Cecil Seymour Reid

Cecil firmly believed in a life of service to God, the community, his family, and friends. These principles guided him throughout his life. All who knew him saw these tenets reflected in how he lived his days.

Cecil was born in Bridgetown Barbados on September 9th, 1924 to Clement Reid and Dorris Roach. He had 4 brothers and 3 sisters, Elise, Sybil, Malcolm, Selvyn, Errol, Noel and Hazel who all predeceased him. He is survived by his sister-in-law Joan Reid, in New York. He has many relatives throughout Canada, Barbados, the US and England who cherish their relationships with him.

Cecil attended Combermere School in Barbados and was proficient in cricket. He played on the school’s first division team, with Frank Worrell, who later was knighted and was one of the famous three W’s. After graduation he played for Spartan with Clyde Walcott, another of the famous 3 W’s. Cecil was chosen to represent the island but never played because he had already committed himself to a new life in Curacoa. He continued to demonstrate his skill for the game in Curacoa and later in Toronto.

Cecil first left Barbados at the age of twenty-two and worked for seven years in Curacoa with the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company. In 1953 he migrated to Toronto and took a three-year course in Journalism at Ryerson Institute of Technology, now Ryerson University. In 1955, while at Ryerson he married the love of his life Edna Marson. He graduated in 1956 and worked briefly at the Scarborough Mail weekly newspaper before joining The Canadian Press in December 1956, on Christmas Eve. He worked at CP as a reporter/editor until his retirement in 1989.

Together Cecil and Edna had six children: Brian, Karen, Tony, Keith, Baby David, and David’s stillborn twin. David was born on June 13th, 1959. Sadly, David passed away shortly afterwards.

Cecil was involved in church life at St. George the Martyr serving as churchwarden, treasurer, lay member of Synod and a Licensed Lay Reader. When St. George’s closed, he dutifully attended St John’s Norway, even on the telephone throughout the pandemic. He was a member of Fuanga, a fun-and-games club, for almost 25 years, and volunteered for East York Meals on Wheels. He enjoyed gardening, watching sports on TV, and listening to various kinds of music.

Cecil worked closely with Donald Moore, who in the 1950’s sought changes to Canada’s exclusionary immigration policies that barred black people from the Caribbean to live in Canada. Together with Cedolph Hope, Cecil assisted Mr. Moore in the writing of his autobiography. For many years, Cecil served on the Donald Moore Scholarship Fund committee.

In his later years Cecil enjoyed many celebrations with family and friends. Every year he loved going on trips to the cottage. He spent his last days in the Palliative Care unit of Michael Garron Hospital surrounded by his loving wife Edna and children Brian, Karen (Debbie), Tony and Keith.

As Rev. Max Woolaver so eloquently put, “your beautiful dad, breathed his life out to its absolute end point…beyond which his frail body couldn’t carry his Spirit any longer…and his beautiful spirit carried on…He lived a full beautiful life to its absolute completion...He left no stone of Grace unturned and welcomed every moment of his life with sweetness, wisdom, and humility”. His Spirit carries on.