Arthur Roger Wadden

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Arthur Roger Wadden in the Glace Bay Hospital on August 23rd, 2022, at the age of 93. Born Sept. 29, 1928, in Glace Bay, he was the son of Stanley and Norena (Kennedy) Wadden.

A quiet man, Art loved big band music and played the trumpet privately in his early years. He was always keenly interested in science and technology. In his younger years he tinkered with electronics (tubes at the time), HAM radio and developed his own photographs. Art was usually the first to get the latest thing: a colour TV, microwave oven, VCR, calculator, camcorder and PC. His interests led him to Dalhousie University to earn a BSc in Physics, being the first in his family to attend university. He wasn’t much of a reader but knew an amazing amount about how things worked and how to fix them.

After finishing university, he started his working life at the telephone company in Glace Bay. He was a hard worker looking to improve the life of his family. Art always had a second sideline business, first repairing TVs, then renting them, and finally taking over Venice Pizzeria. In 1963 he, along with help from his father and grandfather, built the house in which he lived for the rest of his life. With all this sideline work, he took the opportunity to become a TV repair teacher, and ultimately a math teacher, at the Sydney Vocational School. He thought this was a dream job giving him more time off and summers free.

Summer vacations meant taking long family road trips, the first being to Expo 67 in Montreal, followed by annual treks to the US. The longest was in 1973 driving the family’s new car a total of 20,000 km to California and then back through Florida visiting Disney in both locations. He eventually made 15 annual winter visits to Disneyworld, a few trips to Hawaii and one to Europe. After a couple of weeks away, he was always longing to return home.

When not doing road trips, he would spend weekends with his family in the “country” at his parent’s “bungalow” (cottage) in Big Bras d’Or. There are relatively few pictures of him in the earlier years because he was always behind the camera enjoying capturing the moment and tinkering with the camera. Art’s love of things mechanical even led to him obtaining a private pilot’s license in the 70s.

He loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, having an incredibly positive influence on them. He also had a soft spot for cats and always had one, a very sad Max being the latest. With help from homecare workers and the VON in the last few years he was able to comfortably stay at home. His mind was sharp until the end.

Art is survived by his loving wife of 40 years Florence (Butts), first wife Merna (Westwood) Wadden, son Glenn (Ann) and daughter Brenda George (Bradley), his cherished grandchildren Sherri and Janna George, Linda Charbonneau (Matt and children Rebecca, Adeline and Levi), Paul (Hrefna and children Bella and Finnur) Jenny Bauer (Iain and son Wallace) and Michael. He also survived by his stepchildren Cheryl Chandler (Perry) and Bryne Butts (Aimee), nephews Walter and Kevin Westwood and Paul Reshaur.

He was recently predeceased by his only sibling Eileen Wadden. He was a lifelong member of St. Mary's Anglican Church Glace Bay where a funeral service is planned on October 22nd at 11am. Internment of his cremated remains will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery. There will be no visitation. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family by visiting www.pattenfuneral.com.