Peter Thomas Hames

Peter was born in North London, England. A working-class cockney, he talked in cockney rhyming slang and often needed one of his kids to translate.

Peter immigrated to Canada with Sandra and Tracey in 1967. They settled in Brampton where he made his home for the rest of his life. An avid volunteer, Peter was a soccer coach, and president of the Chinguacousy Soccer club. He built floats for parades, sets for the Chinguacousy Figure Skating club carnivals, and helped anyone in need. If you called Peter, he answered the call both as a friend or a volunteer.

Because of his tireless and incredible volunteerism, Peter was recognized by the City of Brampton and named Brampton Citizen of the year in 1979.

On the heels of being citizen of the year, Peter and his wife Sandra helped run the English Pavilion at Carabram, Brampton’s multi-cultural festival. They ran it from 1980 until 2000 raising thousands of dollars for the arts in Brampton. Peter oversaw the building of a castle in front of the pavilion, and during his tenure, the English Pavilion was an award-winning part of Carabram. If you’re reading this, he probably let you in a side door on a Saturday night while wearing a Beefeaters costume. He was also part of the crew that did the Full Monty in 1998 when Carabram was a must-have ticket in Brampton.

Peter was also involved with the Bramalea 13th Scout troop, travelling with the troop around the world for various jamborees.

An avid golfer, Peter played golf all around southern Ontario. He shot an 84 earlier this summer at 81 years old. “Nothing could go wrong that day” he remarked.

In the winter he was an avid curler. He was a pioneer in the Chinguacousy Soccer Coaches Curling Club and turned into one of the best hack weight hit and rollers in seniors. The curling club where he learned to curl is named for his wife of 57 years, Sandra Hames, who was also named citizen of the year. Sandra and Peter were both tireless advocates for Brampton, the community, and for Chinguacousy Park.

Peter was (twice) the Worshipful Master of the now Sunnylea Lodge on Weston Road. He was also a Shriner, continuing a long life of giving back.

When his wife Sandra was on the city council, Peter would join her on tours with the Brampton Concert Band, advocating for Brampton around the world. When he retired, he would spend some time in Florida with his best friend Bob, enjoying golf, happy hour, and stories about his grandchildren. He travelled the world, enjoyed great food, and lived a full life. Brampton embraced a young family from England, and he never forgot and never stopped giving back. His volunteerism, smile, positive attitude, and ridiculous jokes touched thousands of people in the community and surrounding area. If he was in the same room as you, you knew it, and the world will miss that presence.

He is survived and will be dearly missed by his wife Sandra, daughter Tracey, son’s Mathew and Simon, daughter-in-law Christina, and his wonderful grandchildren Autumn, Gavin, Turner and Ellie. He will be missed by all his extended family and friends, curling friends, golfing friends and of course all the pub friends.

The family would like to sincerely thank all the amazing nurses and doctors in the oncology and palliative care team at William Osler Hospital in Brampton.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Society would be greatly appreciated.