember which ones she didn’t need to read again. Mom got to travel especially in her retirement and went many places with friends and family, including Florida, Bratislava, Vancouver Island, Barbados, Hawaii, the Rockies, and London England.

Gwen was an animal lover, and later in life, unlike her children, her cats could do no wrong - even after one of them, apparently made off with her diamond engagement ring never to be found.

Mom had her 15 minutes of fame when she tangled with Immigration Canada over her citizenship status. Immigration questioned her right to enter Canada upon returning from Florida to attend her own mom’s funeral bearing her US passport. A 6-month visitor’s visa wasn’t long enough to sort out the bureaucratic snags, and ultimately her MP, Barbara Greene, intervened by calling the Toronto Star. Mom briefly made front page news on September 17, 1991, with the headline “60 YEARS IN CANADA SHE’S AN ‘ILLEGAL ALIEN’”, and was quoted saying “never laugh at a civil servant,” and, “I absolutely refused to have my children sponsor me for something I already am.” This prompted several spin-off articles and some interesting letters to the editor, including one suggesting she should have contacted the Canadian Embassy in Bagdad, as a former Iraqi terrorist had recently done to enter Canada. The attention got the rusty wheels in Ottawa moving and her citizenship was officially recognised soon after with much celebration.

All of this history does not really tell the story of the mom we will remember in our hearts. She was a formidable character that few who knew her could forget. She was a true enigma. She could be incredibly supportive, and insensitive to others all mixed together. Her energy was legendary and health iron-clad. She could be opinionated and outspoken but was seldom ill-informed. She read the Toronto Star every day well into her 90’s until her poor eyesight prevented reading. Her wit, her laugh, razor tongue, and wicked sense of humour will be missed by us all. She could be very tough with her words, but in the end, her actions spoke unflinchingly of her fierce love and support for her children and family despite herself.

We love you mom.