GEORGE ALEXANDER BAIN

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GEORGE ALEXANDER BAIN On Monday, October 30, 2006 at Kildonan Personal Care Centre, George Alexander Bain, aged 93 years, the son of the late Thomas Bain and Margaret Smith Bain (née Smart). George Bain was born on June 16, 1913 at Stony Mountain, Manitoba, where his father was a guard in the federal penitentiary. In 1917, following the death of his mother, he (and his sister Margaret) went to live with their paternal grandparents in Alloa, Scotland. They returned to Canada in 1923 to join their father, stepmother, and what eventually became a total of eleven children at Silver Heights, close to where Winnipeg International Airport is now located. He was a good student and hoped to go to university, but his family's financial position forced him to leave school in 1928. In 1931, after a few short-term jobs, he like his father, his father-in-law and several other members of their families joined the Canadian Pacific Railway. He began as an apprentice carman at Weston Shops in Winnipeg and, because of short-time working during the Great Depression, his apprenticeship lasted for eight rather than the usual five years. Apart from a few months in Fort William, Ontario, he spent his entire railway career at Weston Shops, becoming a lead hand and ultimately a foreman. When he completed his apprenticeship in 1939, he was laid-off because of shortage of work. During the next two years he was employed only intermittently at the CPR and in 1941 it released him for the war effort. Between 1940 and 1944 he worked as a carpenter in Winnipeg at Carter-Halls-Aldinger building hangars for MacDonald Bros. Aircraft Ltd, at Fraser-Brace building a cordite plant, and at MacDonald Aircraft building and repairing planes. From 1944 until 1946 he was a shipwright in the Royal Canadian Navy and attained the rank of Petty Officer First Class. He married Margaret (Madge) Ioleen Bamford on October 15, 1937, and their very happy marriage lasted for over fifty years until her death in 1988. He was a particularly devoted husband, taking early retirement from the CPR in 1973 because of his wife's ill-health and spending much of the next fifteen years caring for her. He resided for almost sixty-five years in East Kildonan. In his youth he was a keen cyclist and hockey player. At work he was a committed trade unionist and served as President of Jubilee Lodge No. 6 of the Railway Carmen of Canada. He was also an elder of John Black Memorial United Church. Following the death of his wife, he became a volunteer worker with the Age Opportunity Centre and an enthusiastic swimmer at the YM-YWCA. He also became a seasoned traveller, visiting his family all around the world. In 1993 he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralysed. With the devoted care of rehabilitation staff at Deer Lodge Hospital, he embarked, with courage and determination, on the long path to recovery. The unstinting support and help of his long-standing friends and neighbours, Les and Florence Bell, and the staff of his new residence, Kildonan Personal Care Centre, enabled him to begin to enjoy life again. At the Centre he became a well-known figure in his motorised wheelchair, and made new friends of volunteers Dave and Esther Knight. Never afraid of new experiences, at the age of 85 he learned to use a computer so that he could keep in touch with his family via the internet. And two years later, with the assistance of nurses Kim Nott and Linda Smith, who cared for him with unfailing kindness for the last twelve years, he flew to Baltimore to attend the wedding of his granddaughter. He was an incredibly kind and loving person, a social democrat who was more concerned about others than himself. Although a man of strong opinions, he was thoughtful and tolerant of opposing views. He was a natural leader to whom others turned for advice and help. He was a wonderful father and grandfather. Indeed, he enriched the lives of everyone he came into close contact with family, neighbours, workmates, and the staff at the Care Centre and inspired great respect and affection from them. He will be greatly missed. In addition to his wife, he was predeceased by five brothers William, Allan, Ronald, Ian, and Russell and three sisters Florence, Margaret, and Ellen. He is survived by his son George and his wife Gwynneth of Glenavy, Northern Ireland; his granddaughter Katherine, her husband Keith Moulsdale, and their children, Megan and Ella, of Severna Park, Maryland; and his grandson David and his partner Rose Drew of Glasgow, Scotland. Also surviving are one brother, Edwin and his wife June, and one sister, Lillian Van de Putte, both of Vancouver. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, November 2, at 11:00 a.m., at John Black Memorial United Church, 898 Henderson Highway and Roberta Avenue, East Kildonan, with the Reverend Bob Haverluck officiating. Interment of ashes will follow at the family grave at Elmwood Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba. THOMSON FUNERAL HOME 669 BROADWAY 783-7211

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 31, 2006