Arthur John Carr

1942 – 2021

In the early morning hours of Sunday May 16th, unfortunately the earth cracked again and another hole was created in many hearts; the love of my mom’s life and my father had unexpectedly passed away. Those close to our family knew that my father was battling a challenging illness and there was along road ahead, but we had held out hope for more time with him.

Arthur John Carr was born on July 13th, 1942 to parents Edward and Annette Carr. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario on Shaftsbury Avenue. Being one of nine children, he quickly learned about what it meant to work hard. At the age of 17 he got his first job at York Mills Pontiac in the parts department. With this new job and money of his own, he was able to buy new clothes for himself and he purchased a closet with a lock on it so that his brothers couldn’t steal his new clothes. However, being brothers, they learned to pick his lock.

In the late 1950’s my dad met my mom. They met at the “Imperial Restaurant” in Summerhill and although they had other dates at the time, they quickly became inseparable and my mom and dad married in 1964 at Donlands United Church. They moved into an apartment and saved to buy a house, which they did in 1967 and never moved. In 1971 their first child, Michael was born and shortly after in 1975, they had a daughter, Alison(me). My mom has told me countless times how proud my dad was of both my brother and I, not only in our professional lives but also in our personal lives.

In 1977, my dad went to work at Hogan Chev Olds where he held a few different positions and made many lifelong friends over the 20 years he worked there. At least once a week, he and his coworkers would go to lunch at “The Orchid” restaurant in Agincourt Mall because they had the best roast beef sandwiches in town. And as luck would have it, one of those lifelong friendships blossomed into a new business venture. In 1997, my dad went into a partnership and opened two General Motors car dealerships called “Knight Chev Olds’ and they were located in Belleville & Picton Ontario. He bought a cottage to live in(which he loved) and he commuted back home to see us on weekends. The last dealership my dad worked at probably had the funniest memories. My dad had developed a passion for cooking and feeding all the employees and customers. He would make meatball soups and various salads in the small lunchroom and he would cook and handout hard boiled eggs to the customers waiting for their cars to be repaired. He would also go on three hour cigar runs with his business partner where they would talk business and laugh at inside jokes.

My dad retired in 2010 and shortly after he entered one of the happiest times in his life…..he became a grandpa “Pa” as my boys would call him. He loved his grandsons(Hudson and Noah) and doted on them and he would save all of his pocket change in a jar for when they would visit. He would take them out for lunch and buy them ice cream, help them collect snails, make magic potion and he would let them jump all over him.

It was my dad’s lifelong dream to become a business owner and I always said to people “My dad is my rags to riches story.” I would say that because he defied all the societal rules and charted his own path. He didn’t finish high school or go to university, but yet because he was kind and worked hard and stayed humble, he became very successful. I always told him how proud I was of him and how much he inspired me.

Arthur John Carr will be forever missed and forever loved by his wife, Elizabeth Carr, myself and my husband Nicholas Werner and by his two grandsons Hudson and Noah Werner. Arthur was preceded by his loving son Michael. There will be a joint celebration of life when we are able to, where we will raise a glass to not only “The Legend” but also to “John Boy”.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.giffenmackscarborough.com for the Carr family.