CHARLES RONALD PIKE

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CHARLES RONALD PIKE
December 9, 1926 - July 27, 2019

I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan to Eleanor May (Robinson) of Kingston, Ontario and John Charles Pike of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. My father was an 11th generation Newfoundlander. The youngest of three children, elder siblings, Eleanor Margaret Dethridge (Stan) of Ottawa, Ontario and George Newman Pike (Winifred) of Richmond, BC having predeceased me. My parents lived over 50 years in Regina and are interred there. I am the last of this branch of our family and expired at the age of 92 following 26 years of retirement living in Peterborough, Ontario.
I have been blessed with a GREAT life. My only regret is the family and friends I have now physically left. My wonderful and loving wife of 66 years, Constance Mary (Scobie), our three children - Catherine, m. Eric Wiebe (Caledon, Ontario), Terence, m. Sohee Kang (Bowen Island, BC) and Susan (Peterborough, Ontario). Our children are all independent, responsible and empathetic adults of whom we are very proud. We have eight wonderful grandchildren - Angus and Connor Wiebe (Caledon), Sean and Dylan Pike (Bowen Island), Nuruddin and Nasruddin Qorane (Toronto) and Halimah and Abdul-Hakim Qorane (Peterborough). They ALL have great futures ahead of them.
The love of my life, Connie, was born in Rosetown, Saskatchewan and we first met in 1950 when I was in my graduating year at the University of British Columbia (B.App.Sc. - Civil Engineering) and she was in Nursing Training at the Vancouver General Hospital. These two 'depression era' prairie kids were joined in marriage in Vancouver, in 1952. As our son once aptly wrote - in a poem written to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary:

If I asked him right now,
"Dad, what's your greatest success?"
I'm sure he'd say,
"Son, the day your Mother said Yes."

We have had the opportunity, and satisfaction, of living and/or working, in every province of Canada except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland - where we have vacationed. We love Canada. We have travelled and explored a good part of our world but never found any other country with greater appeal.
I was employed for 46 years by Canadian Pacific Ltd. including three years in the corporation's head office, 38 years in a great variety of 'on-line' service and responsibilities with CP Rail - and five years as a Senior Management Consultant following retirement. In time, my ambition led me away from my profession but never from my engineering training. My career was largely spent in the management of change. I always strove to find new and better ways of doing things - more efficiently and safely - and in the best interests of the company, its employees and our customers. I was successful enough to satisfy my personal ambition. My last eight active years with the railway were spent as system Vice President, Operations and Maintenance, and Vice President of the Prairie Region. One CP Rail project, to which I was fully committed from its inception on our rail system, strongly impacted and improved railway operations throughout North America. It was the Air Flow Method (AFM) of qualifying train braking systems.
A sincere compliment - by the people of my home province - was my induction into the Saskatchewan Transportation Hall of Fame in 1991. I also had the good fortune to be named a Commander of the Order of St. John, served as an officer in the Canadian Army (RCE) - commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II in the first year of her reign - and was a working member of many business, community and recreational oriented management boards mainly located within the communities across Canada in which we lived. I have been further blessed with the good and lasting friendship of many associates. I fully retired in 1992.
Connie and I have thoroughly enjoyed 26 subsequent 'hassle free' retirement years in Peterborough, Ontario. We were members of the Peterborough Golf and Country Club where I also curled. As non-resident members of the Royal Montreal Golf Club, we made annual visits there for many years. Winter vacations have often been spent golfing, in a great variety of locations - around the world.
A celebration of my life will be held at a future date.
Remembrance, if you so desire, could be made to a charity of your choice.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 03, 2019